DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"..."Hello! My name is Elder Gunther and I'm here to spread the word!" Spread the word that a great life changing book is sweeping into the Nation's Capital and taking sold out audiences by storm! With a mere nine Tony Awards under its belt, including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book; The Book of Mormon is now appearing live at The Kennedy Center's Opera House Stage. With award winning music, book, and lyrics from co creators Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone; this irreverent musical sensation is sure to win a place in your heart, converting you to a true believer- a believer that phenomenal theatre is still out there and that the world of Broadway has not yet run out of hilarious original ideas."
Baltimore Sun - Highly Recommended
"...It may be hard to believe, given that it so often suggests an Up with People troupe on heavy drugs, but "The Book of Mormon" is enough to restore one's faith in musical theater."
WeLoveDC - Highly Recommended
"...The show's humor incorporates all available theatrical elements with finesse. Lighting cues turn an otherwise lively but typical tap scene into a frenetic delight. Costumes escalate an otherwise simple song about lying into an imaginative sci-fi dreamworld. Choreography makes a profane joke (or three or four or fifty) so much more profane."
Washington City Paper - Highly Recommended
"...And miracle of miracles, they appear to love their jobs. If the secret to The Book of Mormon's success is that it's a huge-hearted wise-ass of a show, a wicked satire that's ultimately immensely fond of its characters, one secret to this production's success is that it doesn't betray even a hint of we're-trudging-the-hinterlands hauteur. This gang is out to convert audiences to a faith that says heaven can be found in the singing, dancing darkness of a first-rate musical-theater experience, and God bless 'em, they're giving it their collective heart and soul."
Washington Life - Somewhat Recommended
"..."The Book of Mormon" at the Kennedy Center is a polished, well directed production with a talented, energetic cast. There are entertaining and humorous moments. The best one is when the African natives - in an attempt to impress a Mormon dignitary - create an entertainment of a version of The Book of Mormon with "F" words and sexual commentary that is shocking to the Mormon elder. The skit is based on a mixed version of the Mormon holy book that the delightful Christopher John O'Neill, playing the wonderfully clumsy underachiever Elder Cunningham, uses to sell his religion to the Ugandan natives. He actually hasn't read the Book of Mormon. He's a nerd and uses "Star Wars" and other fantasy references to gain his converts. The natives incorporate this fantasy information in a way that is similar to the children in "The King and I" attempting to tell the Uncle Tom's Cabin story."
Washingtonian - Recommended
"...The show's real message-that religion is meant to be allegorical, and we're idiots for thinking otherwise-is so subtle that it almost gets lost among the jubilation of hobbits and Brigham Youngs and Yodas dancing gleefully together onstage. But maybe that's just the Great White Way."
Washington Blade - Highly Recommended
"...Dressed in their white shirts, black ties and pants, they look lifted from the Eisenhower era. "The Book of Mormon," the Broadway favorite from "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and "Avenue Q" co-creator Robert Lop, hilariously trades on this iconic image so ripe for lampooning. And now the first national tour of the delectably irreverent musical is parked at the Kennedy Center through late August. Tickets have been in extremely high demand."
The Georgetowner - Highly Recommended
"...It's the endearing energy that grabs you. You don't need to be a fan of "South Park" humor to figure out why this show is as big as it is. It delivers whole-heartedly -- and with a whole heart -- an evening of great entertainment."
MD Theatre Guide - Recommended
"...With tunes from the naughty and upbeat puppet musical Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and the guys from South Park Trey Parker and Matt Stone (who are not so bad at music either having had an Oscar nominated song previously), there is a peppiness and snap to many of the songs in Book of Mormon that appeal to the traditional musical lover."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
At The Book of Mormon, more than 2,000 people smiled for two and a half hours straight. The musical is an unstoppable laughter machine. Even the toughest critic can expect to have their quibbles drowned in a tsunami of pleasure when they see this show.
