We, Steve, Rick, Rumi and I, went to see the national tour of The Book of Mormon, at the  Municipal Auditorium Music Hall. The Book of Mormon follows two young Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda, who soon discover their training did not quite prepare them for the world outside of Salt Lake City. Elder Price, an enthusiastic lad who fully expects his Heavenly Father to bless his proselytizing efforts, even though he’d rather have been assigned to his favorite city, Orlando, Florida. Elder Cunningham is his missionary companion, a socially awkward nerd who has problems telling the truth. These wide-eyed fellows get more than they bargained for when they encounter the crushing poverty and repressive conditions the local people face. The two missionaries discover a world rife with superstition, ignorance and violence and people with little interest in a brand of theology by white Americans in the 19th century. However, Elder Cunningham is able to draw converts by inventing a religious narrative that is basically a science-fiction mix of stories with some of his own wild embellishments.

With 18 musical numbers, using the F-bomb as a mainstay in the lyrics, and jokes about AIDS, female circumcision, dysentery and African poverty, one has to sit back and go with the music and story. Otherwise, you would have to leave within the first 15 minutes. It did help that at times the sound was fuzzy so the words were not easily understood. The question is, was that on purpose so the audience would not walk out?

The Broadway production opened in March 2011 and went on to win nine Tony’s, including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Director.