While Sean Johnston and Nick Cox have both been longtime The Book Of Mormon fans, neither had dared dream they would one day be saying “Hello” as the musical comedy’s leading characters Elder Price and Elder Cunningham.
“I remember the first time I saw it, and I was like, ‘Holy heck!’ it’s just so funny and so ridiculous and so unlike anything in the theatre world, or what you think theatre might be,” 25-year-old Toowoomba-raised Johnston says.
“But I never actually thought about ‘Oh, this would be a dream role to do’ until it kind of came around.
“Elder Price is very prim and proper. He’s like the perfect Mormon boy. He works really hard, and he’s always walked the line, and because of that, he’s always gotten what he’s wanted. The top of the show is set up that way, and then it very quickly all changes for him. It’s the comedy of him realising, ‘Oh, hang on a second, everything’s not how I thought it was meant to be’.”
Cox, who plays Elder Cunningham, says the nine-time Tony Award-winning musical by South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone with Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, Frozen) is about two mismatched Mormon missionaries who are sent on a two-year mission from Salt Lake City to a place about as far away as humanly possible, where chaos and hilarity ensue.
“My family and I were huge South Park fans, so when we found out that Matt Stone, Trey Parker and Bobby Lopez did something, we were just playing it on a loop and cracking up,” 33-year-old Cox adds.
“There were so many car rides just blasting that soundtrack with the family. It was never something I actually thought I would get to do.”
Nor did the Boston-raised musical theatre performer anticipate he would be doing so in Australia, after moving to Melbourne with Australian performer wife Kathleen Amarant in 2019.
Introduced to musicals through seeing The Lion King as a kid, he dropped out of training in his first year due to the expense and moved to New York.
“I was auditioning constantly, and then would run out of money, and go back home, and then have to take Greyhound buses to auditions and do day trips,” Cox shares.
“If I did the maths, I probably spent six months in a Greyhound bus going back and forth to New York, but it was great. When I was lucky to have a job there, Radio City Music Hall with the Rockettes was the first thing I did.
“We did a couple of performances and then was introduced to the reality of the industry when Harvey Weinstein cancelled the show. This was before his scandal . . . I don’t think anything can prepare you quite like going to New York and being at a call at 4am to hopefully get seen 10 hours later.”
Cox made his Australian debut as Gaston’s sidekick LeFou in the recently toured production of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast (he left the show before the Perth season) and is aware Elder Cunningham is now his second Aussie-based role to have been previously played by the gifted Josh Gad, well-known for voicing snowman Olaf in Frozen.
“I didn’t see that coming and there are worse people I could mirror my career off,” he laughs.
“Elder Cunningham is like a puppy meets a tornado. He is the outlier of the group. He means so well and has just the biggest heart.
“He’s that best friend who you wish you had because he’s going to support you throughout. He is a lot of energy, and he doesn’t hold in however and whatever he’s feeling. He’s going to share it and he’s going to be unapologetic for it. So, he’s a lot, and he’s a blast and privilege to play.
“I remember our director pulled Sean and I aside at the start and said ‘This is going to be the toughest thing you guys ever do. You will work your way up to do eight shows a week, and it might seem impossible, but you will get there’. It’s been a real challenge, but it’s so rewarding as well.”
The Book Of Mormon first opened on Broadway in 2011, and Johnston believes the show’s longevity is no fluke.
“I don’t think a satire or a comedy would work for 15 years if it wasn’t incredibly well thought-out and always punching up as well,” says Johnston, who booked musical Hairspray as his first job after graduating from Queensland Conservatorium.
“We’re not making fun of any groups of people in this or picking on minority groups.
“The book, the score, everything is fantastic, and they’re still editing it today. Matt and Trey will go in and rewrite little parts to keep it contemporary. So even if you’ve seen the show before, come back and there will be different stuff. It’s just as funny and keeps all of the heart, but there’s updates to the script, which is amazing.”
The Book Of Mormon is at Crown Theatre Perth, October 20 to December 6. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.au.