The Book of Mormon Review: An Insanely Funny Musical Masterpiece at QPAC

The Book of Mormon is back in Brisbane for the first time since 2015, and it hasn't lost an ounce of its nerve. Playing now at QPAC's Glasshouse Theatre, this nine-time Tony winner from the South Park team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone (with Robert Lopez, of Frozen and Coco fame) is exactly what its reputation promises: outrageous, note-perfect, and completely absorbing — one of the funniest nights of theatre Brisbane will see all year.

The staging is superb, and the live band is ridiculously good — every performer on that stage looked not just well-drilled but genuinely delighted to be delivering this material, and it shows in every number.

At its centre is a mismatched pair of missionaries — one an overachiever who can't survive contact with reality, the other meek and overlooked until circumstance hands him the one moment he needed to shine — and it's that reversal, more than any single joke, that gives the show its real charm. Watching confidence curdle and self-doubt find its footing, in real time, is funnier and more affecting than a straight comedy would have any right to be.

The writers are in their element here, playing with stereotypes and political correctness with the same fearlessness that defines South Park — and landing it. There's a genuine tension in the room in these moments, that flinch of "gosh, you can't say that" tipping straight into "that's just so bold and bloody funny." It's vulgar, taboo-poking swagger that shouldn't work nearly as often as it does.

Underneath the shock value, though, is a surprisingly sincere argument: that faith isn't really about getting the doctrine right, it's about believing in yourself, in the people around you, and in the stubborn, communal work of putting things right when the official version has let you down. By the time that idea lands — and it lands hard — the show has earned every outrageous minute that got it there.

The Verdict

Staging, band, cast, and material are all firing at once. The Book of Mormon plays at QPAC's Glasshouse Theatre through 4 October 2026. Tickets from $69 via QTIX.

Cast: Sean Johnston as Elder Price, Nick Cox as Elder Cunningham, Paris Leveque as Nabulungi, Tom Struik as Elder McKinley, Simbarashe Matshe as Mafala Hatimbi, Augie Tchantcho as The General, and Matthew Hamilton as Mission President.