That was the review of "The Book of Mormon" from the Salt Lake Tribune. 

 

The other reviews were a little better.

 

The New York Times: “’The Book of Mormon’ achieves something like a miracle. It both makes fun of and ardently embraces the all-American art form of the inspirational book musical….”

 

Then there were the nine — nine! — Tony Awards.

 

And now there is the recently-released Broadway cast recording — the fastest-selling Broadway cast album in more than 40 years.

 

You can’t buy a ticket to the show for love or money. Maybe I can interest you in the cast recording for $10.99? [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.]

You may have your doubts. You should. The cultural criminals behind this enterprise are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who work hard to offend nearly everyone on “South Park.” (And, yes, they’re capable of lines like: “Hello! Would you like to change religions? I have a free book for you, and it’s written by Jesus!”) But they have admirable co-conspirators: composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman, who served with distinction on their movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.” [If you’ve never had the pleasure, you can rent it and watch it now for $2.99. Click here.] Also at work on the music: Tony winner Robert Lopez, late of “Avenue Q.”

 

For all the vulgarity — take it on faith — the core idea of “Book of Mormon” is really rather sweet: the two-year mission that each young Mormon undertakes. Naturally, the superstar kid (Andrew Rannells) is paired with the slob (Josh Gad). Naturally, Rannells doesn’t get his first choice — Orlando — and is, to his horror, shipped off with his loser companion to Uganda. And Uganda is not, to say the least, promising territory for religion. Almost everyone has AIDS, and many believe that the cure lies in having sex with a virgin — or even a baby. A dictator kills at will. Women are routinely “circumcised.”

 

In the process of pitching Mormonism to the natives, Parker and Stone present the history and beliefs of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Is Mormon theology ridiculous? In their view, yes. (You can’t help thinking: So are the creation stories of other religions.) But not ridiculous-stupid. Ridiculous in a human, we-need-something-to-believe way. As Matt Stone has said, “You don’t go to the theater to watch something mean.”

 

Here is fun and then some. Consider one of the key songs, “I Believe.” It includes lines like:

 

 

Watch:

 

Was that poking fun of Mormons? Not really. Matt  Stone: “Do goofy stories make people nice? What if, in their goofiness, these stories somehow inspire that in the right way. Is that a social good?”

 

Stone says he and Parker wanted to end the musical with people looking to the sky and saying, "Thank you, God." If that’s the ending, what’s a good beginning? He answers his own question: “A great place to start if you want to tell that story is ‘F— you, God.’ That’s the story. The whole point is that one man’s blasphemy is another man’s religion. The point we are trying to make is that once you tell people stories, they make them their own. We think you should celebrate that.”

 

The cast recording is that celebration, once removed. “Its heart is as pure as that of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show,” the Times reviewer noted. Maybe. The better point is that it’s riotous, non-stop, high-energy fun — a bargain at any price.