Book of Mormon - Chicago Reviews

Tonight was the first preview, not opening night. They also replaced Elder McKinley.

(Edit due to sleepiness. Sorry!)

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Updated On: 12/11/12 at 11:40 PM

Why'd she drop out?

What was the running time for the show? I'm seeing it tomorrow night and have an early meeting the next morning, so wondering how late I'll get back.

Great, thanks! Really excited to finally get to see this show.

I saw the show last night, 12/12/12. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was lucky enough to see the original company on Broadway in March of 2011. I don't think either one of the leads, Price or Cunningham, are as good as the Broadway originals, but they got the job done. With that said, they both had several scenes where they sang/acted exceptionally well. It just was not consistent from start to finish.

Something about seeing the show in such a larger theater than the Eugene O'Neill left something to be desired as well. I sat in the balcony, and the church/proscenium set pieces blocked my view of action upstage frequently. On Broadway, the top of white proscenium and the angel is flush with the top of the actual proscenium. But at the BoaT, there is a good 20 feet of space above the top of the church arch. They filled it in with a planetary/space scene. I thought that was funny.

Two differences I noticed from New York: when Neutrogena/Nestle Crunch gets baptized, I remember her flying underneath the fabrics hanging onstage. Didn't an actress get injured from that? That is no longer in there. Also, I could have sworn they had an actor in a Pope costume in "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream". I'm a Catholic and I could enjoy a good Catholic joke so I distinctly remember the Pope in Mormon hell. No Pope in Chicago.

All of the Ugandan people were quite strong. When they put on their Mormon pagaent......man that was done well.

I can't wait to see the show again and I'm so glad it will be staying in Chicago for a while. HOWEVER, one last thing.....while the audience did laugh often last night, the reaction was lukewarm compared to the roaring, boisterious laughter and reaction I witnessed on Broadway. Not sure if I just had a dud audience or if Chicagoans didn't "get" some of the jokes, or if New York audiences are just louder.

Updated On: 12/13/12 at 11:11 AM

When I saw the first preview on Tuesday, the audience reaction was great. I also saw the Original Broadway Cast and enjoyed this company just as much, if not more!

Just another random point- I thought Baptize Me was one of the best songs of the show. Ben and Syesha sounded great together and they had wonderful chemistry together...it was so so funny.

And Ben did have some great names for Nabulungi (some of which have been used before) like: Nutella, Nala, Nestle crunch..

Updated On: 12/13/12 at 12:04 PM

since Platt doesn't fit the "fat white guy" type that has been Elder Cunningham, what do they call him??

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The Pope's not in "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" at all. The ensemble is made up of devils or those aforementioned figures.

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As others have said, there was never a pope...and I also don't ever remember Nabalungi "sliding" under the sheet...

Glad you had fun!

As fo the ads: No, but the tour does (at least in Los Angeles and San Francisco).

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To continue on my earlier, buried thread about the first preview, I thought this Chicago version was as good or better than the Broadway production (I saw the original cast). Ben Platt succeessfully takes a role that was written to be "the obnoxious fat guy" and turns it into something new. He plays Cunningham as an Aspergers-type kid with a lot of nervous energy, desperate to fit in and be loved. He was very sweet and totally owned the audience after "Man Up."

Nic Rouleau is an ideal Price. He has a great look for the role with a huge pearly-white smile and squeaky-clean personality. He is very much like Andrew Rannells while making the role his own.

Syesha Mercado was very good, as was the rest of the supporting cast. Pierce Cassedy was a slightly less flamboyant but still funny McKinley.

Seeing it again, I have to say that it really may be the funniest show ever written. BTW, don't sit in the first balcony if you can avoid it--the entire top third of the stage is cut off and I couldn't see people's heads when they were on the platform doing the Mormon history vignettes.

My Oh My, I said I sat in the balcony for the Chicago show, NOT the New York show. I sat in the mid-orchestra at the O'Neill.

I saw one of the very early previews on Broadway, so perhaps the Pope was taken out early, or perhaps all of you are correct and I just thought I saw what I saw!

And Fosse76, I appreciate the picture of the O'Neill stage; the Chicago set-up has a good 15-20 feet above the angel. Notice how the top of the angel is flush with the proscenium? That's what I was talking about. It makes the planets (and the planet jokes) more prominent. Also, I would say that an 1800 seat theater vs. a 1000 seat theater is a fairly large difference. The overhang of the of the mezz at the O'Neill is the 11th row. The overhang of the mezz at BoAT is the 18th row. And not only that, BoAT has THREE balconies, while the O'Neill only has one.



Distinctive mentioned that the upstage scenes are cut-off if you're in the first balcony. They are also cut off in the top of the second balcony too.

Despite all of my nitpicks, it is still a great show to see in Chicago! I agree with the poster who said Cunningham owned the audience after Man Up.