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Have you heard about the new play on Broadway that was written by the South Park dudes (and the writer of Avenue Q?)

If you haven’t, you should catch up here:

‘Book of Mormon’ opens on Broadway
(from CNN ‘Belief’ Blog)

That’s right; the South Park writers (who already took on Mormonism in an episode) have now written a Broadway musical about the religion. The article linked above summarizes the plot of the new production, as well as some of the thinking behind the writers’ motivations. And I have to say, I utterly and completely relate to this line of thinking:

Mormonism originated with Joseph Smith in upstate New York in the early 1800s. This not-so-distant past was attractive to the writers, [Avenue Q writer] Lopez told CNN, because they thought it added to the far-fetchedness of the religion’s claims that God had anointed Smith as an American prophet.

“A prophet who lived thousands and thousands of years ago in the Middle East is veiled in antiquity,” said Lopez. “But a prophet finding God’s word on golden plates just a few hours drive from New York City is ripe for satire.”

Also, if you’re curious about how the church feels about having its sacred beliefs turned into satirical song and dance, the article includes the LDS official statement—and I have to say, it sounds calm and rational.(However, one wonders if the church’s feathers will get increasingly ruffled as the play’s run continues, especially considering that one of the main characters, according to the article above, “succumbs to his doubts about faith and God after having the Book of Mormon stuck in a very uncomfortable part of his anatomy.” Ouch.)

But the real question, of course, is whether my beloved home stomping grounds—the tiny town with one blinking red light at the four-way stop—is mentioned anywhere in the script? For it was in Carthage, of course, that in 1844 a mob stormed the jail where Mormon leader Joseph Smith was incarcerated, and where he was shot and fell to his death.

With this high-profile production making headlines and perhaps becoming a legendary moment in the history of the Great White Way, stop to think about how funny and fascinating it is that the entire Mormon saga—the migration out west, the settling of Salt Lake City, in fact the very foundation of one of the world’s fastest-growing religions—wouldn’t exist as we know it without the chapter that took place in Carthage and Hancock County.

If I had been a co-writer with Matt Parker and Trey Stone, I would have tried to work in a line—or a whole song—about the holy site being located just catercorner from the DQ. (Feel free to help provide rhymes.)

Or who knows, maybe Carthage and Nauvoo are mentioned in the musical? I hope to find out five or six years from now, when an off-, off-, off-Broadway production plays in Peoria.

Chris Benedict, 21, of Nauvoo, is in the national news for hacking, but he’s not in trouble.

Check out the story on CNN.com.

(Thanks to “Hancock Hustla’”  M.T. for the tip, via Facebook.)