Spreading the gospel of comedy, ‘The Book of Mormon’ returns to Fort Worth

When Sean Casey Flanagan first saw “The Book of Mormon” 12 years ago, he knew he wanted to be in that musical someday.

Since rehearsals started in August of 2022, he has lived out his dream playing the role of Elder McKinley in the North American tour of “The Book of Mormon.” The roving tour will stop in Fort Worth to host a string of performances at Bass Performance Hall July 28-30.

“I didn’t know anything about it but a friend recommended that I listen to it. I did, and instantly I was like ‘I could be in this show,’” he said in a call from Tulsa, Oklahoma. “What’s really funny is ‘Turn It Off’ and ‘Spooky Mormon Hell Dream’ were my two favorite numbers when I first listened and now I get to do them every night, which is great.”

When the comedic musical made its premiere on Broadway in 2011, it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won nine.

The musical comedy follows an ill-matched pair of Mormon missionaries as they attempt to proselytize to a group of locals in Uganda who make it clear that they have other more pressing concerns.

“It’s nothing like what you’d expect,” Flanagan said. “I think it genuinely catches everyone off guard for the first time … There’s so many jokes and things baked into it that you could analyze every sentence for years and years to come.”

Before setting out on the tour, the cast had about three weeks of rehearsals. They perform about eight shows per week, which are a little over two and a half hours per show. The high frequency of performances means that they rarely have rehearsals unless a new person is coming into the cast, they are updating one of the tech elements or coming back from a long break.

It’s been several months since Flanagan hit the 100-show markwith this production back in January, but he says the material and the quality of the cast help make every show feel special.

“Everyone’s a genuinely funny person and with comedy you have to keep it fresh … It has to be slightly different every night,” he said. “My favorite part is that I’ve known this show for so long and I’ve heard all kinds of interpretations of it — and I’m still getting to experience new interpretations every night.”

Having taken the show to several big cities and some small towns, Flanagan is thankful for the opportunity to see parts of the country he might not have visited otherwise. Even more rewarding, he said, is the opportunity to introduce newcomers to musical theater and to add his own artistic vision to such a beloved character.

“It’s a guaranteed good time. No matter who you are, there’s some things in it that you will find extremely enjoyable,” he said. “There’s a lot of folks that don’t do theater ever, but then they’re like, ‘Oh, hey, I’ve heard of the “Book of Mormon” and since it’s here I kind of have to go see it,’ and I’m here to tell you that, yes, you do.”

Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.