This Book Will Change Your Life

The hottest ticket in Denver right now is The Book of Mormon, the Tony Award winning musical which has opened up its national tour right here. Written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park) and Robert Lopez (of Avenue Q), this musical tells the story of two eager young Mormons sent on their mission... to a poor village in Uganda. And of course, because it comes from these three, it's filled to bursting with satire, profanity, and clever social commentary.

I got to go to last Saturday night's performance, and had a wonderful night at the theater. The Book of Mormon is riotously funny, with jokes both crass and clever, smart and swift lyrical wordplay, and loads of outrageous sight gags. Ultimately, I was glad to have heard the soundtrack album before seeing the show, because the laughter from the audience was so loud and constant that I think I would have missed half the jokes otherwise.

That said, knowing the songs in advance did nothing to diminish my enthusiasm for the show. There were plenty of great jokes that were all new to me, both in the dialogue and scenes between songs and the hilarious choreography for many of the dance numbers.

There were plenty of show-stoppers in the score. There were things I loved from the album, including the opening "Hello!", the wickedly subversive "Hasa Diga Eebowai", and the high octane first act finale "Man Up". There were songs that became far more on the stage than I'd ever pictured in my head listening to the album, such as "Turn It Off" and the massive stage piece "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream."

The cast was outstanding. One of the leads understudied for his role in the original Broadway production, and has stepped into the spotlight with great skill. The other was has received two Tony nominations on Broadway and has appeared on stage in London.

But there are two reasons I can't quite enthusiastically recommend the production to anyone and everyone. First, it's outrageously profane. Ultimately, I don't think the show is being insulting, but it's sure to offend plenty of people on its way to making its interesting and almost noble point at the end. Know what you're getting into.

Second, the show is nigh-impossible to actually get into right now. This opening of the national tour is only here in Denver for a few weeks before moving on, and it has been completely sold out for months in advance. Your only options to see this tour are to look to the (sky high) scalping market, or take a stab at winning the nightly ticket lottery to buy front row tickets for $25. (I hear the odds of scoring a seat are less than 2%.)

So basically, if you live in a city other than Denver, you should find out if The Book of Mormon is coming to your town, and make your plans as soon as possible. As for my Denver readers, the show is coming back here in late 2013, and the tickets are scheduled to go on sale in the spring. Look into it, and mark your calendars accordingly.