Why 'Book of Mormon' is rude, crude ... and absolutely delightful

“The Book of Mormon” returns to the Aronoff Center on Feb. 20.

This is the fourth time Broadway in Cincinnati has brought the show to town. Personally, I’m delighted that it’s back. I think it’s one of the most hilarious and well-directed shows I’ve ever seen. The dialogue is wickedly funny. The musical numbers are as clever as they are savage. I love the mix.

Not everyone agrees.

In fact, “The Book of Mormon” has been steeped in controversy since it opened on Broadway in 2011. Why? To its detractors, it is:

• “rude” and “crude” (Douglas Todd, writing in the Vancouver Sun).

• “a vulgar farce” and “foul and disgusting” (Tripadvisor contributor Elman1952).

• filled with “anti-black racism” and caricatures Ugandans as “uneducated, gullible, oversexualized, impoverished” (Fareah Fysudeen, on the arts.ink site at artsatmichigan.umich.edu).

There is plenty more where that came from, some of it so vitriolic I could never get it published in this paper. Heck, in my 2014 review, I called it “raunchy” and “downright offensive.”

But here’s the thing. “The Book of Mormon” is also a brilliant piece of theater – raucous, in-your-face and delightfully irreverent.

How can one show be all of that? Here are a few things you should know before you buy a ticket.

What to know before you go see 'The Book of Mormon'

“The Book of Mormon” was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone – the guys behind “South Park,” one of TV’s most consistently saucy shows – and Robert Lopez, who scored “Avenue Q,” an equally cheeky musical.

The show follows a group of college-aged Mormon men as they prepare for their two-year missions, where they travel around the world to share the word of their holy book, also named “The Book of Mormon.” Soon, we find ourselves in rural Uganda with Elders Price and Cunningham, eager young men who are completely unprepared for what they encounter as they set out to enlighten this little piece of the world.

Predictably, their efforts are disastrous, at least in traditional terms. But they provide an extraordinarily fertile playground for the show’s creators.

“The Book of Mormon” is an equal-opportunity offender. No one is safe from Parker, Stone and Lopez’s barbs. No matter your race or religion, you’ll find something to offend you. They take shots at well-meaning liberals, racists, conservatives, Karens, the often-petty rules and regulations of organized religion, white savior complex, rampant capitalism – the list goes on and on and on. Nothing is sacred.

Except, as it turns out, kindness.

Kindness and benevolence are mostly exempt from the show’s satire.

Look, I’m not saying that this show is for everyone. Clearly, it’s not. There is nonstop sexual banter, much of it extraordinarily coarse. And they regularly skewer all manner of religious belief.

But to some of us, it remains wildly funny.

Is “The Book of Mormon” callous and inflammatory? Or, in our efforts to be a more sensitive society, have we misplaced our collective sense of humor in this first quarter of the 21st century?

Whatever the case, if “The Book of Mormon” doesn’t sound like your idea of entertainment, employ the theater equivalent of changing the TV channel. Don’t buy a ticket. Stay home. Go to another theater. Or to dinner. Or bowling. Or any of the other million-and-one things we have on offer in this wonderful city of ours.

All I ask is that you put on your big boy pants and get on with it. And please don’t even think about standing between me and my theater seat.

'The Book of Mormon'

When: Feb. 20-25.

Where: Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown.

Tickets: $35-$160.

Information: 513-621-2787; www.cincinnatiarts.org.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why 'Book of Mormon' is rude, crude ... and totally awesome, dude!