Culture
WHY YOU S
By Samantha Costanza / Assoc. Culture Editor As a self-proclaimed theatre nerd, I The writers of The Book of Mormon am often the first one to find out about are none other than Matt Stone and up-and-coming Broadway shows, Trey Parker, creators of the mega-hit hop on a train to New York City, and cartoon South Park. It’s no secret that buy tickets to just about anything that South Park has received its fair share sounds remotely interesting. I have of controversy due to the shameless seen more Broadway shows than I can parodies of celebrities and often vulgar possibly count, but one recent musical and politically incorrect jokes. If you discovery truly stood out to me. It had thought that The Book of Mormon was great music, fantastic dancers, increda nice family musical that would steer ible comedic timing, and one of the clear from such jokes, you thought most well-done approaches to a contro- wrong. versial topic I have ever seen. The Book of Mormon had me leaving the theater Parker and Stone teamed up with laughing harder than I ever have in my fellow comedic genius Robert Lopez to entire life. compose the incredibly witty and undeniably catchy soundtrack to the show. The Book of Mormon, winner of nine Lopez is the creator and composer of Tony awards including “Best Musical,” the Tony-winning musical Avenue Q. is a musical about two Mormon misAfter attending the Broadway producsionaries named Elder Price and Elder tion of Avenue Q, Parker and Stone were Cunningham who set out on a two-year immediately inspired by the seamless mission to Uganda. Along the way, they integration of clever, borderline-inapdiscover what it truly means to have propriate comedy with high-caliber faith, while experiencing some hilarious music and acting. Before they could bumps in the road. even approach Lopez, they discovered 36
a “thank you” addressed to them in the Avenue Q playbill. Lopez had never met the pair, but was so inspired by their feature film, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, that he decided to write his very own comedy-laden musical. When the three finally came together, it was clear that they should not let their immense talents go to waste, and thus the creative team was formed. Now why would we, students attending a Jesuit Catholic university, want to see a show about Mormonism? While it is true that many of us are not in fact practicing Catholics, it can be safely said that exposure to Mormon communities is not exactly widespread in the suburbs of Massachusetts. This musical provides insight into another religion in an extremely satirical and comical way. All of the facts check out, so nothing is made up in the show, yet somehow it all seems ridiculous. That is the brilliance of Parker and Stone’s writing. They can take a controversial topic and make
April 2013