FIND ME ON: INSTAGRAM: marcdanielp... WEBSITE: marcdanielpatrick.com In this video Marc Daniel Patrick discusses the incredible performance from Andrew Rannells at the 2011 Tony Awards. The Book Of Mormon, "I Believe".
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I love how he shares the stage as well. Once he’s holding hands with the ‘General’, you can see what’s coming: the ‘General’ actor has enormous stage presence, and way they position his big biceps at the front to show that Kevin’s physically overpowered before he even begins, and all those hilariously angry reactions that Kevin ignores but draw the audience’s eye, really shows how at the climax of his song, Kevin has already lost. It’s really good actor cooperation and storytelling.
I’d say that slightly squeezed ‘E’ in ‘believe’ is part of the comic performance; it adds to the feeling of the character being dorkier than he realises.
I really appreciate a performance where every E isn't turned into an "AY" in order to satisfy the vocal coach. There's so much focus on the sound, while no one was looking every singer picked up a funny accent.
Andrew has talked about how he got nervous and his mouth went dry during this Tonys performance. He still sounds AMAZING here, of course, but there are a few bootleg recordings of his actual Broadway performances that are *even better,* if you can believe it!
I watched it in person. He was amazing in that role and definitely more animated in the play than he was in this performance of it. The whole audience was laughing so hard.
Right?! Raised Mormon in Utah here. (I love the way Rannells sings "MormEn" with an E sound instead of "MormOn" with an O sound--it's so distinctly Utahn to me and it feels like a deliberate, intimate, hilarious accent detail.
I’m an ex Christian, and I laugh every time I hear that line “a Mormon just believes” because that’s precisely how I was raised as a Christian. And I’ve seen it a lot, I love this musical.
Omg, this is so accurate. I had a boss who was Jehovah's Witness and he looked almost exactly like that and his attitude to his religion was exactly that.
A bit of background on the show. The reason South Park is set in Colorado is they both grew up there. And because Colorado is beside Utah, they had a lot more mormon interactions than some others might. Matt & Trey do most of their satire about things close to their life. Another example is references to Japan. Trey Parker's exwife was Japanese (they were still married when he wrote the material). There are a lot of references to Japanese culture in South Park, but he also has one of the missionary pairs go to Japan in one of the Book of Mormon songs.
I personally interpreted Andrew Rannells' turn to the audience as him being surprised that the people in the camp responded so negatively to what he said. Kind of 'What? What did I say?', and looking for reassurance from the audience, not that he was responding to the audience. (I have no musical theatre experience, I just have watched this performance several times a year since it was uploaded to RU-vid because I love it).
Okay I'm a Mormon and I find this musical hysterical. People have way to thin skin these days. Seriously after seeing this I investigated the church. Andrew is awesome. I love his Elder Price.
Wife and I saw the original cast in Broadway preview a few days before the official opening. Andrew was so great. I love this Tony performance because when he first comes out you can tell he was crying because Nikki James won her Tony right before he walked out. And he still pulled off his performance.
Context here helps. Elder Price is actually starting to have doubts that God exists. This whole number is the swan song of the last remnants of his faith. He's actually trying to convince himself, not really expressing unwavering faith, hence the brief hesitation moments, and looking at the audience as if one side of his brain is saying "I believe _____" and the other side replying: "Can you believe the bullshit that's coming out of my mouth?" As you said, many layers to this performance.
Yes! This is for sure not a moment of unwavering faith. This is a guy taking one last terrifying leap of faith and hoping that everything he's been taught is at least true enough to catch him and not let him fall to his death.
They're so smart. After the show (Amsterdam last year) they were all waiting outside handing out pamphlets and chatting with people, very friendly and had a sense of humor about it all too!
Mormons understand PR. They've managed to trick people into thinking it's a harmless, super nice religion, instead of the racist, sexist, oppressive cult it really is.
@@amityislandchum Wow, how much do you actually know? Clearly not much, as you used the term Mormon, which we don't use to refer to our church anymore.
