Composer Robert Lopez plays songs from The Book of Mormon
(Michael Guerriero)
If you’ve ever watched South Park, you know that a few of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's favorite things are organized religion and musical theater. In 2003, they did a musical episode all about Joseph Smith and the founding of Mormonism. This year the show's creators upped the ante considerably — exponentially would not be too strong a word — with a Broadway musical: The Book of Mormon. It’s up for 14 Tony Awards this weekend, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. (Update: It won both, as well as seven others.)
The show follows an odd-couple of Mormon missionaries who are sent to save Uganda. True to its provenance, it’s got tons of profanity and shockingly vile jokes. But The Book of Mormon would not be such a gigantic success if it were a wall-to-wall naughtyfest: it has tremendous intelligence and heart. The show is a buddy movie in musical form, with friendship and love winning the day.
That mix of snarky and sweet is the signature cocktail of the musical's composer and co-creator Robert Lopez, who was also behind the long-running hit Avenue Q. Lopez sat down at the piano to show Kurt Andersen what makes Mormon tick.
Bonus Track: Star Wars and The Book of Mormon
A diehard fan of Star Wars — and its music — Lopez had to give it a shout-out in his score:
→ More performance: Lopez deconstructs the song "All-American Prophet"
→ Slideshow: The Book of Mormon on Broadway
Video: Robert Lopez performs “I Believe”
Blame Canada
Artist: South ParkAlbum: Bigger, Longer, UncutLabel: Atlantic/ Warner Music GroupPurchase: AmazonEveryone's a Little Bit Racist
Artist: John Tartaglia; Stephanie D'Abruzzo; Natalie Venetia Belcon; Jordan Gelber;Ann HaradaAlbum: Avenue Q
Featured Comments
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Fantastic interview. Love you, Alan! You were one of the main influences for me to get back into acting later ...
on Alan Cumming -
Really difficult to convey this as a "sound story" and it was done beautifully. Really compelling.
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Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen is a co-production of Public Radio International and WNYC Radio, and is funded in part by Ken and Lucy Lehman and the National Endowment for the Arts. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our Science and Creativity series is supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Comments [6]
Maybe I'm biased, but I loved it. I found the whole thing incredibly funny. The fact that many Mormons have described it as sweet and sincere it rather telling.
I got my <a href=http://amazonticketsonline.com/The-Book-Of-Mormon>tickets for the Book of Mormon</a> easily, and wouldn't mind seeing it again.
As a Mormon who grew up in Utah and served a two-year mission for the Church, I find "The Book of Mormon" to be quite a benevolent treatment of the Mormon missionary experience. Nothing in it feels like Mormon bashing to me. If "The Book of Mormon" were merely mocking a religion, who would enjoy that? What makes this musical SO successful is that theatre-goers find themselves caring and sympathizing with many of the characters. Though they are Mormons, they represent personalities each of us know and have feelings for. We end up liking them quite a bit. Long may this show run.
@Elaine from LA
If you go to southparkstudios [dot] com and look up Season 7 : "All About Mormons -- A Mormon kid moves to South Park and it's up to Stan to kick his ass. But when Stan and his dad meet their new Mormon neighbors, they become fascinated with how genuinely nice they are."
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s07e12-all-about-mormons
Without irony, really. I think you should give Trey and Matt a chance. Sure they have things to say about Joseph Smith and Moroni, but the Mormon family are some of the few truly sympathetic characters ever depicted on the show.
As for the musical, I'm sure tickets will be available in about five years.
I know many Mormons and they are the sweetest, cleanest, most polite people. I didn't think they deserved this.
At least I'm glad I have met some to make my own judgement.
Lopez: "Well we were talking about this baby rape thing early in the process.... There was one moment where I was like, 'You Know?' and then I just stopped myself... just put aside that whole feeling because I know it is going to work."
Kind of ironic that Lopez had feelings that he turned off when he momentarily felt like cutting the topic of baby rape from the musical. Turn it Off apparently is a strategy that applies to more than Mormons!
I wish you had taken on the question of what ideas about Africa are being portrayed by the musical. I've heard the perspective on Mormonism offered (both making fun and taking serious), but I'm very curious about whether Uganda is just a blank "native" "exotic" backdrop.
I hope I get to see the musical and judge for myself.
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