From the team behind the hit TV show, South Park comes the smash-hit multi-award-winning musical The Book of Mormon. With Tony's, Olivier's and a Grammy behind it the musical says "Hello" to Nottingham as part of a UK and Ireland Tour but does it live up to the hype?
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| The Book of Mormon UK touring company. Photo by Paul Coltas |
Yes is the answer. It's ridiculously funny and ridiculously outrageous, it's certainly not a show for the prudish mind. You will certainly never look at a frog the same way again!
The premise of the show is as pairs of missionary Mormons are being sent around the globe to attempt to preach the faith to inhabitants we follow the central pairing of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham who are sent to Uganda where they're up against villagers who are battling HIV/Aids, famine, female genital mutilation, oh and the small matter of a murdering local warlord. We follow Price and Cunningham through the ups and downs of their time in the village.
As you may suspect from Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Avenue Q's Robert Lopez the humour is right on the edge. It's often loudly outrageous and at times you may question your own moral compass but the whole thing is marvellously bonkers that you have to just be swept along with it.
Musically the show is pepped with fantastic numbers that stick in your head (the sign of any good musical) long after the show. Does anyone who has seen the show say hello in the same way anymore? You have a great variety of styles you have a Hakuna Matata style number in "Hasa Diga Eebowai" (though I best not tell you what that means), a big solo ballad in "I Believe" or the sheer madness of "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" which sees Price suffer a nightmare that includes such figures as Genghis Khan, Satan and Adolf Hitler making appearances. The fantastic 10-person orchestra under musical director Colm O'Regan makes a great sound throughout.
Impressively for a touring production, nothing feels scaled back in the slightest. There's a vast array of scenery and lighting. The set by Scott Pask excellently takes us from the Missionary Training Centre to the Ugandan village. There's brilliant detail in the design and it really helps in setting the scene. Moments like the aforementioned "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" feature clever design and paired with Brian MacDevitt's superb lighting design create a visual treat to watch.
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| Conner Peirson (Elder Cunningham), Aviva Tulley (Nabulungi) and Robert Colvin (Elder Price). Photo by Paul Coltas |
The show is led by an excellent Robert Colvin as Elder Price who does a fine job carrying the role especially as things begin to unravel for him and the dream of Orlando grows ever stronger. Conner Peirson is undeniably outstanding as Elder Cunningham, his energy and comedic eye makes him instantly likeable. Conner clearly has a natural talent for comedy and delights in the delivery especially as he constantly gets Nabulungi's name wrong.
Nabulungi is played by the warm talent of Aviva Tulley. She has the most wonderful vocals and gives lovely performance. She is the calm oasis in this mayhem of frivolity and stupidity. There's impressive work by all including Jordan Lee Davies who plays multiple characters, Ewen Cummins as Mafala Hatimbi, Thomas Vernal as the commanding General and Darren John who looks like he's constantly having the most fun in every scene. It's a strong cast across the board.
For me, the second act felt the strongest with the whole hour having me laughing away, whereas the first act doesn't really take off until you get to Uganda but once the ball really gets rolling you just have to throw all the troubles away and to just enjoy the ride.
The Book of Mormon is a sure-fire success, just don't take your prudish or easily offended friends along, there's strong language and adult themes throughout. A laugh-along blast of bonkers fun.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Book of Mormon continues at Nottingham's Theatre Royal until Saturday 10th September. Tickets are available from https://trch.co.uk/. The tour continues with stops in Edinburgh, Sunderland and Glasgow before the end of 2022. Visit https://thebookofmormonmusical.com/ for booking details.
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| Photo by Paul Coltas |
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