It sure is not for everyone! A lot of people find it offensive, but it’s really funny! My favorite songs from this show are You and Me but Mostly Me, Turn It Off, I Believe and Baptize Me! Josh Gahd and Andrew Rennels are gold together.
I saw BOM on Broadway. A few years ago I moved from NYC to Salt Lake City (headquarters of LDS Church). I saw the traveling production of it here in Salt Lake City. I think people here laughed harder and clapped longer than when I saw it on Broadway! :)
As an ex-Mormon, the stylistic choices were all on point. As to playing the comedy straight, the cast has said Salt Lake City is their favorite place to perform because they can get away with playing it straight unlike anywhere else.
There are MANY forms of comedy and satire can be played either "straight" (any Charles Ludlam or Samuel Beckett) or tongue-in-cheek (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/The Producers) or naively farcical (Tartuffe or any other Moliere) but a-wink-and-a-nod at the audience is a very Matt Stone/Trey Parker way of doing their particular brand of comedy.
I saw him on Colbert a few yrs later - talking about this performance. He said his mouth was bone dry . . . You see that he has some difficulty with that. btw - he's hysterical on talk shows
So glad you you critiqued this. Saw this years ago and fell in love with the irreverence. The audience was held captive and the laughter was almost immediate...at least it was for me. This, Starlight Express and Sunset Boulevard with Patti Lupone (saw it in London) are some of my favorites. Thank you Marc!
I saw BOM twice and I actually think it is a very sweet story. To me, it was about a bunch of innocent 20 year olds thrown into a strange new world and having to figure out new truths on their own.
I just love the way Rannells attacks this song so wholeheartedly. By doing so, he can transcend what would be pure camp into an almost believable scenario. Great comments too!
Like you said about the Sound of Music references, I feel like this song is today’s version of I Have Confidence. They have the same message, definitely the same lyrics (due to the references), and are both sung by our leading character. Just some thoughts I had to share :)
As a "Mormon" (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) myself, I always have to giggle when I see/hear this song because I totally get how some parts of this religion have an almost comedic aspect to it... 🤣 So I thoroughly enjoyed this performamce! Love how you took this apart and pointed out gems that we might have otherwise missed in this awesome performance 🤩
@@timneji yeah that's the best you can do...not be assholes on RU-vid comments section. Maybe be more critical of your church being a cult that has brought a lot of pain to a lot of people especially the Lgbtq children.
I just discoved Andrew Rannells when I watched the Boys in the Band in netflix. And I love him so much! 😍 musical theatre is not so big in my country🇵🇭. I have sooo many shows I want to watch but can't :'( watching this made me want to watch the book of mormons even more 💔
Ha! I only just watched The Boys in the Band because I am already an Andrew Rannells Stan... 😂 Kind of the other side of the coin. Do yourself a favour, watch 'Falsettos'! It's a musical starting amongst others Andrew Rannells and Christian Borle and it's beautiful. There's actually a professionaly filmed version of it and it's all over RU-vid, try typing in 'Jewish slime tutorial'. I can't promise you will leave the musical with your heart still intact but it's worth it.
@@singenstattatmen5096 Ohmy!!! thank you so much for the suggestion 😭 I actually have difficulties watching bootlegs cause my english is not that good. I need subtitles to understand clearly :'( thank heavens this one's professionally filmed. I'm excited!! Thank youuu!!! 😍😍😭😭
@@singenstattatmen5096 😭😭😭 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INTRODUCING ME TO FALSETTOS!! you're right!!! It indeed broke my heart 😭💔💔 I cried so much!!!! I love all the cast!!! 😭😭😭😭 I'm so happy
Great choice! When I need a laugh, this performance is one of my go-to's (and loved that you called out the homages to "I Have Confidence" in the beginning). Your suggestion of working with costume to give yourself a moment or two during the song performance is really smart -- especially if we can relate it to the arc of the song/character. This is just such a fun number, and I love the way Andrew plays it the whole time like a sermon he's delivering -- to himself, and then to the outlaws. (And it's even better when you know what happened after this, for those who saw the show... LOL!)
This is one of a handful of touring companies which came to Hawaii for performances. I was so so happy to see it as I love the music from it. In fact I worked on Sal Tlay Ka Siti as an audition piece....love the show.
