The Book of Mormon, the box office smashing, multi award-winning musical attracting mass critical acclaim since its opening on Broadway in 2011, has so far generated a lot of steam on its tour of Britain. Despite having a home on the West End, these Manchester performances (running from June 6 to August 10) are the tour’s first stop outside of London.
The story tells the tale of two young Mormon missionaries who have been sent to a village in Uganda in an attempt to preach their religion to villagers who are more concerned with avoiding AIDS and co-operating with the local warlordGeneral Butt F**cking Naked.
There has been a lot of local hype for these shows, which is no surprise, given the show’s reputation, but the fact it is a touring show doesn’t have an effect on the quality. This performance at Palace Theatre was polished and professional, with seamless set and scene transitions throughout. Paired with vibrant and ambitious lighting, it is certainly wondrous viewing. We have Tony Award winners Scott Pask (set) and Brian MacDevitt (lighting) to thank for this. The hilarious flashback scene interactions between Jesus and the Mormon founding prophet Joseph Smith better emphasise the cleverco-operation between Pask and MacDevitt.
The excellent choreography by Casey Nicholaw really lifts the show, especially the big numbers involving the Mormon missionaries, led by Will Hawksworth (Elder McKinley). These bring about some of the funnier character exchanges. The highlight being “Turn it Off” with its tap dance moment, which was a great spectacle to see. The onstage chemistry between Kevin Clay (Elder Price) and Conner Pierson (Elder Cunningham) also played a massive role in the show’s hilarity levels with their delivery being on point. It is also worth giving a mention to Nicole-Lily Baisden (Nabulungi) who gave strong vocal performances throughout and her exchanges between Pierson during the baptism scene garnered the most laughs of the evening.
Those familiar with South Park will know that Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez are not afraid to use a little shock factor, which the show relies upon throughout. The only criticism with this is the use of stray swear words forcheap laughs, which were not needed considering the show’s sensationalist content was hilarious enough without. After all, It’s not often you see a show with Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, Genghis Khan and Johnnie Cochran dancing around with devils.
All in all, The Book of Mormon is an extremely hilarious and enjoyable musical with its non-stop numbers and continuous laughs. It isn’t any wonder it has smashed box office record over the years. It is definitely a must-see if you can get hold of tickets for this fast selling out Manchester run.
Overall Rating 10/10 – Perfect
