Praise be, The Book of Mormon is back

You just knew when the creators of TV’s South Park turned their attention to Broadway, you’d end up with an irreverent hit musical.

The Book of Mormon is just that, scooping up nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, and Best Direction, as well as numerous other drama awards and even a Grammy.

During its first year, the show was consistently one of the top five bestselling shows on Broadway and set records for ticket sales. It has toured the world, including sold-out shows in Edmonton in past years, and is coming back by popular demand this fall.

What makes The Book of Mormon so appealing is that it has true humanity under all that ribald hilarity.

Broadway Across Canada is bringing the production back for a limited engagement Sept. 11-16 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium before coming to the Northern Alberta Jubilee Sept. 18-23 and then heading off to Vancouver.

The Book of Mormon is the first Broadway musical by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, who wrote the book, music and lyrics along with Robert Lopez, co-creator of the long-running hit musical Avenue Q.

First staged in 2011, The Book of Mormon is a musical comedy about two young missionaries who travel to a remote village in Uganda to preach the Mormon religion.

The two young men are so absorbed with sharing their scripture that they can’t fathom why the locals are more preoccupied with issues such as AIDS, famine and oppression from the local warlord.

“What makes The Book of Mormon so appealing is that it has true humanity under all that ribald hilarity,” theatre reviewer Louis Hobson wrote in 2016.

“At its heart, The Book of Mormon is telling us that true believers in any religion can do a great deal of good.”

Single tickets will go on sale June 25 at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster by visiting ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-800-889-8457. Group orders of 10 or more may be placed by calling 1-800889-8457.