This book can change your life.
“And when you think ‘Book of Mormon,’ you think, ‘Broadway musical,'” Braver put to Trey Parker.
“You think, perfect! That’s exactly what we thought,” he replied.
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Photos; “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway
Total sense – if you are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the irreverent creators of “South Park. They’ve had such a longtime fascination with Mormonism, the religion founded in 1830 in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, that they did an episode of their TV show about it. (“God and Jesus appeared before me and they said I should start my own church because none of the others had it right.”)
“Mormonism is an American religion, and it’s young, and you can kind of look at its origins and its stories a little bit easier,” said Stone. “It’s not 2,000 years ago. It’s only 200 years ago.”
“And when we met Bobby, and he had the same thought, we were just like yeah! It’s perfect!” said Parker.
“Bobby” is Robert Lopez, one of the creators of the Broadway hit “Avenue Q.” He met the “South Park” guys when they came to see that musical:
“And after the show I took them out for a drink, and they said, ‘What are you working on next,” Lopez said. “And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been thinking about doing something about Mormons or about Joseph Smith.’ And they said, ‘That’s what we’ve been wanting to do since college. We’ve had that in our back pocket.'”
“So, how weird that? That all three of you were fascinated and thought it was a subject for musical comedy?” asked Braver.
It was weird enough – they called it “a sign” – they decided to do it together.
What ensued was seven years in the making!
“Two by two, we’re marching door to door,
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