"I Have Maggots in My Scrotum" and Other Reality Checks From the Book of Mormon, The Musical

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have one thing going for them: They appeal to my 'Forever 15' mindset with their writing, wit, music, and stupidity. Maybe that is why I was turned onto The Book of Mormon when Leo first introduced it to me in 2012. Leo, a lover of religion and music, was mesmerized by the soundtrack and loaned me his CD - for a week (cough cough), month (cough cough), okay year (cough cough).

I remember the day Beverly, his wife, called me and said, "Leo is having a very difficult time without his Book of Mormon CD. I had to give it back.

Last night, somewhat spur of the moment, a crew of us spent a paycheck and got tickets to see the show as it swung through New Haven. No, our seats were not ideal and we climbed Mt. Everest to get to them, but it was worth every sent. I think having the music in my head for the last 830 days, then seeing the music come alive in a theatrical production, was somewhat mind-blowing. We packed out mini-van with morons and Leo installed a fart machine to play a joke on Sharon and we were off.

The humor is totally adolescent, but to be honest, the impishness is uber-intellectual, too. In the same vain as Team America, the message(s) of Book of Mormon run deep, especially in terms of missionary work, colonialism, race, global reality, belief systems, philosophies of life, gender inequality, and all the other big topics Trey Parker and Matt Stone rarely shy away from. They may do controversial and offensive work - but the thinking mind will see that what they truly are doing is comic genius, political, and extremely thought-provoking.

They also, I'm sure, finding their work lucrative....after all, we attended one of 8 sold out performances in New Haven, alone! And this is the off-broadway tour.

So, like Leo, I believe. It's unusual to get me to 'treat' myself to a special night in the world, but last night we did. And it is a memory I will cherish forever and always. I've got maggots in my scrotum!