The Church of Latter Day Saints Elevated (or Demoted?) to Broadway Satire

By Benjamin Nockles

The Book of Mormon had never met such widespread popularity until word began spreading that the Bible of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be featured on Broadway this March. The new musical to emerge out of collaboration of Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone is called "The Book of Mormon" and has everyone questioning its controversy, and its potential hilarity or degree of offensiveness. For most, it has spawned excited anticipation.

"Well I got a phone call three years ago from Bobby Lopez saying 'Hey, I'm working on this new show with Trey Parker and Matt Stone,' and I was like, 'Stop right there. I don't care if I have to sweep the floor 'cause I'm involved,'" tells actor Josh Gad.

Broadway Show: The Book of Mormon

The creative team is joined by an enthusiastic cast, many of whom are raving about the opportunity to be a part of a premiere that – either way you look at it – carries big expectations.

In Stone's opinion, "I really don't think Mormons are going to be offended, I think if they come to see the show they are going to like it."

"At the end of the day what Trey and Matt do is they bring humanity to the craziness in a way that audiences are going to, 'Wow, I never saw it from that perspective, but ok.' And I think that people will be very surprised by how much of that there is in the show."

South Park, the four-time Emmy award-winning television show, is in its 14 season since 1997. The Church of Latter Day Saints has been satirized multiple times on the show, arguably all in good humor, though don't expect Mormons to receive any "special treatment." As Parker puts it, "We don't try to be offensive, it just happens," while Gad holds that audiences "can definitely expect the standard offensiveness from Trey and Matt."

The show is about two Mormon missionaries who are sent to work in the dangerous part Uganda. Trey Parker places the plot within the bigger picture of Mormonism, saying "the fascinating, modern story about Mormons is how kids will get sent out on their mission and a eighteen, nineteen-year-old kid, right out of high school, will get paired with someone that they have to be with for two years, […] somewhere either across the world or in another part of the country. [It's about] what a coming of age story that can be and what a sort of 'opening-your-eyes-to-the-world' story that can be."

Simultaneously, this story is set against the story of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church. Stone explains that the musical's resemblance to the idyllic world of Disney or Rogers and Hammerstein is inspired by the teams's observations of the Mormon culture. "There is a part about Mormons […] the way they greet their visitors, and you're like, 'Are you going to break out into song right now?' And so on one hand this seemed like a perfect subject matter to use as a musical and the rest of it is just 'cause we are just offensive people and we just find that kind of stuff funny."

Comments released by the church of Latter Day Saints tactfully redirect attention to the significance of their Bible without approving or disapproving of the idea, though some Mormons are pleased, as they consider being the target of mainstream satire a mark of cultural significance.

The Book of Mormon, much like South Park, promises to provoke strong responses from its entire audience, and it's hard to ask for more than that. As Gad observes, "at the end of the day what Trey and Matt do is they bring humanity to the craziness in a way that audiences are going to, 'Wow, I never saw it from that perspective, but ok.' And I think that people will be very surprised by how much of that there is in the show."