40 Fun Facts About The Book of Mormon (Musical)

The Book of Mormon follows two young missionaries sent to a remote village in which African country?

Uganda is where the earnest pair find villagers far more worried about famine, disease and a local warlord than about the message they have come to preach.

The LDS Church answered The Book of Mormon by buying adverts for its scripture in which publication?

The Playbill handed out at many venues has carried church adverts inviting people who have just seen the show to try reading the scripture itself.

Hasa Diga Eebowai in The Book of Mormon is a parody of which song from Disney's The Lion King?

Hakuna Matata gets a dark twist: the villagers' cheerful-sounding phrase, sung to lift their spirits in hard times, turns out to be a curse aimed at God.

Which actor, later the voice of Olaf the snowman, was Broadway's first Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon?

Josh Gad earned a Tony nomination as the hapless sidekick and left the show in June 2012, the year before his snowman reached cinemas.

Book of Mormon writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone are best known for creating which animated TV series?

South Park had already sent up the religion in a 2003 episode, eight years before its creators took the subject to Broadway.

After losing his faith in Act II of The Book of Mormon, Elder Price drowns his sorrows in which drink?

Coffee is his rebellion of choice because Latter-day Saints are taught to avoid it, so for a model missionary a few cups count as hitting rock bottom.

At the start of The Book of Mormon, Elder Price prays to be sent on his mission to which Florida city?

Orlando is his idea of paradise, so learning he is bound for Africa instead, paired with an awkward companion, is the first big shock of his mission.

Book of Mormon co-writer Robert Lopez went on to co-write the songs for which Disney animated hit?

Frozen arrived two years after his Broadway smash, with songs Lopez wrote alongside his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

Which state capital does Nabulungi imagine as an earthly paradise in her Act I solo in The Book of Mormon?

Salt Lake City sounds like heaven to her after Elder Price promises a paradise on Earth, and she dreams of moving there with the whole village.

Which actor, later Elijah in HBO's Girls, originated Elder Price in The Book of Mormon on Broadway?

Andrew Rannells earned a Tony nomination as the golden-boy missionary and shared in the Grammy won by the original cast album.

Which angel, guardian of the golden plates, joins Joseph Smith in The Book of Mormon's All-American Prophet?

Moroni is the angel said to have watched over the plates buried near Smith's home, which is why statues of him stand atop many Latter-day Saint temples.

At which Broadway musical did Trey Parker and Matt Stone first meet Book of Mormon co-writer Robert Lopez?

Avenue Q was Lopez's own puppet-filled hit; he spotted the pair in the audience in 2003, and over drinks they found they all wanted to write about Joseph Smith.

Which future Dear Evan Hansen star played Elder Cunningham in the Chicago production of The Book of Mormon?

Ben Platt dropped out of Columbia University after seven weeks to honour his contract with the show, then took the role to Broadway in 2014.

Which late-night host spent much of a 2011 interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone praising The Book of Mormon?

Jon Stewart raved about it on The Daily Show on March 10, two weeks before the production's official opening night on Broadway.

As the Mormon musical ends, Elder Cunningham's converts go door to door with which newly written scripture?

The Book of Arnold is named for Elder Cunningham, whose improvised tall tales have become a faith of their own, with even the warlord joining the door-knockers.

Which district leader teaches the new arrivals to suppress upsetting thoughts in The Book of Mormon's Turn It Off?

Elder McKinley runs a mission that has yet to convert a single villager, and his coping advice becomes a full chorus-line number about repression.

Book of Mormon writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone owe their interest in the faith to growing up in which state?

Colorado lies within the so-called Mormon corridor, so the pair grew up around church members long before they wrote a show about them.

Which Elder Cunningham number closes Act I of The Book of Mormon?

Man Up arrives once Nabulungi tells him the villagers are finally willing to listen, pushing a born follower to take the lead.

Which actress won the 2011 Tony for Best Featured Actress as Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon?

Nikki M. James was the only member of the cast to take home a Tony that night, even though three of her co-stars were nominated too.

Which O.J. Simpson defense lawyer torments Elder Price in his nightmare of Hell in The Book of Mormon?

