Up for Review: The American Theater Guild presents “Book of Mormon” at the Morris Performing Arts Center

I want to start this off by explaining how exciting it is that the first actual blog post on the Pop Drop was approved by the American Theater Guild to review “Book of Mormon” in my hometown. I was able to get press tickets in the same building I saw my first Broadway show at (it was “Wicked” of course). I was truly honored to be representing myself and the Pop Drop for the first time at the Morris Performing Arts Center, especially starting off with this show.

While the Morris has one of the best Broadway seasons this year out of any theaters I have seen in recent time with “Come From Away” and “Fiddler on the Roof” being the next two touring companies to make a stop, I was especially excited to see “Book of Mormon.” This show has been in my top list of shows I wanted to see live. While I have replayed the soundtrack on loop for the past couple of years, it was nothing compared to being able to see it live with all the characters I have grown to love over Spotify instead of the main stage.

Coming into the show with intense knowledge on the production of it. This show was written as a satirical comedy by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, the same minds behind one of the most famous adult comedies, “South Park.” This already rose my expectations of what the quality and writing in production would be, as well as having that dark comedy aspect to the show.

The show follows Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, complete opposites yet both brothers in the Church of Latter Day Saints, working through the trials and tribulations of converting a Ugandan village to mormonism.

From the minute “Hello!” opens the show, you are charmed by this brilliant awkwardness that all the mormon choir brings to the show. Every single mormon in the show has these small quirks and overacts many scenes, making them more comedic and lovable throughout. Watching the mormons interact, even in the background of a scene, could have entertained me fully if I wasn’t so attached to the fast-paced movement of the show.

I think one of the best aspects of this show is that all of the scenes are completely layered. There are about five things happening at once with three different groups of people at all times, having so many moving parts at the same time. I have to applaud the staging and directing of the show to emphasize how important the scene design was. Without good direction, the moving parts would have looked like chaos, yet “Book of Mormon” was able to pull it off masterfully.

From the beginning, this show sets up Price and Cunningham to be perfect foil characters, with Sam McLellan portraying Price with this fresh-faced optimism yet neurotic tendencies and Sam Nackman playing Cunningham as goofy and awkward, yet likeable. The on-stage tension between the two throughout make for a more satisfying end when they realize they’re better as unlikely friends than foes.

Nackman as Cunningham continued to be a light throughout the show. His acting chops were some of the most impressive I’ve seen from a comedic actor. Everything he did down to his little acting movements in the back of scenes were hilarious. Nackman also proved his incredible vocal range in the Act 1 finale, “Man Up,” in which the audience truly doesn’t get to see until then due to the comedic nature of his singing performances throughout Act 1. Nackman gave my favorite performance across the board.

McLellan also portrayed the goody-two-shoes mormon act perfectly, yet switching the role on its head near the end when Price instead becomes insecure and doubtful in his religion. I think that McLellan is a multifaceted actor with singing chops that give justice to the most iconic song of the score: “I Believe.”

Berlande as Nubulungi also gave the show a great heart with songs like “Sal Tlay Ka Siti,” displaying amazing vocal acting skills. I think Berlande could easily play one of the most demanding emotional and vocal roles on Broadway, comparing her skills to anyone who can play Grizabella in “Cats.”

Also, one of the recurring jokes in the show that made every audience member laugh was when Cunningham would call Nubulungi something different everytime like Nutella, Nutribullet, and Neutrogena.

On that note, I enjoyed the acting performances of every Ugandan villager, each of the ensemble members having a fully fledged personality which is hard for a large ensemble that is constantly changing parts to do.

Another pleasant surprise was Sean Casey Flanagan who played Elder McKinley. Usually, I brush this role under the rug, but I thought he made the character memorable which is hard to do with one featured song.

Also, I did not know this show was so dance heavy. While I expected the tap dance number—which I thoroughly enjoyed due to my tap dance background at the YMCA—from the soundtrack cues, I did not think dance was so integral, but almost every single song is ensemble choreography heavy. I was pleasantly surprised with this development.

The production design of the musical was also spectacular. I can’t imagine how many costumes each ensemble member has to keep track of because there are so many scene specific outfits for singular moments with great costumes for each moment. The sets were also made with lots of detail, specifically the painted backdrops of places like Salt Lake City and Orlando and the physical set pieces from the Ugandan village, immersing the audience in what we were seeing.

My favorite song in the show was “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream,” which was staged so perfectly with choreography and what looked like the full cast on stage for a rock musical number with lots of dramatics.

For being a comedic show, I think there is a lot of thematic elements to take from it. The first being the fundamentals in religion. This show proves that you can have faith and religion without needing to conform to every rule and stipulation of religion. If the message of hope and making life a better day everyday is still the end goal, religion is malleable and can represent anything an individual needs to hear at the moment.

I also think that this show speaks heavily on the idea of colonialism and the white savior complex in mormons trying to erase Ugandan culture in baptizing these villagers. “I Am Africa” is the perfect representation of this when the mormons stand in front of the villagers to depict themselves as what makes Africa rich. However, when the villagers tell their own story of mormonism, while it is a comedic moment, it allows for them to speak their truth and what makes their beliefs unique.

I also think that Elder Price’s storyline encompasses the idea of losing faith but finding your own meaning in faith, which I think is the most important idea from the show: finding hope within yourself and making tomorrow a latter day for yourself and those around you.

This show was eveyrthing I hoped it would be, making me both tense during serious moments and making me hysterically laugh throughout.