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The Book of Mormon (theatre): Difference between revisions
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The story follows two young [[Mormonism|Mormon]] men who are assigned to [[Uganda]] as part of their mission. One of them is a [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|fresh-faced, eager young man]], while the other one hasn't ''really'' read the Bible yet and keeps accidentally confusing it with popular fiction.
The musical pokes fun at organized religion, but in the end, the characters realize that their faith has inspired them to be better people and to help others. Even if they convey the Bible's stories in a wildly inaccurate way -- typically involving [[Lord of the Rings|Mordor]] and [[Star Wars|Boba Fett]] -- their honesty and optimism ends up convincing their Ugandan students to convert to Mormonism and try to make the world a better place.
The cast album was released, and became the best-selling cast album of all time on iTunes, beating out ''[[American Idiot]]'' and reaching #2. The full soundtrack can be streamed for free on [http://www.facebook.com/TheBookOfMormonOnBroadway?sk=app_105329372892362 the official Facebook page].
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The show won a huge number of [[Tony Awards]], including Best Musical.
Not to be confused with the actual religious text [[The Book of Mormon (
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* [[Artistic License Religion]] - The mechanics of how a mission operates are completely off:
** Missionaries find out where they're going via mail long before they go to the Missionary Training Center.
** They also don't spend their entire two years with the same companion; they're usually at least a hundred or so missionaries in different areas of a mission boundary (which, while it may vary in size, is almost ''certainly'' larger than just one village). The opportunity to be assigned to a different companion/area within the mission comes up every 6 weeks.
** Likewise, some liberties are taken with Mormon history and beliefs -- at least 11 other people claimed to have seen the Golden Plates, and Mormons don't actually believe in a literal Hell as portrayed in "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream".
** Granted, if the musical did follow all the rules of missionary life and stuck completely to Mormon doctrine, it [[Pragmatic Adaptation|would have had a completely different plot]].
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* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: The Ugandans, particularly their first song, "Hasa Diga Eebowai", which translates to {{spoiler|Fuck You, God}}.
* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: Elder Price's idea of torture during "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" involves being force-fed coffee
* [[Country Matters]]: The Ugandans enjoy this swear almost as much as the F bomb.
* [[Creator Cameo]]: Trey Parker and Matt Stone provide the voices of the Narrator, Mormon the Nephite, and ''[[Jesus Christ]]'' in the opening scenes of Act I and II.
* [[Crossover Cosmology]]: Elder Cunningham starts mixing the Mormon theology... with stuff from ''[[Star Wars]]'' and ''[[Lord of the Rings]].''
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* [[Dialogue Reversal]]: When Elder Price and Elder Cunningham reprise "But Mostly Me", the titular line of dialogue is spoken by Cunningham instead.
* [[Disney Acid Sequence]]: Spooky Mormon Hell Dream
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]:
** "Baptize Me" includes a multitude of [[Double Entendre|Double Entendres]]. Yes, a song about ''baptism'' turns it into a double entendre.
** The moment when General Butt Fucking Naked and his guards close in on {{spoiler|Elder Price}} is reminiscent of a scene from the story of Abinadi in ''[[The Book of Mormon (
* [[Dead Baby Comedy]]: More specifically, raped baby comedy.
* [[Disney Princess]]: [[Word of God]] says that Nabulungi is a parody of these.
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream".
* [[Geeky Analogy]]: Elder Cunningham rationalizes concepts of [[The Book of Mormon (
{{quote|'''Cunningham:''' You mean [[The Bible]] is a trilogy and the Book of Mormon is ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''? }}
* [[G-Rated Drug]]: Coffee, to Elder Price at least.
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* [[Man Child]]: Elder Cunningham.
* [[Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number]]: "Man Up" becomes one about half way through.
* [[Mighty Whitey]]: Parodied in "I Am Africa," which is sung by the (very white) missionaries.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]:
** [[Invoked Trope]] by the various Elders' stories in "Turn It Off".
** Played straight when General Butt Fucking Naked arrives. We get all of two minutes to laugh at his name...before he point-blank shoots a rebellious villager, complete with blood spurting out of the villager's head.
** Played straight when {{spoiler|Elder Price is about to be attacked by General Butt Naked, there is some humor in it, but the the scene and music is overall suspenseful... then whiplash to a lighthearted, playful tune as the scene shifts to Elder Cunningham.}}
* [[Musicalis Interruptus]]: "All American Prophet" is momentarily interrupted by the running gag. Notable in that it's a rare example of a song being interrupted by something else sung. (And the interrupting song fits into the previous rhyme, which is even more impressive.)
* [[Oh Crap]]: You can tell the music is doing this when we learn Elder Price and Elder Cunningham are going to Uganda. Yes, ''that'' Uganda.
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** "I have maggots in my scrotum." <ref> Which may double as [[Fridge Horror]] if you think about the fact that maggots eat only ''decaying flesh.''</ref>
** Elder McKinley's [[Transparent Closet]].
** Cunningham messing up Nabulungi's name.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Due to the show's nature as a parody, there are a lot of music shout-outs.
** "Joseph Smith American Moses" is likely an homage to "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" from ''[[The King and I]]''.
** Also, "You And Me (But Mostly Me)" seems to be a parody of "The Wizard and I" from ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]''. It also has similar chords to "Defying Gravity".
** "I Believe" has an opening that parodies "I Have Confidence" from ''[[The Sound of Music]]''.
** A chunk of "All American Prophet" has Elder Price imitating Robert Preston's sing-talking from ''[[The Music Man]]'', while the rest of it is a shout-out to [[Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]].
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