The nation’s favorite musical about proselytizing Mormons is returning to Hampton Roads this weekend.
The national Broadway tour of “The Book of Mormon” opens Friday and runs through Sunday at Chrysler Hall. The show — written by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matthew Stone, along with Robert Lopez, the co-writer of the stage hit “Avenue Q” — debuted on Broadway in 2011 to rave reviews.
“It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals,” wrote Peter Marks, theater critic for The Washington Post.
It won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, and took home the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The plot centers around two Mormons who are training for missions in Uganda to convert the residents of a village. Upon arrival, they learn that the village is wracked by AIDS and ruled over by the show’s antagonist “The General.”
“It’s not just one type of people, or one group of people, getting talked about or made fun of …” said Dewight Braxton Jr., who plays the General, “… it’s everyone!”
Having toured with the show for two years, Braxton estimates that the song “Man Up” probably gets the most laughs:
“I’m taking the reins, / I’m crossing the bear! / Just like Jesus, / I’m growing a pair!”
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
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If you go
When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Blvd., Norfolk
Tickets: Start at $50
Details: sevenvenues.com