Johnnie Cochran turns up among the damned beside Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler, all of them scolding Price for abandoning his mission companion.

Which Star Trek officer joins Darth Vader and hobbits as Elder Cunningham's conscience in The Book of Mormon?

Lt. Uhura scolds him along with Yoda and his own father as he mixes science fiction into scripture to stop the villagers walking out.

In his Act II solo in The Book of Mormon, Elder Price declares that God lives on which planet?

Kolob comes from the Book of Abraham, where it is a star nearest the throne of God rather than his home, one of several beliefs the song stretches.

How do the villagers in The Book of Mormon say they always understood Elder Cunningham's invented stories?

The villagers took the tales as metaphors all along, which stuns Nabulungi, who had just told them the stories were untrue.

Matt Stone described The Book of Mormon as a love letter to religion written by what kind of person?

An atheist's love letter is how Stone summed it up: the show mocks church teachings while painting its missionaries as well-meaning optimists.

Which future star of FX's Atlanta made his Broadway debut in the original cast of The Book of Mormon?

Brian Tyree Henry played the warlord known as the General, five years before finding television fame as the rapper Paper Boi.

At which Broadway venue did The Book of Mormon open in March 2011?

The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, named for the playwright, saw the show break its weekly sales record 22 times in the first year alone.

Which boy-band singer was among the three finalists to play Elder Price in The Book of Mormon on Broadway?

Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees reached the last three with Grey's Anatomy actor T. R. Knight, but the part went to a Broadway regular instead.

In which city did The Book of Mormon's first North American tour begin previews before opening in Los Angeles?

Denver saw the tour first, in August 2012, four months earlier than planned; the official opening night followed at the Pantages Theatre.

The first Australian production of The Book of Mormon opened in 2017 at the Princess Theatre in which city?

Melbourne's run broke box-office records before it had even opened, and the same cast later took the show on to Sydney.

Which choreographer co-directed The Book of Mormon on Broadway with Trey Parker, sharing a Tony for Best Direction?

Casey Nicholaw came aboard after the original director left in 2010, and went on to stage Aladdin and Mean Girls on Broadway.

A 2013 gala performance by the London cast of The Book of Mormon raised £200,000 for which British charity?

Comic Relief received the money for Red Nose Day from a gala staged on March 13, eight days before the West End production officially opened.

In previews of The Book of Mormon, the village warlord was named after which real rebel leader?

Joseph Kony, head of the Lord's Resistance Army, lent his surname to the character in previews, until the writers swapped in a far ruder name.

The warlord in The Book of Mormon was inspired by a real commander from which West African country's civil war?

Liberia's Joshua Blahyi fought under the nom de guerre the show borrows; he later became a preacher and testified before a truth commission.

Which Oscar-winning film producer brought The Book of Mormon to Broadway alongside Anne Garefino?

Scott Rudin first planned a smaller off-Broadway staging, then decided the writers did their best work when the stakes were highest.

The opening scenes of both acts of The Book of Mormon parody which long-running Latter-day Saint outdoor production?

The Hill Cumorah Pageant drew about 35,000 people a year to Palmyra, New York, before the church staged it for the last time in 2019.

Which American actor won an Olivier Award for originating Elder Price in the West End's The Book of Mormon?

Gavin Creel had already led the first US tour before taking the part to London, where he was named Best Actor in a Musical in 2014.

Which actor earned a Tony nomination as The Book of Mormon's district leader before playing King George in Hamilton?

Rory O'Malley led the chorus-line number about repression as the head of the mission, then wore the crown on Broadway from April 2016.

At which West End venue did The Book of Mormon open in March 2013?

The Prince of Wales Theatre, just off Leicester Square, has seen the show become the longest-running musical in the building's history.

The first non-English version of The Book of Mormon opened in January 2017 in which European capital?

Stockholm's Chinateatern staged it in Swedish, and a Norwegian version followed that autumn with demand that crashed the ticketing website.

Which future star of HBO's The Gilded Age played Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon on tour and in the West End?

Denée Benton counted it as her first prominent professional role, years before she played a pioneering journalist on television.