“Parker and Stone’s musical is not particularly shocking...This is a big-hearted affair that pays note-perfect homage to the sounds and spirit of Broadway’s golden age...‘The Book of Mormon’ is very funny, breathing three-dimensional, all-singing, all-dancing life into the absurdities of literal Mormon dogma without ever being particularly mean...A tremendous show...But...it lacks the satiric purpose and angry animating spark of its creators’ other work.”
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“...this wild, thrilling, go-for-broke, genuinely hilarious musical comedy remains one of the funniest shows in the West End...the show is never mean-spirited; it’s actually rather genial in its equal-opportunities satire...Frankly, it feels like a miracle that this comic gem is still perfectly intact, and still bringing such palpable joy to theatre-goers. I’m a believer!”
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“How refreshing it is to see a show on a West End stage that resonates so widely across the cultural spectrum...Not every number hits the mark...But in the main this is a cornucopia of comedy musical treats...There is little here to genuinely shock, and laughs by the bucketload...By warm-heartedly embracing the medium of musical theatre, Parker and Stone have revealed a maturity and sensitivity lacking from their screen work. And I for one am delighted to welcome them to the fold.”
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“Directed with terrific zap and zestful precision...the show thwacks together a caricature-tendentious view of modern Mormon masculinity with a calculatedly outrageous Lion King-skewed view of Africa. It begins with preternatural comic efficiency...There is also something very winning about its spirit. True, it does not take any really daring risks...But songs, though not especially memorable, have bounce and bite and colour. And the spirit of the piece is tremendously attractive.”
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"The show works at root as a feel good evening, but one that successfully disguises its true nature by eschewing genuine sentiment; that is what is really being parodied most consistently...Nicholaw’s production sells its bare-faced cheek with enormous technical and performance flair and a brash yet disarming puerile charm...The total creation is neither as perfect nor as audacious as it pretends, but it puts over the package so well that...we do not notice."
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“A piece that returns to the traditional values of musical comedy but with an often foul-mouthed irreverence and outrageousness that makes it seem cutting edge...But while acknowledging that it is often damnably clever and sharp, I find it hard to warm to the show...Essentially this is an odd-couple buddy musical...’The Book of Mormon’ strikes me as a decadent and self-indulgent musical, and its mixture of satire and syrup ultimately proves repellent."
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“It offers big belting numbers, witty lyrics, and joyfully athletic dances...Beneath its jollity, is morally null and — without seeming to notice it — pretty racist. Or, at least, colonialist...I am fine with jokes about religion, zealotry, sex, bums, willies, clitorises, all that. And, yes, Mormons bought advertising space in the programme. But I don’t see any Ugandans wanting to. Even though the dances are great.”
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“The most cryingly good night out...The first surprise is how punchingly good the music is. The opening number...Is one of the best intro numbers to a musical...The story they so winningly, foot-stompingly help to tell is by Parker and Stone...And it's about Mormons. And because the story and the bulk of lyrics are by these two, it's bright, fierce, challenging, and unashamedly scatological...It's offensive. In such a good, clever, kind way...A night of unalloyed joy. And damned fine music.”
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