The Book of Mormon is performing at Pantages Theatre – CA through November 25, 2012. Here is the review by Katie Buenneke (Theater Editor) at NeonTommy.com.
Ladies and gentlemen, if I had not just spent all my money on a ticket to see “The Book of Mormon” at the Pantages, I would wager you money that I enjoyed the aforementioned show less than you will, should you choose to see it.
This is not an attempt on my part to try and be a pretentious theater critic (goodness knows just my being a theater critic makes me more than pretentious enough already) or to be contrary for the sake of being contrary. It also doesn’t mean that I don’t think that people should see “The Book of Mormon.” It just means that I didn’t love it as much as most people probably will.
To preface, I should note that I saw the original production last summer and enjoyed it immensely. The show, which follows two young Mormons (Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner) on their mission to Uganda, is a funny one—as is expected from a show written by the creators of “South Park,” Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the composer of “Avenue Q,” Bobby Lopez. “The Book of Mormon,” like its creators’ previous works, does not shy away from crassness, and preaches a very twenty-first century brand of humor, chock full of pop culture references and metatheatrical moments.
Unfortunately for me, though, the show did not hold up quite so well upon a second viewing. Perhaps it was because I already knew what all the jokes were—though there are some shows I’ve seen countless times, and still laugh at every joke. However, I suspect that this is another case like my second viewing “Newsies”—as I watched “The Book of Mormon,” I couldn’t help but feel that the cast’s energy was kind of down. Granted, this was their fourth out of five shows on this unusually hot weekend, but still, I got the impression that these professional actors were going through the motions (literally) more than anything else. Also distracting was the fact that many moments came off as a poorly-transcribed copy of the New York production.
Read the complete review Via {NeonTommy.com}
The Book of Mormon will continue performances at the Pantages Theatre through November 25, 2012. Buy The Book of Mormon Los Angeles CA Tickets Online at discounted prices, Get $10 OFF on Orders of $350 or more by using code AFF$10.
Not logged in