arts // no. §

Tomorrow Is a latter day

>» ‘The Book of Mormon’ musical review

Roshni Riar
Staff Writer

 

keen

n September 25, The Book of

Mormon—in conjunction with
Broadway Across Canada—opented its six-
day run at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in
downtown Vancouver. As a relative newbie
to the world of musicals I wasn’t sure what
to expect, but as the rating I gave the show
might indicate, I could not have been more
impressed.

The Book of Mormon is a comedy
musical that follows two missionaries,
the model Mormon Elder Price (played
by Kevin Clay) and the eccentric and
desperate Elder Cunningham (Conner
Pierson), who upon graduating missionary
training are sent to Uganda for their first
posting with the hope of bringing in new
recruits. What follows is their hilarious,
brutal, and surprisingly earnest attempt at
teaching the word of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the people
of the Ugandan village in which they are
living.

To say that the set design, lighting,
and precisely-orchestrated score were the
most impressive things about the show
wouldn't be hyperbolic in the slightest. The
different scenes slid, spun, and transitioned
from one to the next with such fluidity that
it felt like there could be no other way to
witness the changing of settings. Different

backdrops lifted and dropped to set the
characters’ surroundings and sometimes
interact with them in unexpected ways.
There was a simple moment during the
song “You and Me (But Mostly Me)”

where Elder Cunningham is struggling

to stand out against Elder Price, and the
backdrop—three black walls of fabric—
closes in on Elder Cunningham as he falls
to his stomach and struggles to stay visible.
It was like watching an iris out, a technique
that was typical in old television shows
right before credits roll, and it was visually
striking.

The cast were all exceptional but
those who stood out to me beyond the two
protagonists were Elder McKinley (played
by Andy Huntington Jones), a Mormon
missionary who struggles to repress his
homosexuality to keep hold of his faith,
and Nabulungi (Kayla Pecchioni), a girl
in the Ugandan village who befriends the
two Elders on their mission. They both
portrayed their characters brilliantly,
from subtlety in emotion and humour to
embodying their parts in the many songs
that featured them. The musical contained
a running joke in which Elder Cunningham
kept mispronouncing Nabulungi’s name
until it just morphed into him saying
random words that began with N and even
though his lines were funny, her reactions
were what sold it.

I highly encourage you to listen to the
soundtrack of The Book of Mormon when
you get a chance. Ever since I watched

the show I’ve either had a song from the
musical stuck in my head or have been
listening the soundtrack any chance I get.

l expected good things from the writers of
the script, with music and lyrics by Trey
Parker, Matt Stone, and Robert Lopez
(Parker and Stone are the creators of South
Park), and | was right to assume they'd
knock it out of the park. The songs, most of
them either incredibly upbeat or dramatic
in sound, feature heavy criticism of religion
sprinkled throughout the lyrics, subtly but
effectively. The commentary on organized
religion is presented in such an implicit
way that it made me think on the impact of
the words more than if it had been spelled
out for the audience.

My favourite song is “Turn It Off”, a
song that the missionaries who welcome
Elder Price and Elder Cunningham sing
to explain how they don't get down about

 

Complexity solves the mystery

» ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ play review

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

keen

‘ve been waiting to see this play ever since

I found out about it from an incident in
2013 where the roof of the theatre collapsed
during a performance of this play and the
audience thought that it was part of the
show. When the play won the Tony Award
for Best Play in 2013, I learned that the
mystery is interesting and curious and that
it is an innovative and visually dazzling
production. I knew going in that the Arts
Club production of The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time would be a great
and entertaining play. After watching it, I'd
say that it is the best play of this decade.

Based on the bestselling book by Mark

Haddon, Christopher Boone (Adventures
in Public School and Alex Strangelove's
Daniel Doheny) has autism and he lives
with his father, Ed (Todd Thomson),
because his mother, Judy (Jennifer
Copping), passed away from a heart attack
recently. Christopher likes math a lot
and wants to be an astronaut. While he
understands the things around him, he
does not have the words to express them.
When their neighbour's dog, Wellington,
is found murdered with a red garden fork,
Christopher goes into detective work to
solve the curious incident. As he gets more

clues from interviewing various people
around him, including strangers, more
mysteries are created that must be solved.

During the play, Christopher's
assistant in school, Siobhan (Ghazal
Azarbad), narrates the story and goes
inside Christopher's mind. The design
of the set has space for projections that
show what he is talking about and answer
questions. The set is well-designed and
shows the wonders of space, which
matches Christopher's fascination with it.

If you watch the play very carefully,
you will probably figure out who murdered
Wellington within 20 minutes of it.
Throughout the play, almost every actor in
it also plays other characters. For example,
Arggy Jenati plays a lot of people who live
in apartments. The choreography during
the scenes when Christopher walks, which
are mainly featured in Act II, are so good
that the entire cast makes contemporary
dance look cool. Everyone in the play is
great; there are fantastic performances
from Doheny and Azarbad, who both do
an excellent job showing the relationship
between a student and his assistant.

Like the characters that he played
in Adventures in Public School and this
play, Doheny is fascinated with space,
and he likes Neil deGrasse Tyson and
reads his books—which I found out when
I had the chance to ask him a question
during the Q&A after a Talkback Tuesday

 

performance. When I asked the cast about
the complexity of the mystery in the play,
Micheal Querin, who plays Reverend
Peters, said that the overture sounds like
detective music and it sets a fun instead

of serious mood, which makes the curious
incident curious. The cast also talked about
Christopher being lonely and how it affects
his parents and him solving the mystery of
who murdered Wellington.

theotherpress.ca

the fact they haven’t made any progress on
their mission work in Uganda up to that
point. They explain how when they feel any
doubt or confusion, they just use a “nifty
little Mormon trick” and turn off their
emotions. I thought that was incredibly
relatable and it made me wonder how
many people actually feel that way about
religion or emotions in general. It was both
funny and thought-provoking at the same
time—much like the rest of the show,
really.

As the house lights went up at the end
of the two-hour show, the audience leapt
to their feet and broke out in a thunderous
applause. Looking around at the laughing
faces around me, I finally understood why
The Book of Mormon has won nine Tony
Awards and garnered such critical acclaim
in its time on Broadway.

Photo of A.J. Holmes and First National
Tour Cast via ‘The Book of Mormon

Photo by David Cooper

The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time is a contemporary and
technological play that shows a person
who is different, doing things that others
thought wasn’t possible. It is a show worth
seeing. The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time is now playing at the
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until
October 7.