“The Book Of Mormon” ( Milwaukee) reviewed by Amy Menzel

★★★★★Did you hear that? Was that a doorbell? Might be, because The Book of Mormon is in town (Milwaukee) now through March 2.

Praise abounds for this show; The New York Times calls it “the best musical of this century.” I haven’t seen all the musicals of this century myself, but after last night’s performance, I understand the acclaim (and the 9 Tony Awards it won when the production made its Broadway debut in 2011). The book, music, and lyrics were developed by the creative team of Trey Parker,
Matt Stone (co-creators of the animated series South Park) and EGOT winner, Robert Lopez,
which is to say that the show sprung from a whole lot of talent, satire, and sass.

The musical follows two young men embarking on their mission trip to spread the word of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, only to find themselves faced with some very real-world challenges that their gospel may not be able to adequately address. That’s thePG-summary. The actual show is anything but PG. And it’s really, really funny.

Folks in Tuesday night’s full-house crowd seemed to know exactly what to expect and they (we) loved it. If this is the first you’re hearing about this show, you should know… (1) that, as
advertised, The Book of Mormon “contains explicit language” and “parental discretion is advised,” and (2) even given that warning, you might still be shocked. If you’re anything like me, you definitely will be shocked – not just by sharp satire and colorful language, but also by how hilarious you find it all to be. I’m still laughing thinking about numbers like “Turn It Off,” “Man Up,” and “I Believe.”

This tour consists of an exceptionally talented young cast and, despite a lot of shake up in roles last night, they didn’t miss a beat, step, or punchline.

Tickets are still available, but limited, so if you wanna catch this stop of the national tour, stop
reading here and immediately head over to marcuscenter.org to purchase your tickets. Check
out future performance dates at thebookofmormontour.com.

The Book of Mormon plays at Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Performing Arts Center (Milwaukee)
and runs through March 2.
Wednesday – 7:30 p.m.
Thursday – 7:30 p.m.
Friday – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday – 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday – 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Sign Language Interpretation: March 1 at 2:00 pm

Run time 2 hours 25 minutes with one intermission