Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/303789
A young, high-powered business mag nate who ha rbors some dark sexual secrets ropes a naive 21-year-old college student into bondage a nd S & M play. Sounds like a pret t y t y pica l day in Vegas. Except it's actually the plot of one of the fastest-selling paperback books of all time, Fifty Shades of Grey, which has now sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. 50 Shades! The Musical t a kes t he somewhat sordid stor y of sexy, wealthy entrepreneur and BDSM fetishist Christian Grey and virginal college senior Anastasia Steele and gives it the proper parody it begs for. Written and originally performed by the musical improvisation troupe Baby Wants Candy, 50 Shades! The Musical made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012 and has been on tour virtually ever since. The parody is, dare we say, loving—delivering smart satire that never loses sight of its sweet, if nontradi- tional, love story. And it lampoons everything—the zeitgeist, the backlash, the oft-criticized quality of the writing. At one point the musical's Ana Steele gushes, "This is real life. Because if it were a book, it would be terrible!" (get t ing a good laugh f rom fans who know better than to take the book too seriously). "Mean com- edy is pretty easy," says writer/director Al Samuels. "We didn't want to do that. We were interested in maintaining the core love story." So, Fifty Shades fans, take heart: The intent of the musical isn't out- right mockery of its beloved source material. "It parodies the entire phenomenon," Sa muels says. "W hen you improv ise musica ls, you have to have a satirical look at pop culture all the time, [but also have a real] love of it." 50 Shades! The Musical plays June 7 at the Smith Center. 702-749-2000; thesmithcenter.com Shady Business A SMASH NOVEL GETS A PARODYAND A HEARTAS 50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL PLAYS SAFELY AT THE SMITH CENTER. BY NICOLE RUPERSBURG PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOAN MARCUS (BOOK OF MORMON); CLIFFORD ROLES (50 SHADES) MEN ON A MISSION The Tony Award–winning The Book of Mormon heads to Las Vegas. Broadway Mormons, meet your Western heritage. BY NICOLE RUPERSBURG This June, the Broadway smash The Book of Mormon makes its first foray into actual Mormon territory with its Vegas debut at the Smith Center. Mormon missionaries were among the first settlers of the Las Vegas Valley and the first cultivators of the land that would eventually become downtown Las Vegas, and the area maintains a strong Mormon presence. The Book of Mormon is a raunchy, profane, obscene, offensive spectacle, and no group has more right to be offended by its content than the Mormon Church. (Except maybe Ugandans. And homosexuals. And women. But definitely mostly Mormons.) Written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the perennially button-pushing South Park and the profanity-laden Team America: World Police, The Book of Mormon parodies a religion with which most Americans have only a faint familiarity. Aside from its R-rated plotline—two young missionaries are sent to Uganda to share the Book of Mormon with poverty-ridden, AIDS-stricken locals under the control of a bloodthirsty warlord obsessed with female circumcision—the show is packed with obscenities and the sort of humor that wouldn't be considered proper in polite company, such as the Ugandans' joyful chorus of "Hasa Diga Eebowai" (translation: "F--- you, God"). But the most surprising thing about The Book of Mormon is not that it was an instant success, or that critics and audiences love it, or that it won nine Tony Awards (including best musical) and a slew of other prizes, or even that it has grossed more than $250 million so far. It's how the Mormon Church has embraced it. Instead of staging heated protests, the church took advantage of this golden marketing—and proselytizing— opportunity to expose a new audience to the actual Book of Mormon by advertising in the musical's playbill. No fewer than three full pages winkingly announce, "The book is always better" and "You've seen the play… now read the book." Expect the response here in Mormon country to be similarly accepting. This is Vegas, after all. Mormon or not, having a sense of humor is kind of a prerequisite for living here. The Book of Mormon runs June 10–July 6 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. 702-749-2000; thesmithcenter.com V These wide-eyed missionaries have no idea what to expect in Africa, but in Vegas they can expect a homecoming of sorts. Audiences will be turning 50 shades of red at this erotic musical parody. "We were interested in maintaining the core love story." AL SAMUELS 80 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM HOTTEST TICKET 080_V_SC_HT_BookofMormon_MAYJUNE_14.indd 80 4/21/14 1:34 PM