Singing and Dancing to the Book of Mormon: Critical Essays on the Broadway Musical

Singing and Dancing to The Book of Mormon examines a cultural phenomenon, asking: What made The Book of Mormon such a success? In what ways does the work utilize established artistic traditions (musical theatre, comic tropes), but revise them to create something new? What cultural buttons does the work push in religion and world affairs? What artistic and social boundaries--and the transgression of those boundaries--give the work its edge? What is the effect of the work on particular audiences: in the theatre, in academia, in religious/Mormon studies, and beyond?

Marc Edward Shaw is associate professor of theatre arts at Hartwick College (Oneonta, New York). He is co-editor of Performing American Masculinities: The 21st-Century Man in Popular Culture (2011) and HBO’s Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege (Lexington Books, 2015). Holly Welker has written about Mormonism for such publications as Bitch, Religion Dispatches, Slate, and the New York Times. Her work has also appeared in a variety of journals, including The Iowa Review, TriQuarterly, and Best American Essays.