Anyone who has ever seen an episode of South Park, or movies such as Cannibal! The Musical and Team America: World Police, knows that comical song-and-dance numbers about the most irreverent subjects can break out at any moment whenever Trey Parker and Matt Stone are involved. Taking that satirical approach to Broadway, The Book of Mormon (the duo’s collaboration with Avenue Q songwriter Robert Lopez) has won numerous Tony Awards and become one of the most critically and financially successful musicals in recent memory since it opened in 2011.
Photo by The Book of Mormon Broadway Tour.
Having gotten his musical theater start while attending Wichita State University, Daxton Bloomquist’s first big production contract was the Broadway production of Mormon for almost two years. Now part of The Book of Mormon Broadway Tour, he currently portrays Elder McKinley, one of the Latter Day Saints church members leading a missionary trip to Uganda.
“The show is definitely a Trey Parker/Matt Stone production,” he says. “They try to make you a little bit uncomfortable. Within all that discomfort, you can find some cool moments in the show that are exciting to feel. It actually has a sincerity to it that if you can get past the crude humor and some of the funny things we throw out there, it really does have a great message. That’s what’s kept it going for so long is how inspiring the show can be, if you allow yourself to be open to it. I think it surprises a lot of people.”
Considering the lowbrow, yet thought-provoking, comedy Parker and Stone are known for, one might think that Mormon is quite different from what a trained musical actor is accustomed to performing. Bloomquist, however, says this show goes right along with everything he learned while studying to be an actor.
Photo by Joan Marcus.
“There are very classical elements in the show,” he says. “It’s a very Broadway-esque musical that fits a variety of audience members. Dads like it, moms like it, young adults really like it; I don’t think there’s an audience member that it’s not appropriate for unless you’re under the age of 12. We step over the line a lot, but I don’t think it has affected the way I would train for any type of other show. I could go out and do a Rodgers and Hammerstein show next year if I really wanted to and still have learned so much from doing this type of show.”
Bloomquist says what sets The Book of Mormon apart from other touring Broadway productions is more sophisticated than potty humor and religious jokes.
“The difference between this show and any other shows I’ve done is how well it’s written and how easy it is to go on stage every day, say the lines and hear the audience react,” he says. “That’s why this show is successful and why it’s so easy to do and watch and laugh at and come back and see it over and over and over again.”
www.bookofmormonthemusical.com