In our first Broadway show since the COVID outbreak, Lauren, my friend Mike, our neighbor, and I all went to a Sunday evening show. All but our neighbor had seen the show once before (Lauren and I wayyy back in Summer, 2013) so, for me, it was a welcome revisit of a show that I had enjoyed.

Seeing it a second time occasioned some different responses. The first time I saw “Mormon,” it was a lot like the first time I saw any “South Park” / Matt Parker & Trey Stone creation e.g. the Spirit of Christmas video: you just giggle and laugh because the characters said such horribly filthy things.¹

Warning: Videos are NSFW

Spirit of Christmas video

Or, consider from the “South Park” movie, “Uncle-Fucker:”

"Uncle-Fucker" in all its glory

But even as you watch this coprolalic filth stream out, you can’t help concede that what you’re seeing is good and cheeky and satirical. Spirit of Christmas mocks the Rankin & Bass Christmas shows (e.g. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”) aesthetic and their capitalist-treacle message that everything is all-right as long as the presents get there. “Uncle-Fucker” plays with all the dumb, obvious tropes of trite musical theatre (“Uncle-Fucker, fuck YOU-n-c-l-e…”). Like Miles Davis on the trumpet, Parker/Stone know the form, know what’s good, and they’ve mastered it such that when they pour filth and snark all over it, it’s shocking…and good.

That’s the glory of Book of Mormon: it is a great musical (song, dance, themes, writing) while also being a great Parker/Stone collaboration — extended by Robert Lopez as a collaborator. Those who can’t see through the smoke screen of naughtiness miss the insightful, incisive satire on topics from religion, Red Cross do-gooder-ism, the Disney empire, and the UN.

“Joseph Smith, don’t fuck the baby. Fuck this frog”.

As I’ve written elsewhere, I’m pretty into the alternative 90’s act “Marcy Playground” whom I regard as being better than their 90’s-nostalgia-playlist heavy song “Sex and Candy.” Around the time I was writing the longform post about their album Shapeshifter, I visited their website and saw that they were going to perform a show in September 2021 after the long freeze occasioned by the COVID pandemic. Ultimately, that show was postponed due to the omicron surge. At long last, my friend Mike and I got to see the band perform in NYC on a frigid Monday night (March 21^st) at Sony Hall in northern Times Square.

Contrary to the angst, topics explored in the songs, and his plaintive laudanum-trip singing voice, John Wozniak and the rest of the band came with tons of energy, were incredibly professional (i.e. they had a tight, practiced setlist), and were really friendly with the audience. They weren’t aloof in the least but all too glad to see some familiar faces showing humor, tenderness, and friendship. I totally dug it.

We caught the Swedish folk / Americana / roots sound duo, The First Aid Kit. With their twisting and winding harmonies, obvious polish, and sublime vocals, it was a really great show to see.