Review: The BOOK OF MORMON Makes Welcome Return to Dr. Phillips Center's Front Door

There’s no better place to see THE BOOK OF MORMON on tour than Orlando. This is, after all, protagonist Elder Price’s dream destination for his cusp-of-manhood Mormon mission.  

Price loves Orlando for the same reason so many of us do: theme parks, putt-putt, bright suns, and endless entertainment. Some of the show’s biggest, beltiest notes are dedicated to the lyrics, “I love you Orlando,” and you’ll find no crowd more enthusiastic than the local patrons in Dr. Phillips Center who feel exactly the same way.

But just as relatable as his fantasy of life in the land of castles and coasters is the disillusionment he feels when reality reveals itself. For us Orlandoans, it’s the day-to-day drudgery that, all too soon, makes magic take a backseat. For Elder Price, it’s a mission to Uganda instead — a place that, at least in BOOK OF MORMON’s imagination, is as far from Fantastyand as a Latter-Day Saint could ever fear to be.

It’s an intentionally offensive show, but also undeniably uproariously funny. The comedy is so daring that it still feels fresh and forbidden some thirteen years after its Broadway bow — and on at least its third visit to Orlando. Yes, the show is poking fun at faith, ridiculing the sincerely held beliefs of about 7 million Mormon Americans (a tiny fraction of which live in the Sunshine State). And yes, the show is essentially “othering” Ugandans in a way that never feels as palatable as its creators hope it to be, even if it is clearly done to underscore the patronizing naivete of its overeager (and thoroughly Caucasian) young evangelists, who double as a kind of proxy for our own self-centeredness.

The show works because it forces us to identify with these well-meaning Mormon kids, which has the double effect of indicting our own sense of cultural supremacy while also softening the slurs toward its Latter-Day Saints. We’re invited to care and even root for Elder Price and his socially awkward sidekick, Elder Cunningham. Their struggle to reconcile the classroom Christianity they learned at the Missionary Training Center with the realities of faith in a modern, grown-up world will feel familiar to anyone who has examined lifelong beliefs through the lens of life experience.

Ultimately, the show’s sharpest critique is of the American tendency to Americanize Christianity, and that particular criticism resonates more profoundly today than at any other time in the show’s run. So it isn’t just that Orlando is the perfect place to watch Book of Mormon. It’s that October 2024 may just be the perfect time too.

The non-Equity tour comes equipped with handsome scenic design that mostly approximates that seen on Broadway, mercifully featuring physical set pieces rather than projection backdrops. Technical problems plagued opening night like locusts descending on Egypt, forcing Act One into an abrupt hiatus (and eventual scene reset) just before intermission, with a few more missed mic cues in Act Two. The cast were game, though, and so was the crowd.

Sam McLellan captures all of Elder Price’s earnestness and, later, his crisis of faith, in easy comedic and dramatic stride. His singing voice is serviceable for most of Elder Price’s solos but falls short in the all-important high notes of “I Believe.”

Consistently, Diego Enrico in the role of Elder Cunningham outshines McLellan as an almost distractingly stronger singer. You keep wishing you could hear him handle both parts. But Enrico isn’t otherwise doing much with Cunningham that isn’t an impression of Josh Gad, who originated the role. Then again, he happens to be very good at that impression and totally steals the show.

And Keke Nesbit is exuberant as Nabulungi, one of the Ugandan village’s daughters, elevating the entire production with heart-on-sleeve earnestness and her beautifully emotive singing voice.

BOOK OF MORMON may be not for everyone. Coming from the creators of “South Park,” how could it be? But it is smart, funny, well-intentioned, sports some of the strongest showtunes of the last twenty years, and has a distinctive point of view. To boot, it’s full of clever allusions to other classic musicals, making it rewarding for even the most seasoned of theatregoers, provided they’re willing to leave their sensitivity out in the lobby.

Even after a few past visits here, BOOK OF MORMON is still welcome to ring Orlando’s doorbell whenever it wants — and our “hello” will always be as eager as Elder Price booking his next trip here.

Photo Credit: Diego Enrico, Keke Nesbitt, Sam McLellan, and the company in THE BOOK OF MORMON North American Tour, Photo by Julieta Cervante

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