Friday, March 18, 2011
Matt Stone and Trey Parker on 'The Book of Mormon'
WSJ.com: "Religion has long provided ample source material for Matt Stone and Trey Parker, best friends who nearly 15 years ago created 'South Park,' the animated television show about four boys—and a lot of dirty jokes. For that show, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have mined Judaism, Catholicism, Islam—and even atheism—to make audiences laugh. Now, the comedic writers have relocated from Los Angeles to New York to stage their first Broadway musical, 'The Book of Mormon,' which they wrote and directed with 'Avenue Q' writer Robert Lopez.
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5 comments:
I saw this show over Spring Break and I loved it. On one hand it was a very atypical show yet on the other it was a traditional musical. These three guys did an excellent job of taking the style they developed with south park and merging it with traditional musical theatre. It was interesting the differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen as they commented on in the article. I think it is impressive that they are able to do both so well and it really speaks to their talents.
Being a diehard Stone and Parker fan myself, I was more than obligated to see this show when it was in previews over spring break. Spectacular. Absolutely amazing. Audiences that are not familiar with Matt and Trey's work outside of South Park will be surprised at the show, and maybe even disappointed in it. It's true to that humor of the show is more Avenue Q than South Park, but if you think about it, Avenue Q is exactly what a Broadway friendly version of South Park would look like. If you go to the show expecting them to completely make fun of Mormonism, you will not find what you are looking for. Instead, Matt and Trey embrace the religion and celebrate their own confusion with the whole thing. Mormons who have gone to see it love it for the fact that Stone and Parker definitely did their research. There are jokes in the show that only a Mormon would get and that is appreciated. As Trey said in an interview with John Stewart, "I think they're just happy that SOMEBODY is paying attention to them". I highly recommend the show to everyone. The scenery is perfectly executed, the songs are expertly written and choreographed, and the cast could not have been better chosen. I'll say it now, this show will win a Tony for Best New Musical.
I also had the opportunity to see the show over spring break and found it hilarious and a great work. Forming the story around Mormons worked perfectly for them and they did an excellent job providing a South Park feel on stage. As they say in the article, they can always change jokes in South Park easily, but on stage you cant just throw something else in. They were able to get the right amount of ridiculous with the creativity and originality in the way they presented their jokes. If you are a mormon or not, South Park fan or not they did a good job at capturing a screen feel, and without completely insulting someone or some group beyond belief.
It is so interesting to read the opinions of two very successful writers talk about the differences between writing for the stage versus writing for the screen. Of course it is interesting to read again what their view on religion is, and how they just have fun writing and entertaining people based off of these religions. I have heard so many great things about this musical, and just by seeing the Mormon episode on South Park, I can understand why people don't think it is simply an offensive piece of theatre doing an injustice to the Mormon religion.
I am glad that the show doesn't just make fun of Mormons. It is much more interesting that way. I think this show and other shows about religion are important. The role of religion in today's society is confusing and at times completely forgotten. Even the way that Matt Stone answered the question of his own religion shows the confused and conflicting views on the topic. I think we are going to be seeing more shows exploring this once untouchable area of society both comedic and dramatic.
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