I love this show so much! All the nods to other musicals (Wicked, Lion King, etc...) are brilliant! I live in Nevada so I’ve never been able to go see a show on Broadway but I got to see the tour of BoM in Salt Lake City and honestly I think seeing that show in that city made it even more magical! The house was sold out and everyone was loving it!
I was fortunate enough to see Book of Mormon in London during the Previews with Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner I was totally crying with laughter throughout the show another notable performance came from Alexia Khadime brilliantly playing Nabulungi
I saw the latest BOM in 2019, the show adapted to use the current name of President of the Church as well. And for those who have LDS friends, they all know this phrase "I know that I must go and do the things my God commands" at 4:34.
Yeah, that's one of the main...mantras, you could say, of our church. It's great that they included it in the show. Even though it's a satire, they weren't super disrespectful, like a lot of people are.
One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE musicals. Period. It was extra magical seeing it at my local performing arts center here in the South amongst all the old church ladies who have season passes and thought they were coming for a very very different sort of musical. :D LOVE LOVE LOVE
Marc, I am binging your videos; they're wonderful and very instructive. I just bought the orchestra t shirt for my husband who is a musical director. Can't wait for more!
Saw this in Jacksonville, Florida a few years back. When we exited, there were Latter Day Saints members outside handing out pamphlets and such. I thought that was awesome! Love this show!
NO WAY! HE'S FROM OMAHA NEBRASKA! No jk he talks about it in every single interview its kinda hilarious. But that is SO COOL how you are from the same hometown.
This was the show that made me realize there's no FCC or other regulatory body for musical theatre. Though I'm sure if I had seen Avenue Q, I would have realized it much earlier! I suppose the Producers does do something similar.
Hahaha this is surreal, I took this song to competition back in high school for solo musical piece and got a superior, not even aware of all of this song's references, just knowing it was great material, comedy and theatre-wise, definitely wish a video like this was around back then!
my best friend is a musical theater actress and while I loved musical theater before meeting her, when she talks about her characters or her art she goes in depth just like you do in these videos and it has made me love musical theater so much more. Some productions she has been in that I would love to see you talk about if you could, Heathers, Into the Woods, A Chorus Line, Hedwig. Thanks!
Yesss, that’s a great performance to react to!! I meant to go to bed like two hours ago but now I have no choice but to watch this like three times in a row 😂😂 who needs sleep anyway. I love Andrew Rannels in Book of Mormon, he’s so great in it. My favorite role of his has to be whizzer in falsettos though. That whole play is incredible and him and Christian Borle have the best chemistry. It’s just amazing 😄
100% one of my favorite shows! The first time I listened to the soundtrack I kind of lost my shit every time I heard a reference to a different musical. I got to see it live a few years ago and it was such a GREAT show live. I don't have a link, but if you find footage of "Turn It Off" that would be an AWESOME one for you to review! Also throwing out a request to see you react to Kinky Boots at some point...
I have seen this onstage four times. Loved it. Thanks for reacting. Question - would appreciate you or someone expanding on the Sound of Music references. Love that musical as well. Thought I knew it. Have missed and cannot see the SoM refs in BoM. Thanks again!
they have a whole dress rehearsal uploaded on YT somewhere. it's from before the final book was completed so some of the numbers are different haha, definitely worth the watch
Amazing as always!!! I would love to see you break down "Who I'd Be" from Shrek the Musical. Such a powerful song and I would love to see your take on it.
I love this musical. I got to see a touring production in my hometown. Can we get a comparison of either "By the Sea" or "Worst Pies in London" from Sweeney Todd?
I've only seen whatever touring productions come to town but so far this is probably my favorite musical. It's just ridiculously funny and the songs are so great. It's not for the easily offended for sure but under all that it really has a lot to say. I wish Andrew Rannells had won that year.
I've seen Book of Mormon 7 times now in London (twice), New York (once), and Melbourne (four times) - what I loved about doing that was seeing enough versions to know which actor performances I preferred over others - particularly with Elder Cunningham where in Melbourne, AJ was easily the best Elder Cunningham I had seen live because he brought so many layers to the role.
