Hello! My name is Seth Rock, and I would like to tell you about the most amazing musical.

The musical was written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park”, and Robert Lopez, a composer of “Avenue Q” and later “Frozen”. The show debuted in 2011 on Broadway, and I had the good fortune to see it during the second national tour in January of 2017.

The plot for “The Book of Mormon”  was based on the Mormon missions carried out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was where the similarities to the actual missions end. From then on, the musical was laced with profanity which acted to make it as humorous as it was.

The play’s main characters are Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, two young, eager representatives of the Church who shared little in common but were assigned to complete a mission in Uganda. Elder Price was quite disappointed as he felt he was shortchanged while the bubbly Elder Cunningham was excited to be with Elder Price, a person who was held in high regard.

Upon arrival, they found Uganda to have widespread poverty and an oppressive dictator. After talking to the Mormons already established in the region, Price and Cunningham realized that these people were not inclined to convert. Elder Price ignored this and acted very arrogantly, believing himself to be able to accomplish anything. Over time, it became apparent that Price had no success so he decided to leave Uganda and be reassigned. Elder Cunningham took a different approach and managed to convince the townspeople to convert to Mormonism, through the addition of Sci-Fi references to his teaching.

One song that I particularly liked was Hasa Diga Eebowai. Not for its meaning, but for the context in the story. This song, sung upon the arrival of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, described God in a sarcastic. The song made transparent the people’s sense of hopelessness and self-pity. The arrival of the Elders and their Mormon faith brought a sense of happiness and joy to the people. While the people were not given better lives in the physical sense, they felt better spiritually and emotionally.
I would not recommend this play to people who offend easily.  But for those who appreciate all humor, I believe you will likely enjoy watching it. In response to the play, the Mormon Church bought multiple ads in the Playbill with one advertisement saying, “The Book Is Always Better.”