SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A satirical musical based on Mormon missionaries and LDS culture will open Thursday night on Broadway.
'The Book of Mormon' musical, produced and written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will begin public previews at the Eugene O'Neill Theater.
The play features the exploits of two Mormon missionaries from Utah who travel to Africa to proselyte on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The LDS Church
released a statement about the play on February 7, saying, "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."
Parker and Stone have often lampooned Mormon culture in several South Park Episodes, and featured LDS missionaries in the 1997 independent film "Orgazmo."
The tag line in
the play's web site calls the production "God's Favorite Musical."
An online video promotion for the play quotes a Vogue review of the play proclaiming it as:
"...an extravaganza of jaw-dropping obscenity, hair-raising blasphemy, and irresistible good cheer that may just be the funniest musical of all time."
The LDS Church's online statement links to a May 2009 article entitled
The Publicity Dilemma, which counsels Mormons on how to react to inaccurate, obscene or unfair portrayals of the Church in popular media.
