Is it more appropriate to marvel that The Book of Mormon, the celebrated Tony-winner from 2011, has finally arrived in Arkansas in 2019 or that it slipped past the Bible Belt and made it here at all?
Then again an expletive-laced Broadway musical written by the notorious South Park satirists Trey Parker and Matt Stone along with Robert Lopez, of Avenue Q and Frozen fame, is an improbable thing in and of itself. A musical that features two exuberant Mormon missionaries on a soul-saving trip to Uganda would seem to be even more improbable.
The touring company presenting The Book of Mormon served to Wednesday night’s capacity crowd at Robinson Center Music Hall a performance that never flagged in enthusiasm or lacked polish. As a result, the musical maintained its ability to shock (vulgar jokes such as name of a warlord are still as jaw-dropping some eight years later) but wasn’t just a rude middle finger to the religion of Brigham Young. Instead, the show is something a lot more surprising – a genuine vehicle for old-fashioned (you could even say conservative) Great White Way values of character revealed through dazzling song and dance.
At the heart of the musical is the bromance between Elder Price (Robert Colvin), who believes he is destined to do something great for the church and that it will likely be in his city of dreams, Orlando, Florida and Elder Cunningham (Conner Peirson), the spastic nerd who is happy to follow as long as he can finally have a friend. Their dream of converting an African village are met by the hard reality of the villagers who are fighting off a warlord intent on circumcising females and suffering from the ravages of AIDS.
None of this should work and yet practically all of it does. “Turn It Off,” a song about suppression of ungodly feelings, is an infectious, show-stopping tap dance number. “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” lets Genghis Khan and Johnnie Cochran trip the light fantastic with twirling Starbucks cups. Colvin and Peirson are stunning – actors who fully inhabit their distinct characters while belting out song after song.
The Book of Mormon continues at 7:30 p.m. through Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway, Little Rock. Presenter: Celebrity Attractions. Tickets: $35-$128; a pre-show lottery for each performance at the box office for a limited number of $25 tickets. Call (501) 244-8800; (800) 982-2787 (ARTS) Ticketmaster.com.