Creators of South Park to make Musical... (funeral, myths, doctrine)

[jonny]

about Mormons...

By Heidi Hatch
ABC 4

The idea of a show on Broadway about the LDS Church would ordinarily make faithful believers happy. But not when it's being written and produced by the creators of a television show known for its satirical jabs at religion.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who created "South Park", have teamed up with Jeff Marx, the writer of the popular puppet musical "Avenue Q,"to create a musical about religion.

Will the new production be a glorification of one of the world's fastest growing religions? Or will it poke fun and provide mean-spirited satire?

One clue comes from a quote by Marx, who said the musical will "apply to all religions, in that every religion has myths and fables that are all pretty much equally ludricrous".

But a contrasting clue comes a previous episode of South Park, which showed a surprisingly accurate knowledge of LDS Church fundamentals. The show used that knowledge to make funny, though not offensive, jokes about believers; just as the LDS themselves joke about their penchant for funeral potatoes and green jello. The show did not use mean-spirited humor.

In that episode, a young boy relates how Joseph Smith prayed to find out which church he should join, while cartoon drawings showed Joseph Smith being literally knocked over by the sudden appearance of a heavenly being who told him to form his own church. Though done with humor, it was still an accurate portrayal of what is believed by the LDS faithful.

The so-called "Mormon Musical" is still being worked on, but the creators say it will have nothing to do with South Park. Marx says that about four songs have been written so far, and the three creators have "loads more ideas."

Should the musical turn out to take jabs that devout LDS Church members find obnoxious, they should not feel alone. "South Park" has made jokes about other mainstream religious, and has even poked fun at Scientology.

Story

[Bishka]

Oh my, this should be interesting.....

[jonny]

I'm going to reserve judgment on it until I see what they're doing. In interviews I've read of theirs they tend to say kind things about the church, although they do like to joke about our doctrine.

[jonny]

Depends on what they focus on. Mormons are alright with making fun of their culture - as long as the doctrine is respected. If the play focuses on Mormon culture then I doubt that most people would have a problem with it (unless it's something like their movie Orgasmo). If they are making fun of the church's doctrine...who knows.

The Jews have Fiddler on the Roof. It's about time we got our Broadway musical.

[Mike182]

if people wish to discuss this who are not LDS, you may either request the thread be moved (with the consent of the threads author) or set up a new thread, as this is in the DIR section

[jonny]

Originally Posted by Mike182

if people wish to discuss this who are not LDS, you may either request the thread be moved (with the consent of the threads author) or set up a new thread, as this is in the DIR section

I don't think anyone has said anything inappropriate...

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by jonny

I don't think anyone has said anything inappropriate...

no, but we're trying to keep to the DIR rules, if that's ok with you?