(Click to enlarge.)
The Book of Mormon musical is in Salt Lake City at the moment.
It’s not sold out, I think, but it’s doing very well — as it’s done nationally and even internationally. And, of course, the usual suspects (among others) are extravagantly praising it, and ridiculing those who might be less enthused about it.
In a few cases, by the way, I’m confident that they’re the same people who, misunderstanding the values of prudence and thrift that influence LDS leaders and perhaps knowing very little about finance, have harshly criticized the Church’s building of the City Creek mall — and, for that matter, the building of temples — as a waste of money that could have gone to the poor instead. I can’t help but note that, although those voices are unlikely to complain about it, tickets to the Book of Mormon musical in Salt Lake City are currently available at the box office for between roughly $150 and $500 each. Such sums could have done a lot of good for, say, Ugandans living in poverty.
A lot has also been said about the official and unofficial Mormon reaction to the musical. It’s been measured and temperate, even good humored. We haven’t blown anything up or killed anybody, nor even called for a boycott or waved placards in angry demonstrations. Instead, the Church has taken out ads in the playbills and on buses, seeking to use the notoriety of the Book of Mormon musical to further our obligation of taking the Gospel to the world.
Very wise. And, in that light, perhaps I can be pardoned for dusting off a column that I published in the Deseret News way back in late January 2011. Two plays were in the works at that time that would focus on Mormonism. Of these two, the first appears to have vanished without a trace. (I could have predicted that, from the description that I had read of it.) The second has gone on to become a smash international hit.
In all modesty, I think my 2011 counsel was pretty sound:
Posted from Victoria, British Columbia
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