Trey Parker and Matt Stone are two of the most loved and hated creative minds in today’s pop culture.
They’re the legendary creators behind “Cannibal! The Musical,” “Team America” and America’s favorite foul-mouthed fourth graders who live in Colorado, “South Park.”
Now the two are fulfilling lifelong dreams of making it to the Great White Way with their brand new Broadway show, “The Book of Mormon.”
In an interview with The Eagle, Parker and Stone talked about their project that has been more than seven years in the making.
“I’ve been wanting to make musicals ever since I was a kid,” said Parker, who is an avid Broadway fan and has been trying to “force musicals into everything we do.”
The musical follows two young Mormon missionaries who are sent to Uganda, Africa. They find that the Ugandans have given up hope, illustrated in the song “Fuck You, God!”
But Parker and Stone aren’t the only minds behind this production. Robert Lopez has joined the duo in writing “The Book of Mormon.” Lopez is most noted for his hand in co-writing the wildly successful “Avenue Q,” which runs in the same vein of “South Park’s” humor and is one of the top 20 longest-running musicals.
Parker and Stone said that they’re not only mocking religion in the irreverent fashion their followers are used to, but they are also celebrating Mormonism.
Eugene O’Neill theatre, where the show is currently playing, is getting a whole range of audience members.
“The first few nights were definitely very ‘South Park’ fan-driven and were like a Santa Monica rock concert,” Stone said. “But then the Broadway crowd started showing up, but they seemed to like it just as much.”
And yes, even Mormons are enjoying the show. Maybe even more so than non-Mormon viewers who don’t get all of the inside jokes.
“We didn’t really sit down and say, ‘OK who are we doing this for?’ because we never do that, we just always do what we do. Then see who watches it,” Stone said. “But so far we’ve been pleasantly surprised.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