@@SpencerIsAnIdiot Indeed but I think on top of that, he brought another layer to his performance which actually had me feeling empathy for the character; there were some moments where I felt a genuine pity for the character which the other actors had not been able to do, playing it more entirely comedic, and as a result I think AJ's performance made me appreciate the layers of the character more.
@@SpencerIsAnIdiot I would've loved to have seen Ben Platt do the role - I can imagine he would've been amazing. I've seen Nic play Elder Price as well and I think I've been fortunate that almost every actor I've seen play that role has delivered an outstanding performance.
@@LawrenceAkers To be totally honest, I've only seen Ben and AJ through bootlegs. The two Cunninghams I've seen in person are Conner Pierson and Jacob Ben-Shmuel, and I think they stand out more in the singing department.
That's a good point about creating business during the bridge--I wonder if he had more to do in the actual production and he just had to fill for the Tony performance.
Love Book of Mormon! Have you seen the video of Patti Lupone, Frances Ruffelle, Carrie Hope Fletcher, and Rachelle Ann Go sing I dreamed a dream/On my own? It was for the Les Miserable 30th anniversary. Omg it’s so good!
I love all your reaction videos. I would love some reactions to Falsettos the Revival cast of 2016. Andrew sang you gotta die sometime and its one of his best performances in my opinion!
Will try and find a video of “Baptise Me” as that is one of my favourites from the show and in terms of vocal but also acting in a duet, it’s superb. One of my favourite shows, lucky enough to have seen it a few times in the West End
I once had a conversation with the President of the company I used to work at. You know, the you're-given-only-a-few-number-of chances-in-a-lifetime type of conversation. And it's about him getting excited talking about The Book Of Mormons. 😊
We loved watching it! Unfortunately, the audience of Florida senior citizens (most likely annual subscribers who didn't read the show's summary) didn't understand they were watching a satire! It was hilarious to hear the reactions walking out of the show! Please, please review "Hello" and "Turn it Off"!
I don't recall him looking at the audience in the actual show, which I saw with him a few times. I think because this is an awards show performance he played the "black people" line up a little bit since it's an audience full of celebrities.
I'd love you to do a side by side comparison of this, and Gavin Creel performing the same number from the London production, which parts do they interpret differently or the same way etc.
@@AT-nq1rp There are a lot of hilarious songs. "You And Me, but Mostly Me", "Hasa Diga Eebowai, "All American Prophet", "Sal Tlay Ka Siti", "Man Up", "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream", "Baptize Me", but most especially, "Turn It Off". It was written by the guys behind South Park.
Marc: That was obviously a reference to the Sound of Music right there. Me: Ahh yes, of course...I definitely picked up on that...and am still not confused on what he means at all. Definitely
Seeing this for the second time next year! A general rule of thumb for this show is ‘if you have a pulse, there will be something in here that will take a jab at you’ but I think that’s how they get away with it
You know, just because someone does the same thing as something else doesn't make it a reference to the thing that came before. Its only a reference if the writers were specifically thinking about that while they were writing it.
Can you please do a video for Raise Your Voice from Sister Act...love this song, the belts and the harmonies and want to see what a vocalist thinks of it!
I have seen this a couple of times on Broadway and LOVED his performance. One time though, I am guessing the family sitting in the row ahead of us really didn't know who the creators of this show were because you could tell how VERY uncomfortable there were with making fun of this faith. They were huffing and puffing and looking extremely agitated. I was surprised they came back after intermission to be honest.
Your avatar is indistinguishable from Stephen Fry. Seriously tho-great balance of interesting points, genuine joy just watching awesome performers. Super instructive. Thanks for the passion and the insight, keep it up! Love to see a vid commenting on a compilation, so you could compare and contrast the skill sets and the choices each version makes?
@@MarcDanielPatrick that’s one dashing sartorial dude right there. Digging the recent Rent and Les Mis vids-reminds me of when I first got into musical theater. Better times back then. Nice to reflect. Keep up the great work, my guy!
