‘The Book of Mormon’ on the Tennessee Theatre – Nonetheless Outrageous Enjoyable – Arts Knoxville

BY ALAN SHERROD

These days, it’s virtually inconceivable to debate Broadway musicals with out utilizing the phrase “longevity” and throwing round hard-to-believe efficiency numbers. Following Chicago, The Lion King, and Wicked in variety of performances of reveals nonetheless working on Broadway comes The Book of Mormon with over 5400 performances on the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Perhaps a stunning candidate for longevity, the deliciously edgy—however outrageously humorous— The Book of Mormon can also be now well-ensconced in a 3rd U.S. tour—this one non-AEA— that took to the highway in 2022. That tour is presently making a cease for eight performances on the Tennessee Theatre by November 16.

Thanks to some re-writing and updating through the Covid-induced hiatus in 2020, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone’s The Book of Mormon continues to be the equal-opportunity offender that it has at all times been. The cleverness behind this parody of that usually lampooned faith succeeds as a result of it merely consists of everybody in its mockery and satire. And, that satire seesaws from gently positioned barbs to in-your-face orifice humor, a lot in order that it typically numbs the viewers with its boldness. Of course, figuring out that Parker and Stone are the pair behind TV’s South Park explains loads concerning the journey by the sexual, scatological, and irreverent humor that the creators have fastidiously balanced out with boatloads of theatrical enjoyable.

The storyline revolves across the necessary missionary journey of two wildly totally different younger Mormons, the environment friendly and assured Elder Price (taken on this efficiency by Clayton Lukens) and the personality-challenged Elder Cunningham (Jacob Aune). Despite Elder Price’s vacation spot dream of Orlando, the mis-matched pair are assigned to a distant village in Uganda the place poverty and famine are made even much less tolerable by the rule of a neighborhood warlord who favors feminine genital mutilation: The General (Shafiq Hicks). Needless to say, the mission they’re tasked with means changing locals to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one thing that the already resident Mormons have failed at fully. After having their baggage stolen, the pair finds their job even more durable because the locals sing “Hasa Diga Eebowai” during which God is heartily blamed in relatively particular phrases.

The roles of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham really are the middle of the story and so depend upon Lukens and Aune for creating compelling comedic characters which can be polar opposites. Lukens turns in a stupendous character arc, one which has succeeded on the Mormon method, solely to desert the upstanding facade when his character sees that his dream has been squashed. Aune has a area day with Cunningham, his pudgy, submissive character luxuriating within the bodily comedy of the function, finally discovering that mendacity—uh, stretching the reality—makes for a way more attention-grabbing story. 

Along with Jennifer Werner’s energetic course, there’s a whole lot of intelligent musical enjoyable in Robert Lopez’s rating, dealt with properly by conductor Braden Chudzik and a nine-member orchestral ensemble. Already talked about was “Hasa Diga Eebowai” that includes Jarius Miquel Cliett as village chief Mafala Hatimbi and the ensemble of Ugandan villagers. The ensemble of Mormons have their particular quantity and dance, “Turn It Off,” during which Elder McKinley (Craig Franke) explains to Price and Cunningham methods to suppress “unholy” ideas. Mafala’s daughter, Nabulungi (Charity Arianna), has a marvelously tongue-in-cheek quantity “Baptize Me” with Cunningham. And, Price’s “I Believe” is a assured showstopper as is the large ensemble quantity “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.”

As is usually the case with touring musicals, orchestra quantity appeared to take precedence over voice enhancement readability and diction, sadly taking a whole lot of enjoyment out of humor in lyrics. In the case of The Book of Mormon, one actually wants to listen to each scrumptious, naughty bit.

The Book of Mormon continues performances on the Tennessee Theatre by Sunday, November 16. Tickets

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