It’s taken eight years of touring the U.S. for The Book Of Mormon to pay its first visit to the Ahmanson, but the 2011 Best Musical Tony winner’s distinctive mix of raunch, romance, hilarity, and heart make it a show worth waiting for as it continues to pack them in NYC.

As anyone who knows Broadway can tell you, the Trey Parker-Robert Lopez-Matt Stone smash pokes (or makes, depending on your POV) fun of the “free book” touted in its title and of those whose faith in it takes them (or at least the male half of them) on two-year message-spreading missions to romantic destinations like Norway, France, Japan, and—in the case of Elders Price (Liam Tobin) and Cunningham (Jordan Matthew Brown)—Uganda, the land of famine, poverty, AIDS and female genital mutilation. (Oy vey!)

Missionaries Price and Cunningham couldn’t be a more mismatched pair, the former an all-American golden boy, the latter an inveterate expert at “making things up,” and neither one prepared to be greeted upon arrival in Africa by soldiers who rob them at gunpoint.

Fortunately for the two newbie Word-spreaders, most villagers couldn’t be lovelier (despite arguably the foulest mouths in Broadway history), and loveliest of all is the enchanting Nabulungi (Aliyah Chanelle Scott), whose dreams of visiting faraway “Sal Tlay Ka Siti,” Utah, set Cunningham’s still virginal heart aflutter.

Already serving on the local missionary team is District Leader Elder McKinley (Andy Huntington Jones, doubling as Moroni), whose Utah boy-next-door-ness masks a young man’s attempts to deal with same-sex longings in time-tested Mormon fashion, i.e. by simply “turning it off.” (As if.)

Also figuring prominently in Book Of Mormon are blood-thirsty village ruler General Butt-Fucking Naked (Corey Jones), Nabulungi’s adoring father Mafala (Jacques C. Smith), and a few post-missionary-age Mormons (Ron Bohmer in multiple roles).

Everything works to perfection in The Book Of Mormon, from Casey Nicholaw and Parker’s Tony-winning direction, as inspired a joint effort as Broadway has seen in decades, to book writers Parker, Lopez, and Stone’s Tony-winning coming-of-age-tale, one which gets us to caring about its cast of characters, both American and Ugandan, by allowing us little by little to see them not as stereotypes but as real human beings.

Lopez, and Stone’s Tony-winning songs are as original as they are intentionally derivative, from the echoes of Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked in “You And Me (But Mostly Me)” to the R-rated spoofing of “Hakuna Matata” in “Hasa Diga Eebowai” to a scatological “Joseph Smith American Moses” that takes an iconic “The King And I” ballet and runs wild-and-crazy with it.

And you can add to that about half a dozen tear-inducingly gorgeous songs that manage to be at once hilarious and moving, plus choreography that invokes 42nd Street taps, Saturday Night Fever disco, Lion King tribal moves, and just every nightmare dream sequence ever staged.

Charismatic young Broadway vet Tobin’s Elder Price is everything you’d want a tall, handsome, charming Mormon-boy-next-door to be, Scott’s Nabulungi (aka Neutrogena aka Neosporin aka Nissan Altima) lights up the stage like nobody’s business, Jones (Cinderella’s swoonworthy Prince at the Ahmanson a few years back) makes for the most irresistible of closet cases, and all three are as vocally blessed as they get.

L.A. favorite Smith’s best-dad-in-Uganda Mafala Hatimbi, Jones’s you-do-not-want-to-mess-with-him General, and Bohmer’s I-can-play-any-part medley of adults light up the stage as do triple-threat-tastic ensemble members Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd (a standout as the village’s smiling-despite-maggots-in-his-privates Doctor), Daniel Fetter, Patrick Graver, Terrie Lynne, Josh Marin, Stoney B. Mootoo, San Diego’s very own Dylan James Mulvaney, Eddie Olmo II, Kent Overshown, Monica L. Patton (Mrs. Brown), Connor Russell, Sean Seymour (Cunningham’s Dad), Matthew Sims, Jr., swing Leonard E. Sullivan (Guard) Steven Telsey (Mormon), and Brinie Wallace.

 Still, if there’s any Book Of Mormon Boy folks will be talking about long after curtain call, it’s scene stealer extraordinaire Brown’s ever so huggable Elder Cunningham, whose irrepressible spirit combined with the goofiest of grins, frequent hysterical bursts of laughter, and some of the best pipes in town earn him deserved cheers.

Scott Pask’s Tony-winning scenic design features quite possibly the most godforsaken African village to ever fill a Broadway stage and Ann Roth’s eclectic costumes couldn’t be more fabulous. Brian MacDevitt’s lighting design, Brian Ronan’s sound design, and Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus’s orchestrations all won Tonys, and deservedly so.

Providing expert musical direction at the Ahmanson is Andrew Graham, displaying keyboard artistry while conducting from the pit.

Luke Monday stands by for Elder Price. Star-Making Performance Scenie winner Jacob Ben-Shmuel and Jonathan Sangster stand by for Elder Cunningham. Swings Tsilala Brock (assistant dance captain), Ricardo Coke-Thomas, Scott Difford, Bre Jackson, Henry Mcginniss, Nurney, Christian Probst (dance captain), and J Nycole Ralph are poised to go on at a moment’s notice.

Associate directors Steve Bebout and Jennifer Werner and associate choreographer John MacInnis continue to ensure that Nicholaw and Parker’s original vision remains fresh and alive on tour.

Paige Grant is production stage manager, Jason J. Carroll is stage manager, and Jenn Elyse Jacobs is assistant stage manager.

Unlike the best-selling tome that bears its name, The Book Of Mormon may not actually “change your life,” but for two and a quarter hours you can rest assured that this most irresistible of musicals will make it a whole lot brighter. Eight years into touring, Elders Price and Cunningham are going stronger than ever.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
February 19, 2020
Photos: Julieta Cervantes

Tags: Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles Theater Review, Matt Stone, Robert Lopez, Trey Parker