The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[Best Aunt]

I saw Mean Girls the other night. It was good not great. The teens seemed to like it. My teen daughter liked it, she gave it an 8 out of 10. It falls behind Dear Evan Hansen & Boys in the Band for her. I'm not a huge fan of the movie either so that might have been part of the issue for me. We had the understudy for Regina which was disappointing I was hoping to see Taylor. Janis and Damien stole the show for me.

I thought Gretchen Wieners was great in the show - both the way the role was written and the acting. I also so the understudy for Regina; I thought that character was written better for the movie than the show.

 

[aprilgail]

Awesome! I’m seeing Hamilton this holiday season. It’s finally coming down to South Florida.

My brother’s been getting me exposed into more Broadway musicals. I’ve seen Jersey Boys, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King in NYC. I’m hopefully seeing Dear Evan Hansen in December. I’d love to see The Book of Mormon, it’s my absolute favorite. My brother dressed up like Elder Price at Supercon. He was super popular lol!

My daughter and I saw Book Of Mormon when she was 15- we loved it! WE are going to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Wednesday (both parts!)

 

[L&Lfan]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

 

[CarolAnn856]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

We are seeing it later today, but based on the lyrics, and based on the very little I know about Mormons, I don't think it would go over well with many, but maybe some are more chill than I realize. The language and many topics are are definitely NSFW, and they poke fun at the founding of the denomination and its beliefs.

ETA: I found an interesting article on NPR about this very subject:
https://www.npr.org/2015/08/02/428643358/in-utah-book-of-mormon-strikes-a-chord

 

[Newsies]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

I guess whether or not a Mormon would be offended by the show is up to the individual-- the show is pretty off-color, so I'd assume there'd be a fair mix of Mormons who enjoy the show and Mormons who don't.

The Church of LDS as an institution has demonstrated support for the show. If you open up the Playbills, the Church has paid for advertisements encouraging audiences to explore the Mormon faith. I think the tagline they use is "the book is way better" or something cute like that.

 

[elgerber]

I guess whether or not a Mormon would be offended by the show is up to the individual-- the show is pretty off-color, so I'd assume there'd be a fair mix of Mormons who enjoy the show and Mormons who don't. Like South Park, the humor is

The Church of LDS as an institution has demonstrated support for the show. If you open up the Playbills, the Church has paid for advertisements encouraging audiences to explore the Mormon faith. I think the tagline they use is "the book is way better" or something cute like that.

The tagline when I've seen it is "you've seen the show, now read the book". It would entirely depend on the individual, I have some very dear friends who are Mormons and I don't think they would be bothered by it. But I know some would. Honestly, the show skews so many groups, they are not the only target who could be offended.

 

[Araminta18]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

As a Mormon, (not presuming to speak for all Mormons), it depends on the individual. Some of my LDS friends think its *hilarious*, for others, it's a bit too off-color for them. Me personally, I love Broadway but I haven't seen it. Some of the songs and lyrics I have seen made me realize I wouldn't enjoy it. That being said, the LDS church as a whole has decided that rather than fight it, to embrace the publicity and make the best of it. I think it did blockbuster business in Utah when the tour came to Salt Lake though!

 

[aprilgail]

I guess whether or not a Mormon would be offended by the show is up to the individual-- the show is pretty off-color, so I'd assume there'd be a fair mix of Mormons who enjoy the show and Mormons who don't.

The Church of LDS as an institution has demonstrated support for the show. If you open up the Playbills, the Church has paid for advertisements encouraging audiences to explore the Mormon faith. I think the tagline they use is "the book is way better" or something cute like that.

I don't know if a Mormon would be offended but one of the times we saw it (we saw it three times-easy lottery to win to buy cheap tickets)- we had an older couple behind us who walked out in the middle!

 

[softball chick]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

I know I have heard of Mormon's being on both sides of the fence with this one. Some love it as a satirical look at their religion while others are not fans. The same though can be said for some of my Christian friends - I absolutely love it while others do not like it (particularly the one song about how the Africans feel about God). I do know that the many times I've seen it (I think I'm at 6 or 7), there have been advertisements in the Playbill about reading the Book of Mormon and there were missionaries stationed outside of the theatre before the show passing out information.

 

[CarolAnn856]

On the train home now. We loved it! So many laugh-out-loud moments, fantastic singing, and my son, the theater production major, was blown away by the sets and lighting. He tried to swing by the audio board just to see it at the end, but he was swimming upstream from where we were sitting, so that didn't happen.

I'd definitely see it again, but I would rank Kinky Boots as slightly higher favorite for me, personally. We ended up deciding not to try for a matinee also, so it was a one-show day.

 

[L&Lfan]

I just don't know....I appreciate your input....but I just don't know if I could enjoy a show where someone's religion is mocked....even if I'm not a member of that religion. I can't deny though that the show's a hit. The Mormons seem to be real troopers in making lemonade out of lemons. But it just seems odd to me that a show that blatantly takes on a specific group of people wouldn't have been met with more controversy. Seems as if Mormons are fair game where other religions are not. JMO.

 

[CarolAnn856]

I just don't know....I appreciate your input....but I just don't know if I could enjoy a show where someone's religion is mocked....even if I'm not a member of that religion. I can't deny though that the show's a hit. The Mormons seem to be real troopers in making lemonade out of lemons. But it just seems odd to me that a show that blatantly takes on a specific group of people wouldn't have been met with more controversy. Seems as if Mormons are fair game where other religions are not. JMO.

Everyone has their own comfort level and there are so many great shows, you still have tons to choose from. For me, having grown up Catholic, I laugh right along with the many times those practices are lampooned. This show didn't feel too different than that kind of stuff. Granted, I changed to a different denomination, but even when I was Catholic it didn't bother me.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I am thinking of California. But I do want to go back to see in NYC this is an elephant in the room we need to discuss.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDkdKgjVu_/

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Would a Mormon be offended by Book of Mormon? Or do they embrace the show as spoof? Is the humor offensive or light hearted?

its not really about Mormons per se. Its about religion in general. Its really about any religion using mormons as an example. The whole plot of the musical is when religion is used literally then its kind of useless and when used metaphorically then it can actually do good.
I will not go into it because I do not wanted to be kicked off the boards talking about religion and politics
But it really is satire/ social commentary about religion in general rather than just attacking Mormons. Considering the actual Mormon Church has a full page ad in the playbill I am also going to say no. But no its actually a well constructed a bit pedestrian show.

 

[CarolAnn856]

I am thinking of California. But I do want to go back to see in NYC this is an elephant in the room we need to discuss.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDkdKgjVu_/

Huh?

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Huh?

click on the link you will see the elephant

 

[CarolAnn856]

click on the link you will see the elephant

Ah, it wasn't loading for me earlier. Amazing set!

 

[DeniseJH]

click on the link you will see the elephant

I loved it so much that I'm thinking of going to NY to see it again! Damn it was good!

 

[Nancyg56]

My first broadway show was Chicago and hated it. Luckily it was so long ago that I don’t remember it (or maybe it was so bad I blocked it out of my memory lol). It was a college class assignment so I had to see it or I wouldn’t have!

So my question is- is there a broadway show you wish you didn’t see?

Cats.

Cats!

This! I hated every minute.

 

[kashzan]

I am fortunate enough that I can see almost everything I want to see on Broadway. It is a passion of mine.
I saw Cats in the 80's and hated every second. When it came around again 2 years ago I thought I would give it another chance. I hated it even more the second time.
Can't wait for Sunday the 24th of August. Both parts of Harry Potter. We bought our tickets exactly 1 year ago !