The Book of Mormon announced that Magical Mormon Mystery Week will run June 9 through June 14, with original Broadway cast members appearing in every performance of the six-day event.
Four alumni from the show’s original Broadway company — Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Nikki M. James and Rory O’Malley — will join the current company at each performance, returning to perform select scenes and songs alongside the present cast. Gad, who originated the role of Elder Cunningham, will share the stage with the current ensemble rather than replace them for any single performance.
The mix of old and new is explicit: Andrew Rannells, the original Elder Price; Nikki M. James, the Tony Award winner who created Nabulungi; and Rory O’Malley, the original Elder McKinley, will all appear during the run. They will perform with the production’s current leads — Kevin Clay as Elder Price, Diego Enrico as Elder Cunningham, Sydney Quildon as Nabulungi, Charlie Franklin as Elder McKinley and Jacques C. Smith as Mafala Hatimbi — creating rotating combinations across six consecutive shows.
Producers have flagged that no two performances will be exactly the same. The original cast members will dip in and out, contributing scenes and musical numbers to the scheduled performances; some nights will also include appearances by creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez and by Broadway’s original Mormon and Ugandan ensembles at certain performances.
That variety is the point and the practical complication. Audiences who buy tickets for any date between June 9 and June 14 will see original cast members every night, but the production has not published a play-by-play of which veteran will appear in which scene or which surprise guests will turn up at each curtain. The format guarantees theatergoers a different experience on repeat visits, and it leaves the precise lineup for each performance as the unscheduled element of the week.
Context for the limited run: The Book of Mormon is marking its 15th Broadway year and remains the nine-time Tony Award winner from 2011, including Best Musical. The comedy follows a pair of mismatched Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda — a premise that the original and current casts will riff on together during the Mystery Week engagements.
Magical Mormon Mystery Week begins June 9 and closes June 14. For audiences asking whether Josh Gad will appear: he will be on stage in every performance during the week, joining Rannells, James and O’Malley to perform select scenes and songs with the current cast. Which specific scenes, songs and surprise guests show up at each individual performance has not been disclosed, so patrons seeking a particular cameo or scene should consult performance-by-performance announcements as they are released.
