THE BOOK OF MORMON - A CD Review by Me

The idea of a musical about Mormons may sound strange, but years ago there was a musical on Broadway entitled URINETOWN and it was a hit, so why don’t give Mormons a chance to sing and dance? The result was a big winner at this year Tonys and a box-office success.

I haven’t seen the show yet (living in Lisbon, Portugal, makes it a little bit difficult), but the Broadway Cast recording has already arrived at my hands and I had a fun time listening to it.

Written by the guys responsible for the famous “South Park”, with the help of AVENUE Q’s Robert Lopez, this score has a lot of four letter words in its lyrics and sometimes I think they went too far (“Joseph Smith American Moses”), that meaning it isn’t for everyone’s taste. Even so, the lyrics are sometimes hilarious and we forget all the “sinful” words” (“Hasa Diga Eebowai”). The authors we’re really inspired and their imagination and humor is, most of the time, contagious; just listen to “All American Prophet”, “I Believe” or “Turn It Off” to understand what I mean.

Surprisingly, most of the music is melodious. Although this isn’t exactly my type of music (sometimes it’s too modern for me - “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” or “Man Up”) there are some catchy tunes like “Two by Two” and, no surprise here, my favorite “Turn It Off”. Some of the songs reminded me of Stephen Schwartz.

The cast sounds great and the “saint” boys really shine here. Andrew Rannells strongly delivers “I Believe”, Josh Gad has his big moment in the duet “Baptize Me” and Rory O’Malley has a terrific time with “Turn It Off”. On the female department, Nikki M. James is a revelation with “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” and “Baptize Me”.

I’ve to confess that if I had power over the Tonys, I would have given the Best Original Score to SISTER ACT, but even so this is a joyful score, with plenty to discover and to laugh with.

Rate: 3 (from 1 to 5)

Read more CD reviews at http://www.jorgeplace.com/Cast_Reviews.htm