The Book Of Mormon -- Sheet Music From The Broadway Musical: Piano/Vocal (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This is basically a Making-Off of the musical with interviews etc. It also has two really cool features: 1st it goes song by song with the authors of the show explaining how the song was created and why etc. 2nd you also have the entire libretto of the Musical with notes from the authors and the cast.A must have and must read for any fan of Musicals, South Park, this show or all those together. This is everything the critics say it is: brilliant, funny, subversive. I'd love to see it. Given that ticket prices are through the roof, I decided I'd read the script. Maybe ticket prices will come down. (Ha!) Reading this in the wake of Shalom Auslander's HOPE: A TRAGEDY, was startling. There are similar tropes, though the impulses are very different. (Or are they?)By the end of Book of Mormon, real change has been effected in the fictive Uganda - because people choose to believe. That they believe in lunatic ideas makes no difference: social change has occurred; bad things stopped happening (for a while - and this IS a loony fairy tale). The power of faith is affirmed, however bizarrely and however asinine the missionaries appear. The script is printed two columns to a page - mimicking the print style of the actual Book of Mormon. Until I realized that this wasn't the style of normal drama, where double columns means two characters are speaking at once, I read it all wrong - it was akin to reading page 1 then 3 then 2 then 4, and so on. Once I realized my error I started from the beginning again, and then the play flew by. It's wildly irreverent without being mocking (mostly). It's pure, benign fun - unless the F word doesn't feel benign to you. If that's the case, steer clear of this. The simple conceit - to have the Elders (Mormon members), divided into pairs to go, two by two, out into the world, and to have the central pair, our main protagonists, be a nerd and a Mr. Popular, was inspired. A stroke of genius. The nerd, of course, ...: but that would spoil it! It's so perfectly constructed, with twists and turns involving despots, naifs, women and girls at risk, lewd rituals, horrifying rituals, and a cast that is approximately half black, half white, all contributes to the play's success. The lyrics are hilarious, and while I couldn't see the choreography, I could catch imaginary glimpses of it in the refrains and repetitions. Ah, how I'd love to see this show! Well done, Trey Parker and Matt Stone!
What do You think about The Book Of Mormon -- Sheet Music From The Broadway Musical: Piano/Vocal (2011)?
Reading the genesis story deepened my appreciation for the wickedly funny and brilliant show.
—KateLorraine
Best book of a musical. Definitely well deserved at the Tony’s.
—Ali
