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It’s milestone time for South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Below is a video taste of tomorrow night’s 200th episode. They are set to make their Broadway debut in March on The Book Of Mormon, a stage musical. Parker and Stone wrote the book and music with Avenue Q’s Bobby Lopez and Parker will direct with Avenue Q’s Jason Moore. Scott Rudin is producing with Anne Garefino. The Broadway move comes as Comedy Central prepares to air the 200th episode of their irreverent comedy series.
The musical deals with two wide-eyed Mormon boys who go on a two-year mission to Third World countries and underprivileged communities, where they try to convert people to join the Mormon faith. After watching them lacerate scores of notable celebrity and faith–every star skewered in the 14 seasons of South Park appear in tomorrow’s 200th episode–my instinct is to fear for the Mormon faithful. Insiders describe the musical as highly subversive and satiric, but with a generous spirit. The theater hasn’t yet been named, but financing is in place and the musical is fully formed after being run through three workshops.
Rudin was producer and Garefino was executive producer on the 2004 feature Team America: World Police, the puppet film that was written by the South Park duo and directed by Parker. While they were making the film, Rudin suggested that Parker and Stone see Avenue Q, the Tony-winning musical that is also done with puppets. The South Park duo stayed in touch with Lopez and Moore and that led to them collaborating on the Broadway-bound musical.
Though they are new to Broadway, Parker and Stone are no strangers to musicals. Their 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, featured n Oscar-nominated song, and the film was such a hit with the New York Film Critics Circle that it established its first award for an animated film to honor the picture. The musical is expected to be one of Broadway’s highest profile openings for the 2010-2011 season, and it comes as South Park moves into its 15th season on Comedy Central. Below is teaser for tomorrow night’s 200th episode:
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@ All the Mormons haters who hate Mormons who love SP
You think anyone could be a Mormon and not seriously question what they believe in? Growing up Mormon, from your first day in school you get to hear all the wonderful B.S. from others telling You what You believe. It becomes obvious pretty quick how your beliefs set you apart and how misinformed, mislead people are about the LDS faith and how hypocritical and glassy-eyed these haters are about their own religions or secularisms. Mormons can laugh at ourselves in large part because we have questioned our selves. We know how we look to others and it’s pretty frikin funny.
Making fun of a culture because of it’s quirks is one thing, but to totally desecrate something that is held sacred by others is shameful. I have never seen a group of people that can laugh at themselves like Mormons. They make tons of movies and books that poke fun at their quirks (Church Ball, The RM, Singles Ward). That doesn’t bother me. I enjoy most of the South Park episodes because of their satirical value and they way that they make people see how ridiculous they act sometimes. (I just watched the episode on the economy. I laughed my butt off.) I hope that this new project stays within those realms, but it probably won’t.
Instead, it will probably be an extension on their Mormon episode. They were praised for it. They were praised for ripping on Scientology, and they are praised for every other thing they do against any other religion. Why not go all the way and create a Broadway production filled with BS? Better yet, market it with the very thing that Mormons identify themselves with! That way it seems even more credible to the person who would rather get their info from something easy rather than research what people actually believe from it’s source. (You don’t read the advertisements from one store to find out about another store’s prices, why would you believe something that is not the source of anything else?)
And for you your information, I would say the same if this was about Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Catholicism or anything else. I just don’t get why people can be praised for bashing on religion, and yet every time someone tries to defend it, or (heaven forbid) actually practice it where someone can see, they are the ones that are the bad guys.
It’s also important to note the movie “Cannibal! the Musical” as a possible indicator of their abilities, DUH
it’s even EASIER to take shots at strangers on a message board. not one mormon on here has tried to preach to ya- I don’t see a need to pimp your opinion to them, or to anyone else. lighten up, folks!
matt and trey have the golden touch. this oughtta be great.
@ All the Mormons haters who hate Mormons who love SP
You think anyone could be a Mormon and not seriously question what they believe in? Growing up Mormon, from your first day in school you get to hear all the wonderful B.S. from others telling You what You believe. It becomes obvious pretty quick how your beliefs set you apart and how misinformed, mislead people are about the LDS faith and how hypocritical and glassy-eyed these haters are about their own religions or secularisms. Mormons can laugh at ourselves in large part because we HAVE questioned our selves.
question is: are there any devout MUSLIMS that like SP…..? Id LOVE to know that there can be…. now that theres a price on their heads by the extemists for the last episode.
Dang, I was hoping they’d do us Episcopalians next…
@itsme
well, i think i’ll make your day, i’m a devout muslim and i totally adore SP! I think everyone needs a good laugh once in a while. but, ii’m not the only one…i hope.
then I wonder, what’s your opinion about their portrayal of your prophet? If you are devout I’d like to hear your first-hand opinion whether or not this, or any, portrayal of Mohammed really must be avenged….
This will be an epic musical. Anything Trey and Matt touch is hilarious. (Touch, because as stated they didn’t actually write/direct BASEketball, but still made it extremely funny.)
Even though Cannibal! The Musical seems a bit low quality now, you see it and think “These guys were in college?” and the genius is just all over it.
Don’t hate on people who are mormon or whatever and still like South Park. It truly boils down to having a sense of humor. Damn near everyone’s been their target in the show’s tenure, and that’s what is so great.
I have to say, “Now You’re a Man” is my favorite of their songs. I wish I could’ve gotten to see DVDA (their band) play live… I hear they used to do shows pretty frequently in LA before South Park was so mainstream.
I am a devout Muslim and I love SP. And I especially liked episode 200′s poking fun at not showing the prophet’s face and can’t wait for ep. 201. I know I’m not the only one because I am an Egyptian Muslim living in Egypt and so many of my buddies (who are also Muslim) love the show.
But since you can give insight into the real truth behind the ban of the image, is it true that anyone who bears the image of the prophet must be killed- or is it subjective, and taken as literally only by the extreme people in your religion..? for example we have a baptist church group who protested at a funeral of a gay miltary man who was killed in iraq- because they are extreme agianst gays. That is extreme to me, and wrong, because other Baptist churches would never protest at any funeral- that of a gay person or not, so youve got different interpretations of the same religion- Is that the way it is with these people who feel its their duty to kill anyone who shows the image of Mohammed, or is it just disrespectful to show the image but not necessarily punishable by death?