Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
By: Jeffrey Kare Dec. 31, 2015
The Book of Mormon is an original musical that tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries who are sent to a remote village in Uganda, where they try to share one of their scriptures, The Book of Mormon (hence the title), but have trouble connecting with the locals who are more worried about war, poverty, and AIDS than religion.
After seven years of development, the musical made its Broadway debut on March 24th, 2011 where it became the smash hit of the season. Earning some overwhelming praise from the critics, winning 9 Tony Awards (including Best Musical), and the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Following a sold out run at DPAC last year, The Book of Mormon returns to the Triangle area for an encore presentation!
Leading this enormously talented cast are David Larsen as the optimistic Elder Price and Cody Jamison Strand as the nerdy Elder Cunningham. The two share such great onstage chemistry. But the standout here is Candace Quarrels as the sweet and naive Nabulungi. Though everyone else in the cast deserves their own round of applause.
The musical itself, created by South Park's Trey Parker & Matt Stone along with Avenue Q's Robert Lopez not only offers up some outrageous musical comedy, but also a very heartfelt show filled with tons of pop culture references. Under the cinematic direction of co-creator Trey Parker and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, the show runs very smoothly from beginning to end. Nicholaw also displays his talents as a choreographer with some very energetic dance numbers. From Brian MacDevitt's lighting designs, to Scott Pask's sets, to Ann Roth's costumes, the visuals of the show are almost like a coat of many colors!
This is what I like to call a great musical comedy because The Book of Mormon truly is something incredible! This national touring production is currently playing at Durham Performing Arts Center through January 10th, 2016.
For more information regarding the tour, please visit: http://bookofmormonbroadway.com/tour
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