The Book of Mormon is an American musical comedy with music, lyrics, and book by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. The story follows two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they attempt to preach the faith to the inhabitants of a remote Ugandan village. The earnest young men are challenged by the lack of interest from the locals, who are distracted by more pressing issues such as HIV/AIDS, famine, and oppression by the local warlord.
The show premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in March 2011, starring Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad. It garnered critical acclaim and set records in ticket sales for the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. The Book of Mormon was awarded nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The success of the Broadway production has spawned many stagings worldwide, including a long-running West End replica and several US national tours.
The Book of Mormon has grossed over $900 million, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time. As of September 2026, it is the ninth longest-running Broadway show, having played more than 5,000 performances.
History The Book of Mormon was conceived by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez. Lopez was best known for co-creating the puppet musical Avenue Q (2003). After the success of The Book of Mormon, he later became known for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films Frozen, its sequel Frozen II, and Coco, with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Parker and Stone are best known for their animated television series South Park for Comedy Central. A thread of fascination with Mormonism runs through their work, owing to their upbringing in Colorado, within the so-called Mormon corridor. The two had first thought of a fictionalized Joseph Smith, religious leader and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, while working on an aborted Fox series about historical characters. Additionally, the two had collaborated on several musicals, including their student film Cannibal! The Musical (1993),Zoglin, Richard. "Bigger, Live and Uncut", Time magazine, March 28, 2011, pp. 70–72 as well as South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). Other references to Mormonism in their work prior to the musical include their 1997 film Orgazmo. A 2003 episode of South Park, "All About Mormons", gave comic treatment to the religion, and Joseph Smith was also included as one of the "Super Best Friends", a Justice League parody team of religious figures.
Development During the summer of 2003, Parker and Stone flew to New York City to discuss the script of their new film, Team America: World Police, with friend and producer Scott Rudin (who also produced South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Rudin advised the duo to see the musical Avenue Q on Broadway, finding the cast of marionettes in Team America similar to the puppets of Avenue Q. Parker and Stone went to see the production during that summer and the writer-composers of Avenue Q, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, noticed them in the audience and introduced themselves. Lopez revealed that South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was highly influential in the creation of Avenue Q. The quartet went for drinks afterwards and soon found that each camp wanted to write something involving Joseph Smith. The four began working out details nearly immediately, with the idea to create a modern story formulated early on. For research purposes, the quartet took a road trip to Salt Lake City, where they "interviewed a bunch of missionaries—or ex-missionaries." They had to work around Parker and Stone's South Park schedule.Gardener, Elysa. South Park' duo goes Broadway: 'Mormon' is a 'pro-faith musical. Stage. USA Today. February 21, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
In 2006, Parker and Stone flew to London, where they spent three weeks with Lopez, who was working on the West End production of Avenue Q. There, the three wrote "four or five songs" and came up with the basic idea of the story. After an argument between Parker and Marx, who felt he was not getting enough creative control, Marx was separated from the project. For the next few years, the remaining trio met frequently to develop what they initially called The Book of Mormon: The Musical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "There was a lot of hopping back and forth between L.A. and New York," Parker recalled.
Song alterations Numerous changes were disclosed between the original script and the final production. A song named "Family Home Evening", which was in early workshops of the show, was cut. The warlord in Uganda was called General Kony in previews, but this was changed to General Butt Fucking Naked. The song "The Bible Is a Trilogy" went through a major rewrite to become "All-American Prophet". The earlier version was based on how the third movie in movie trilogies is always the best one and sums up everything, which led to a recurring Matrix joke where a Ugandan man said, "I thought the third Matrix was the worst one," which later changed to "I have maggots in my scrotum" in the rewritten version. The song "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" was originally called "H-E Double Hockey Sticks".
Workshops Lopez pushed to workshop the project, which confused Parker and Stone, who were not familiar with the practice. The crew embarked on the first of a half-dozen workshops that would take place during the next four years, ranging from 30-minute mini-performances for family and friends to much larger-scale renderings of the embryonic show. Parker and Stone spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money, still unconvinced they would take it any further. At an early workshop, a rudimentary animatic was displayed above the actors onstage, as Parker and Stone were unsure as to whether the project should be a stage show or animated film. These developmental workshops were directed by Jason Moore. The first fully staged reading took place at the Vineyard Theatre in February 2008, after which the decision was made to officially develop the project into a stage show. Further workshops were staged in Los Angeles.
