THE BOOK OF MORMON Reviews!- Page 2

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 3:13pm

The score is amazing. I won't say I've been listening to it non stop for weeks now because that would be impossible.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 4:36pm

A slam from Ouzounian.

It sounds like his main problem is that the show isn't what he expected it to be, and so he doesn't really critique what it actually is.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/960171--the-book-of-mormon-a-sorry-disappointment

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 4:51pm

Ouzounian and the Toronto Star probably still have their panties in a wad over "Blame Canada".

I have a prediction: USAToday's Elysa Gardner will pan the show. Why? Because she is a moron. Updated On: 3/24/11 at 04:51 PM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:01pm

The Star's review basically says the show is bad because it doesn't condemn religion, rip it to shreds, and burn a Bible onstage. Then again, I wouldn't exactly call a review that sounds like "But MOM, I wanted a different show so what I saw sucks" a review, either.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:12pm

I have not read this review because I cannot access it at work, but I do spy the words "intermittently enjoyable," "not melodically memorable," and "disposable songs," which leads me to believe it's mixed.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f1e89e28-5635-11e0-82aa-00144feab49a.html

If someone wants to post the full text of it, I'll love you forever and ever.

[bluesoprano]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:15pm

I saw the show a week ago yesterday and it is without a doubt one of the best new musicals on broadway. The score is amazing and the cast is so energetic and funny. I left the theater wanting to see it again.

All the best to the show, cast and creative team today! This is going to be one hot ticket this season! It has my vote for best new musical and score!

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:17pm

Here you go...from the Financial Times' link.

The Book of Mormon, the endlessly cheery, intermittently enjoyable new Broadway musical, can be defined by what it is not. It is not melodically memorable: the effective, disposable songs, by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, plunder at least a dozen shows in the Popular Broadway Songbook, including Bye Bye Birdie, Wicked, and, so overtly that royalties should be paid, The Lion King.

The new musical’s book, written by the same trio, is not sparkling: telling the story of a pair of squeaky-white Mormon missionaries who go to Uganda to convert impoverished, Aids-ridden black natives, the show leans on the mugging of its performers rather than on the inherent wit of its dialogue to score laughs.

Most emphatically, the obscenity-laden The Book of Mormon is not offensive, unless you have not plugged into popular culture for at least a decade. Blame The Producers, the last Broadway musical to achieve such sustained and uproarious audience delight, for dispatching the idea of genuine shock: once you have laughed at the idea of a master race, the sights and sounds of a small village of northern Ugandans singing “F**k you, God” in nonsensical patois is unlikely to aggrieve. Especially when the presentation is so cosy and sweet.

It was on South Park, their long-running animated television show, and in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, their sublime screen musical, that Parker and Stone perfected the formula of sugar-coating the sour. On television, however, the half-hour format ensures that most jokes don’t outstay their welcome.

Stretched to Broadway length, the duo’s patented gags pall: in this surprisingly old-fashioned show, when we get to a trimmable production number called “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”, the comparisons to South Park reach their apogee, and not in favour of the stage musical.

The audience devours all the antics. Casey Nicholaw, who co-directed with Parker and whose previous safe-for-your-teenage-son Broadway musical credit was Spamalot, keeps his actors, especially the terrifically game ensemble who play a chorus of young Mormon missionaries, in whirring motion.

In spite of the attempt to make one of the female villagers, sung affectingly by Nikki M. James, broody towards the white guys, The Book of Mormon is not a romantic comedy. It’s a bromantic comedy, with Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells as the untidy/tidy main Mormon pair. They work hard but the result, for this critic, was comic exhaustion.

Updated On: 3/24/11 at 05:17 PM

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:21pm

Thank you, Play Esq.!

Oof. By my count, that's two negative, one positive, and a mixed that doesn't count but still exists.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:32pm

The two negative also come from comparatively minor publications, in terms of critic clout.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:40pm

HEY I'M JUST SAYIN'!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:57pm

The score is the show's best asset, by far. It's the smartest and catchiest original score I've heard in a long time.
Updated On: 3/24/11 at 05:57 PM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 6:25pm

I went last night as well (standing room) and absolutely loved it. That it was very funny was not a surprise but that it had tremendous heart was for me. It really was wonderful and I totally agree that the score is terrific. I also think that this will have wide appeal. It's even great for families if they have older kids. Can't say enough good about this one. A very deserving hit.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 6:26pm

Ahhhhh I cannot wait to see this. I won't say I am proud I paid so much, but I have a feeling I won't regret it. Definitely the show I'm most excited to see this season.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 7:39pm

^ gurl,you won't.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 7:53pm

LA Times is positive:

"But I found myself eventually acclimating to the profane absurdities and wondering how the faltering plot would eventually sort itself out. The first act goes out in a whimper, but the second, thank the Almighty above, is salvaged by a pageant in which the village converts recap all that they’ve learned from Cunningham to the Mission President (Lewis Cleale) and other visiting dignitaries. It’s a piece of stagecraft that needs to be seen to be believed, and if I attempted a synopsis I would likely be arrested for indecency. Not even the hobbits — you heard right — are chaste.

That said, “The Book of Mormon” survives more on its musical theater prowess than on its dirty-mindedness. The songs, often inspired lampoons of contemporary Broadway styles, are as catchy as they are clever. And Nicholaw’s vivacious choreography allows the numbers to gleefully bounce across Scott Pask’s winking sets."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/03/theater-review-the-book-of-mormon-at-the-eugene-oneill-theatre.html



AMNY is also positive:

"While the plot is somewhat thin and occasionally feels like an overextended sketch, the musical ultimately comes across as fresh, smart and heartfelt."

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/theater-review-the-book-of-mormon-4-stars-1.2780979

[wecrazy]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 8:05pm

The Washington Post is also positive/rave:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/review-of-broadways-the-book-of-mormon/2011/03/24/ABguJSRB_story.html

Updated On: 3/24/11 at 08:05 PM

[steveshack]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 8:29pm

Peter Marks got it.

The marvel of “The Book of Mormon” is that even as it profanes some serious articles of faith, its spirit is anything but mean. The ardently devout and comedically challenged are sure to disagree. Anyone else should excitedly approach the altar of Parker, Stone and Lopez and expect to drink from a cup of some of the sweetest poison ever poured.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 8:59pm

A slam from Ouzounian.

Maybe this is his revenge for still not getting over "Blame Canada."

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:21pm

Chicago Tribune - Positive:
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2011/03/book-of-mormon-broadway-review-south-park.html

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:27pm

Linda Winer of Newsday is positive:

"'The Book of Mormon," the jubilant and expert one-joke Broadway musical by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is everything you should expect from a show by the heat-seeking rascals of "South Park." What you may not expect, however, is the sweetness."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/the-book-of-mormon-on-broadway-1.2778714

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:36pm

It's a good thing women and people over 60 aren't allowed to review theater! Close call for BOM!

I'm sorry but what?

[theatreguy]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:40pm

Some people have been saying that Book of Mormon won't be a hit for long because it doesn't appeal to women and people over 60.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:44pm

And those people are so incredibly wrong. I brought 2 of my female friends, one of whom is Mormon and brought her mother. A splendid time was had by all. Demographics assumptions are not always correct.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:46pm

I haven't seen it but as a woman I am looking forward to it.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:47pm

While we are awaiting the NYT...

Houston Chronicle is positive: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/7490041.html