Review: 'Book of Mormon' musical still irreverently fun

“The Book of Mormon” is back in town this week with all its sassy insights and irreverent humor completely intact.

By now, many of you are familiar with this musical, either from seeing it when it was presented as part of the PNC Broadway Across America — Pittsburgh series or from word of mouth that portrays it either as anti-religious impudence or an outrageous, funny comedy that takes a few well-aimed shots at religious beliefs in general and Mormon doctrine in specific.

That it is irreverent should come as no surprise to anyone who knows that the book, music and lyrics are the work of “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in collaboration with Robert Lopez, whose musical “Avenue Q” introduced us to the raunchy sex lives of puppets.

It's best enjoyed by those whose early years were spent devouring issues of Mad magazine or chuckling over the blue-streaked utterance of the kids on “South Park.”

It's definitely not for those who take their religion seriously and literally or those who prefer their musical comedies without a side serving of profanity sprinkled with mentions of lady parts.

But once you get past the over-the-top language, it's clear all of this edginess masks the truth that “The Book of Mormon” is also a surprisingly traditional musical complete with a glitzy tap number, and a spectacular dance interlude in “Spooky Mormon Hell.”

The story concerns a pair of young Mormon men sent to serve a two-year mission of spreading their religion to the people of Uganda.

Once removed from the protective bubble of their like-minded families, they quickly find they are woefully ill-equipped to explain their religion to people beset with poverty, AIDS, a warlord and general chaos. The simplistic wisdom of “Turn It Off” may have worked in Salt Lake City, but it is no help in a more complex environment.

Elder Price, a young man brimming with entitlement and hubris who has spent his life preparing to do great things, is dismayed that his God has dispatched him to this hell hole and paired him to serve with Elder Cunningham, a needy, overly affectionate guy with a habit of telling lies that sound like truth.

The mission is on the brink of failure when Elder Cunningham begins improving on the Book of Mormon's text with references to “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings” and the Starship Enterprise.

Roles are reversed, recruitment rises and — in true Broadway musical tradition — everyone learns a few valuable lessons while we sprint to a happy, yet satisfyingly funny ending.

The cast is headed by three young talents, two of whom are recent Carnegie Mellon University grads — David Larsen, who plays the quickly disillusioned Elder Price, and Denee Benton, who plays the naive and lovely village girl Nabulungi. She puts her voice to poignant use on “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” (say it really fast and you'll catch on).

The third lead, Cody Jamison Strand's Elder Cunningham, starts out as necessarily annoying but grows endearing as the show progresses.

Doing the real heavy lifting on this show is an energetic and versatile ensemble of quick-change artists — Derry native Jake Emmerling among them — that transform from villagers to inhabitants of Hell to missionaries in seconds.

It's a fast-paced romp that wraps a hard-edged shell around a soft center of sweetly familiar caramel.

Alice T. Carter is the theater critic for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at acarter@tribweb.com.