Several members of the original cast, including Josh Gad, Rory O’Malley, and Nikki James were involved from its earliest stages. The producers cycled through a series of actors in the search for the right Elder Price, including Benjamin Walker, Cheyenne Jackson, and Daniel Reichard. Three finalists included T. R. Knight, Nick Lachey, and Andrew Rannells, who won the part. There was briefly talk of celebrity stunt casting, including Jack Black as Cunningham. Moore was originally set to direct, but left the production in June 2010. Other directors, including James Lapine, were optioned to join the creative team, but the producers recruited Casey Nicholaw. A final five-week investor's workshop to secure funding took place in August 2010, when Nicholaw came on board as choreographer and co-director with Parker.
Broadway premiere Producers Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino originally planned to stage The Book of Mormon off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in summer 2010, but opted to premiere it directly on Broadway, "[s]ince the guys [Parker and Stone] work best when the stakes are highest." Rudin and Garefino booked the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and hired key players while sets were designed and built. The producers expected the production to cost $11 million, but it came in under budget at $9 million. Hundreds of actors auditioned and 28 were cast. The crew did four weeks of rehearsals, with an additional two weeks of technical rehearsals, and then went directly into previews. The producers first watched the finished production six days before the first paying audience.
2020 revisions In 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Black actors from the original and current casts stated in a letter to the creative team that changes would be needed to reflect modern-day perceptions and avoid tropes that were commonplace in the past. (The Book of Mormon was not alone in this; similar discussions affected several other musicals which touched on African and Black representation at the time, such as The Lion King.) Script revisions were instigated to center the villagers rather than the missionaries and to show them as having more agency than the original script had suggested.
In addition, a sequence in Hell depicts Elder Price being accosted by Genghis Khan, Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler, and Johnnie Cochran was revised: replacing Dahmer with Jeffrey Epstein as Dahmer's cultural relevance had faded since the musical's opening.
Synopsis Act I At a Missionary Training Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, devout missionary-to-be Elder Kevin Price leads his classmates in a demonstration of the door-to-door method to convert people to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Hello!"). Price believes if he prays enough, he will be sent to Orlando, Florida, for his two-year mission. However, he learns he will instead be sent to Uganda and paired with Elder Arnold Cunningham, an insecure, pop culture–obsessed compulsive liar ("Two by Two"). Price is sure he is destined to do something incredible, while Cunningham is just happy to follow ("You and Me (But Mostly Me)").
Upon arrival in northern Uganda, the two are robbed by soldiers of a local warlord, General Butt Fucking Naked. The missionaries are welcomed to the village by Mafala Hatimbi. A group of villagers share their daily reality of living in appalling conditions while being ruled by the General. To help them feel better in times of trouble, the villagers repeat a phrase that translates as "Fuck you, God!" ("Hasa Diga Eebowai").
Price and Cunningham are led to their living quarters by Nabulungi, Mafala's daughter. They meet their fellow missionaries stationed in the area, who have been unable to convert anyone to the Church. Elder McKinley, the district leader, teaches Price and Cunningham to suppress upsetting ideas ("Turn It Off"). By the time they retire for the night, Price is riddled with anxiety, but Cunningham reassures him that he will succeed and that, as his companion, Cunningham will be by his side no matter what ("I Am Here for You").
Price is confident he can succeed where the other elders have failed, teaching the villagers about Joseph Smith through a song that begins as a tribute to Smith but eventually descends into a tribute by Price to himself ("All-American Prophet"). The General arrives and announces his demand for the genital mutilation of all female villagers. After a villager protests, the General murders him. Taking every last measure to protect her, Mafala commands Nabulungi to stay in their house with all the doors locked and windows closed. She protests, insisting that the women of the village will not have to stay in hiding if they listen to the missionaries, as they hold the secrets to liberation, protection, and eternal happiness. Though her protests to go out and talk to them fail, she calms down after remembering how she was moved by Price's promise of an earthly paradise. She yearns to live in that new land, Salt Lake City, with all of her fellow villagers ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti").
The mission president has requested a progress report on their mission. Shocked by the execution and the reality of Africa, Price decides to abandon his mission and requests a transfer to Orlando. Meanwhile, ever-loyal Cunningham assures Price that he will follow him anywhere. However, Price unceremoniously dumps him as mission companion ("I Am Here for You [Reprise]"). Cunningham is crushed and alone, but Nabulungi comes to him, wanting to learn more about the Book of Mormon and having convinced the villagers to listen to him. Cunningham finds the courage to take control of the situation ("Man Up").
Act II