Courtesy of Broadway in Detroit
Since its premiere in 2013, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone’s “The E book of Mormon” has not misplaced its edge. After my fifth time seeing the manufacturing, I’m satisfied it by no means will. This send-up of the infamous faith stays the very best ticket on the town—intelligent, nuanced, and, surprisingly, candy in methods newcomers may not anticipate. The important thing to any good satire is making enjoyable of everybody; in any other case, it dangers turning into mean-spirited. The creators—particularly Parker and Stone, who’ve skewered celebrities, organized faith, and nearly each main controversy conceivable on “South Park”—perceive this higher than anybody. They take theatergoers on an unforgettable journey in what’s, with out query, one of many funniest and most outrageous reveals on Broadway and throughout the nation right now.
The story follows the misadventures of two unlikely allies: Elder Worth (performed in my efficiency by Vance Klassen) and Elder Cunningham (Diego Enrico). As is customary within the Mormon religion, they’re despatched on a mandated mission journey—besides, as a substitute of Elder Worth’s dream vacation spot, Orlando, they’re assigned to, properly, Uganda, the place warlords, poverty, and famine run rampant. Their mission? Convert as many locals as attainable to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However that proves to be a tall order once they arrive to search out the townspeople singing the gut-busting anthem “Hasa Diga Eebowai,” a tune that—let’s simply say—doesn’t maintain God within the highest regard.
Like a lot of the present, the humor is outrageously raunchy, and Parker and firm are unafraid to push boundaries. These are the identical guys who made “Crew America: World Police,” in spite of everything. The majority of the manufacturing rests on the shoulders of Elder Worth and Elder Cunningham—the latter of whom has a behavior of, properly, making issues up, an inclination that turns into a significant point of interest later within the present. The 2 couldn’t be extra reverse. Elder Worth is the quintessential upstanding Mormon, all the time doing what’s anticipated of him and believing he’ll be rewarded accordingly. Elder Cunningham, alternatively, is the John Sweet to Worth’s Steve Martin—awkward, overeager, and delightfully unpredictable. Each Klassen and Enrico make a incredible duo, injecting recent power right into a manufacturing that has seen numerous iterations and excursions. Enrico, particularly, brings pleasant nuances to his efficiency, from his animated expressions to his affectionate, endearing physique language.
Every time I see this present, I search for the refined tweaks and changes that make every manufacturing stand aside. Klassen and Enrico didn’t disappoint. Likewise, Lamont J. Whitaker shines as Mafala Hatimbi, the chief of a small Ugandan village who’s fiercely protecting of his daughter, Nabulungi (performed splendidly by Keke Nesbitt), one of many solely “pure” villagers left. I’ll let you determine what which means.
Directed on this tour by Jennifer Werner, The E book of Mormon stays unapologetically itself. Even 12 years later, it nonetheless resonates and feels removed from dated. The manufacturing design stays flawless—one among Broadway’s most good sight gags nonetheless happens when the Elders first arrive in Uganda, and a villager hurls a lifeless animal carcass throughout the stage. And Klassen’s rendition of the Act II powerhouse “I Imagine” brings the home down.
By now, you in all probability already know if that is the present for you. In case you haven’t seen it—run, don’t stroll. And you probably have, contemplating the state of the world proper now, there could also be no higher time to “flip it off” and simply benefit from the journey.
THE BOOK OF MORMON continues its quick run at The Fisher Theater in Detroit by Sunday April sixth. Ticket portions are extraordinarily restricted. They are often bought right here.