The “Book of Mormon,” the hit musical comedy that centers around two young missionaries, recently racked up nine Tony awards including “Best Musical.”
So how do practicing Mormons feel about the notoriety?
If the current “I’m A Mormon” campaign is any indication, LDS religious leaders have decided to use the current buzz to promote their religion by focusing on the everyday lives of a wide variety of Americans who also happen to be Mormons. Nationwide billboards, television ads and a website (mormon.org) capture personal vignettes with an “I’m A Mormon” tag line.
Mormons in the Miami Valley have been forthcoming as well.
“Our religion has been life-changing for me,” says Lisa Evans, a former Oakwood resident who, along with her husband is preparing to serve a three-year mission for the church in Japan.
Evans is the talented singer/songwriter who started the “Red Hotz and Lollipops” singing and dancing music camp for kids, which marks its 20th anniversary at a Victoria Theatre concert July 21. She says she shouted “We won!” when “Book of Mormon” was named Best Musical.
“At first I was really nervous when I heard that Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators and writers of the animated series “South Park”) were writing a musical about the Book of Mormon,” she admits. But after learning more about the show and listening to a few of the songs, Evans now believes the show is “a light-hearted spoof that does not mean to harm.” Many have even labeled it “sweet.”
Evans says she doubts she’ll ever see the “Book of Mormon” on Broadway but concludes it’s nice to be considered mainstream enough to be the subject of a hit musical.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if the “Book of Mormon” was more like ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ‘Godspell,’ or ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat’?” she asks. “Hopefully, that is our future.”
Evans was especially happy to hear Parker’s acceptance speech, saying they’d created the show because they secretly wanted to have a big happy Mormon family.
“I can’t complain because I’ve enjoyed being part of a big happy Mormon family my whole life,” says the mother of four who grew up with eight siblings. She’s also “thrilled” that Mitt Romney is running for president.
“I was a fundraiser for him last year and hosted fundraising events in Dayton and Cleveland,” says Evans, who has known Romney for more than 30 years. Officially, the church does not endorse political candidates.
Matt Bowman of Arlington, Va., who holds a doctorate in American religious history from Georgetown University, is currently writing a history of the Mormon church, which will be released next winter by Random House.
A Mormon who left the church and then returned, he believes the recent notoriety has been good for the religion and good for America.
“America has a lot of suspicions about Mormons and much of this attention will go a pretty long way to dispel it,” Bowman believes.
“At the same time, the Mormons are learning how to engage with public attention and with the media, and learning how to behave like full members of the public square.”
The message of the Broadway show, he says, is this: Religious people believe silly and absurd things, but that doesn’t stop them from being decent and good people. Today’s missionaries, he explains, are more likely to be teaching English in foreign countries or working within a Mormon congregation around the world than knocking on people’s doors. “They’ve learned that doesn’t work, he says.”
John Ward speaks for many committed Mormons when he says the best way to learn about the Book of Mormon is to read the book.
As president of the Dayton Ohio Stake (a designation similar to a Catholic diocese), Ward oversees 10 congregations in the Dayton area. “I recognize the show itself is primarily created for entertainment and commercial purposes,” he says.
“Those purposes are quite opposite of my interests in and appreciation for the Book of Mormon as a book of scripture ....The Book of Mormon has had a significant impact on my life and the lives of many others as we have put into practice the selfless principles and doctrines of love and service taught by Jesus Christ.”
His stake will sponsor a free community patriotic concert tonight at West Carrollton High School.
Josh Blumenthal who grew up in Dayton and now lives in Philadelphia, saw the “Book of Mormon” in New York recently with his parents, Helene and Gary Blumenthal of Clayton. They all enjoyed the show.
“I think the writers use Mormons as an example of how religious groups often try to convert others without realizing that the story of a religion is less important than the morals behind religious stories,” Blumenthal observes.
“The unyielding happiness that the missionaries exhibit lends itself brilliantly to Broadway song and dance, but their commitment to conversion often constrains them from considering other avenues to that happiness. I think the message of the play is if we get outside the box of the way things ‘have’ to be, maybe we can all get along.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or MMoss@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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