The Book of Mormon
Buell Theatre: 10/23 – 11:24
I BELIEVE!!!!!!
Dear reader, please be aware that this
review is a rave that’s going to be one long list of kudos for a show that is
outstanding in every way.
Denver Center Attractions is to be lauded
for bringing us this superb production of a show which has won: nine Tony Awards,
including Best Musical, Best Score (Trey
Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone), Best Book (Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone) as well as the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical; five Drama Desk Awards including
Best Musical, the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album; four Outer
Critics Circle Awards, including Best Musical, and the Drama League Award for
Best Musical.
Nic Rouleau
Nic Rouleau
From the moment one enters the
auditorium of the Buell Theatre and sets eyes upon the magnificent frontispiece
for “The Book of Mormon” he is aware that something on the order of a grand
celestial event will occur when the curtain rises. The crashing waves of what must by the Great Salt Lake seem
to rise and blend with the luminous clouds of heaven as the golden image of the
angel Moroni heralds good news from above the proscenium.
Everything about this production is high, wide
and handsome. Directors Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker have cast this show with
triple threats.
The performance by Nic Rouleau in the role
of Elder Price is outstanding both vocally and in the acting. A.J. Holmes as
Elder Cunningham stuns
.
The choreography and the dancing thereof is
exhilarating!
The humanity inherent in
this seemingly blasphemous piece is so richly evident. Sometimes people forget
to look below the surface of Great Art. Issues which are not topics of
household discussion that are exposed include the circumcision of women and the
annihilation of people in third world countries by the spread of AIDS.
The lyrics of the musical
number “Turn it Off” which skewer the idea that all one has to do to eliminate
his sexual orientation is to “turn it off
like a light switch,” are hilarious. The book and lyrics for “The Book of
Mormon” continue in the vein of the “South Park" authors’ reputation for being
geniuses at showing us society’s foibles and fallacies. This is superbly done laser-sharp
Swiftian satire!
Some
of the musical numbers lampoon familiar songs from the canon of Broadway’s
classics. “The Lion King” provides a zinger early in the show and the number
near final curtain, in which the Africans perform their own personal misinterpretation
of the history of Mormonism may remind those in attendance of the “Small House of Uncle Thomas” in
“The King and I.”
I missed “The Book of Mormon” the first time around.
This production truly is the second
coming!
Single
tickets for THE BOOK OF MORMON start at $35. To charge by phone,
call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303.893.4100. TTY (for Deaf and
hard-of-hearing patrons): 303.893.9582. Additionally, tickets may be purchased
at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located in the Helen Bonfils Theatre
Complex lobby. Buy
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