Book of Mormon

Last night my wife and I went to see The Book of Mormon at the Opheum in downtown Minneapolis.  I purchased the tickets almost a year ago with a couple of guys from work.  I joked to one of my leads yesterday that given how long I'd had the tickets, pre-accident, my wife could have been going with her new husband by now had I not come out of my coma.  Ming and his wife were originally part of the group that was going (along with Joe, Jon, Dan and some others - Denise, a former coworker, was there as well, having been a late fill for someone else who couldn't go), but he had a conflict and had to sell his tickets on Craigslist.  I thank him for selling the tickets to a nice couple so I didn't have to sit next to someone annoying.  I told them the story about how Ming was going to put his tickets up for sale and still hadn't realized I'd given him two seats with a seat between them as a joke way back when we first picked up the tickets.  He did sell his tickets to someone who worked for a staffing company, which was a bit unnerving given the group that was attending.  Her first question to me, "You're all in IT?"  Ominous.

The musical was excellent, swear words and all.  And they went pretty far down the expletive continuum.  At first, the songs felt derivative of other Broadway songs, but after a few numbers, it was obvious a bit of that was on purpose and it added to the amusement.  I really enjoyed Two by Two where the elders are getting their assignments, Turn it Off which was a Simponsonesaque Ode to turning off your feelings and not just burying them like Homer does, Hasa Diga Eebowai where the villagers are cursing God, Spooky Mormon Hell Dream which is just as it says and was a big production number that included devils, mass murderers, serial killers, and cups of caffeine, and I Believe about all the things your need to believe to stay a Mormon.  The other songs were enjoyable as well, and Man Up in particular made you think that when they get around to casting a movie, you're going to see Jack Black as the sidekick.

Well worth the expensive cost of a musical, even in the Twin Cities, and I'm glad I lived long enough to see it.  We added a pre-show dinner visit to Buster's to our itinerary, avoiding some of the rush hour traffic, and a secondary stop for an espresso at The Angry Catfish bicycle and coffee bar.  It's always been closed when I've been to Buster's before, so it was exciting to have to waste time by stopping there.  Beautiful bicycles, a good cup of espresso, and some bike clothing that convinced me I don't have enough to feel well dressed.