Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON at Des Moines Performing Arts

After announcing it as part of its 2019-2020 season, Des Moines Performing Arts is finally able to bring another of its pre- covid shows to the stage. This time is the return of the raunchy but amusing "The Book of Mormon." In its fourth stop on its new tour, the show took to the Civic Center stage on October 7, and those in attendance were happy to welcome the tour to Des Moines.

For those who have not seen the show, "The Book of Mormon" tells the story of Elder Price. He has become one of the best of his classmates at Mission Training Center, and he dreams of serving his two-year mission in his favorite place, Orlando. When he gets paired with his mission partner, he is paired with someone opposite of him, Elder Cunningham. Things couldn't get worse, right? He then finds out they will be going to Uganda. When they get to Uganda, their luggage is stolen, and they soon find that there have been no baptisms in this area. When they arrive, they meet Nabulungi, who yearns to get out of Uganda. Will they be able to get any baptisms? Will Nabulungi get out of Uganda? To find out, you will have to see the show.

One of the great things about having an organization like Des Moines Performing Arts is that they can sometimes bring in shows at the beginning of their tours. Des Moines was the 4th stop on the current tour of "The Book of Mormon." Generally, with a tour, they have a day off between cities. With this tour, they closed in Springfield, MO one day and opened in Des Moines the next. This short turnaround was felt in the first act of the show. There were a few technical issues that seemed to affect the cast. Once we got to the scenes in Uganda, the energy started picking up, and when we came back from intermission, it felt like the energy was where it was supposed to be. The good news is the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish, even with the technical issues, which is what is important in the end.

As with every show, there were some stand-out moments with the cast. One of them was Berlande as Nabulungi. She found a way to tap into Nabulungi's yearning for a better life that I hadn't seen before. This allowed us to see how it could be so easy to hear of a promise of paradise and follow it as far as possible. It makes it even more devastating when she learns that she won't get the dream she was looking for and allowed us to feel that pain and devastation to her character.

The other stand-out of the night for me was Sam Nackman as Elder Cunningham. This was a surprise for me because, at first, there were some nods he had to the actor who originated the role. It made the role feel like an imitation at first, but a few scenes in, we started to see some of Nackman's character choices, which were hysterical. By the end of the first act, I was fully invested in his character and was excited to see what he brought in the second act.

While the show may have had some issues at the start, in the end, "The Book of Mormon" was a delight to everyone in attendance. Whether it's your first time seeing the show or you are returning to see it again, the show will have you singing "Ma'hanibu eebowai" you came to see it. "The Book of Mormon" is playing at Des Moines Performing Arts as part of the Willis Broadway Series for a limited time through October 9.

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