jonahbonah: The Book of Mormon {a Broadway Jax Performance}

On Wednesday evening, I had the amazing opportunity to go see The Book of Mormon on Broadway, right here in Jacksonville, FL. I had never heard of the musical before the invite. I had no idea what it was about. I gathered that it was probably about being a Mormon, but I didn't know the plot or story line. I asked around and no one that I knew seemed to know or had even heard of it. After doing a little research, I found that The Book of Mormon is a nine-time Tony Award winning Musical! Written by the creators of South Park, I knew it had to be a comedy of some sort, as well.

Being a lover of musical theater, I knew I wanted to go, even if I had no idea what The Book of Mormon was about or that I'm no fan of South Park. I went with an open mind and zero expectations.

I told you before I went on Wednesday. It's taken me until now to put pen to paper, if you will. I needed to process all that I had seen on that stage in two short hours. As the curtain opened and the first door bell rang, I was captivated. The Temple that framed the stage the beautiful, the lights were bright, the musical talent in the performers was already proving to be super. As each Elder took his place on stage, it only got better. There were some lines that were funny and there were others that were down right hilarious!

After the Elders were paired for their first missions trip, the show really started. The night of the performance I was kind of turned off by the language being used and the seemingly lack of respect for religion, but, honestly, it's real life, that's the way missionaries are really treated. After the Elders reached their mission destination, Uganda, Africa, they were faced with a raw, eye-opening scene, much like that of actual Uganda. They were welcomed with hatred and violence. Mormons are really encountering this today. Christians are. Catholics are. We ALL are. And, not only in Uganda.

Wednesday night, I felt like, while The Book of Mormon was filled with amazing talent, costumes and stage props, the whole story was a slap in the face to religion. But, after mulling it over and listening to the creators talk about the journey in creating the show, I see that it's just a really funny, sometimes vulgar and inappropriate, but realistic view of what all religions and missionaries face today.

I've never experienced Mormonism firsthand to have something to compare to and say that this musical is a mockery of Mormonism. Maybe there are some scenes where the Elders are a little more animated than what an actual Elder would be. But, overall, now that I've had time to think on the way faith was portrayed and there was a LOT of talk about Jesus, and none that I thought was disrespectful towards Jesus himself, I really enjoyed the show. {I took my friend, Randi, along and she thought it was so great!}

My final review in just a few short words? "Riveting, Colorful, Hilarious, Sometimes Raunchy, Must-See {if you can handle the language and vulgarity *snort*}!"

Here's just a short video of what the creators said about their musical.