Review: The Mormons are back in town...and are just as outrageously laugh-out-loud funny as before

The Mormons are back in town. After a three year wait, the hit musical is back in Manchester for a third run.

And judging by the chattering on our way out of this rapturously received show, many members of the audience have attended multiple times. Comparing notes on lines slightly altered from their last visit to keep with our fast moving times, it is obvious that The Book of Mormon inspires a devotion similar to that of the religion it pokes fun at.

Your correspondent must confess that Wednesday night's show also represented a second viewing. And while the show has received criticism from the religion itself, it has proved to be a huge, worldwide smash hit, in Broadway and in London's West End.

READ MORE: Manchester theatre to offer £15 ticket lottery as Book of Mormon returns

In their signature clean white shirts, black ties and name badges, the Mormons have taken centre stage in London since 2013, after their initial New York City premiere in 2011. Back in Manchester for four weeks, after previously stopping off here on UK tours in 2019 and 2021, 2024's performance is just as outrageously laugh-out-loud as it ever has been.

Telling the story of two missionaries sent to preach the religion to a remote Ugandan village, its risqué, razor sharp humour leaves audiences rolling around the aisles in laughter. While some of the jokes may be better understood by our American cousins, it is a universal show, but one which is best to leave the little ones at home for.

The Book of Mormon is the brainchild of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. And anyone who has ever watched an episode of the hilarious adult cartoon will readily recognise their tone in this musical. Nothing is safe from the sharp edged satire, with topics such as famine, AIDS, and warfare among those explored, and the expletive count is through the roof.

It is a spectacularly funny show with dozens of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, turning the musical genre on its head. It employs the genre's tropes, boosted by an array of catchy and memorable songs, but subverts its traditional material and replaces it with outrageous, cutting and at times crude humour.

Many of the jokes and set pieces cannot be repeated in a family newspaper. But just as with South Park, its shock value, profanity and subversion is part of its appeal.

Parker and Stone's musical chops were clear in the South Park film Bigger, Longer and Uncut, as well as the pair's marionette movie Team America: World Police. But with the help of composer Robert Lopez, who has written songs for Frozen and Avenue Q, they are taken to a new level with the Book of Mormon.

The stars of this year's tour are lead missionaries Elder Price, played by Adam Bailey, as well as Oldham's own Sam Glen playing Elder Cunningham, Price's partner who has a loose relationship with the truth. But they would be nothing without the ensemble cast, who make it a night to remember, every one of them richly deserving their standing ovation.

The Mormons are in town until October 5. If you want to laugh out loud for two hours, ensure you book an appointment with them with haste.