Robert Lopez, as well his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez, are strong power players in the musical composer arena. Robert’s early success with Avenue Q lead to his ability to turn music to gold (let it go) with collaboration with his wife. While only moderately prolific with Broadway musicals, both R Lopez and K Anderson-Lopez are very young and I anticipate them being big hitters when Broadway returns from the grave. I will spare you the time, and energy, and not go into detail as to why Let It Go is literally the best song ever written, and it’s no surprise to me that R Lopez has as EGOT x2.

But I digress. Book of Mormon is right up against the border of my tolerance of obscenities. I’m not a huge Parker/Stone fan, and never really “got into” South Park. Their signature crudeness for the sake of being crude elicits a wide spectrum of reactions from the audience. Despite its lyrics, it is so funny, that, for me, the humor completely overshadows the foulness.

I would argue that Lopez’s score helped did carry boost the show to its current standing as a Broadway hit, and softened some of the harsh elements of racism and religion bashing. At the end of the day, I love the show, and I always end up going back to the OBCR and giving it a good listen.

The Church of the Latter Day Saints took the parody of it’s sacred text in stride and took the punches as gracefully as possible. As offensive as it is, its level of parody assures the audience that it is not a direct attack on the Mormon community.

Highlights of the album are the opening numbers Hello, Two by Two, and You and Me, as well as Baptize Me, and the amazing Act One finale Man Up, the latter being my personal favorite. If BOM is not in your collection yet, check the link above.