Mormon musical’s humour more English than American

Broadway's hottest musical, which was garlanded last week with a pack-leading 14 Tony nominations, is to visit the West End. The Book of Mormon, written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and acclaimed by critics and rapturous audiences alike, will open “sometime next year”, in London, according to Sonia Friedman, its British producer.

The musical, a scabrously funny but also warm deconstruction of religion that follows two mismatched Mormon missionaries as they attempt to convert a group of African villagers, has been hailed by The New York Times as a “newborn, old-fashioned, pleasure-giving musical”. Ben Brantley, the paper's chief theatre critic, noted that while its language was “more foul-mouthed than David Mamet on a blue streak . . . its heart is as pure as that of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show”.

Friedman, one of theatre's most successful producers, whose Broadway shows scooped 25 Tony nominations last week, revealed that discussions would begin this week on which West End theatre would ultimately house Mormon.

“British audiences will love it,” she told The Times. “Trey and Matt are hugely influenced by the humour of Monty Python and Blackadder. They use irony in a way most American writers don't. Nothing will be lost in translation. Their humour is far more English than it is American.”

read on via The Times

Photo: ‘South Park' and ‘The Book of Mormon' creators Matt Stone (left) and Trey Parker

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.