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Missionary man

Mormon-skewering Broadway hit at Kennedy Center

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Book of Mormon, Kennedy Center, Gay News, Washington Blade, Mark Evans, Derrick Williams
Book of Mormon, Kennedy Center, Gay News, Washington Blade, Mark Evans, Derrick Williams

Mark Evans, left, and Derrick Williams in ‘The Book of Mormon.’ (Photo by Joan Marcus; courtesy Kennedy Center)

‘The Book of Mormon’
Through Aug. 18
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
$43-$250
kennedy-center.org

You’ve seen them. Those squeaky clean Mormon boys on their post-high school mission, indefatigably going door to door pushing the Latter Day message.

Dressed in their white shirts, black ties and pants, they look lifted from the Eisenhower era. “The Book of Mormon,” the Broadway favorite from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and “Avenue Q” co-creator Robert Lop, hilariously trades on this iconic image so ripe for lampooning. And now the first national tour of the delectably irreverent musical is parked at the Kennedy Center through late August. Tickets have been in extremely high demand.

The action kicks off in Salt Lake City (imagined here as a flat, pretty colored picture map) with a passel of eager young Mormons honing their proselytizing skills in the very funny opening number “Hello.” Next the young men are paired off and assigned their mission destinations. Mormon poster boy Elder Price (Mark Evans) is matched with unlikely counterpart Elder Cunningham (Christopher John O’Neill). With his perfect hair and no-nonsense demeanor, Price is an admired over achiever; while Cunningham who’s never been able to slog through the Book of Mormon is rumpled and desperate for a friend. Together they’re sent to a remote Ugandan village (Price was hoping for Orlando, Fla.).

In Uganda, Scott Pask’s set morphs into a darker world of ominous skies and broken down huts. A villager casually crosses the stage dragging a life size, bloody donkey carcass.  After presenting themselves to some of the leading natives, Price and Cunningham join a group of other young missionaries stationed in the village. They learn that things aren’t going too well, religious conversions aren’t happening. It seems that the understandably jaded local population, tired from dealing with AIDS, forced female genital mutilation and a threatening violent warlord, has little time for far out Bible stories.

Undaunted, Price is determined to do something incredible. But surprisingly, it’s less-than-promising Cunningham, not Price, who connects with the native population. He strikes up a romance with local girl Nabulungi (the sweet and sexy Samantha Marie Ware), and with her help, peddles a watered down version of Mormonism filled with references from his favorite science fiction and fantasy films, and wins loads of converts.

With the creators of “South Park,” nothing is sacred. In the second act’s “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream,” Price sees his father having hot sex with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Then there’s casual talk of raping babies as a cure for AIDS. One villager routinely complains, “I have maggots in my scrotum.” Yes, it’s a little offensive and very foulmouthed, but it’s also big-hearted and admirably executed.

As Price, sterling-voiced Evans gives a nuanced performance, ably conveying his character’s big ego as well as his decency and likeability. Evans’ stirring rendition of “I Believe” is one of the show’s more memorable moments. And though not as musically blessed as Evans, O’Neill (making his professional debut as Cunningham) oozes comic ability.

Smartly, the show’s creators use musical theater elements including heartrending ballads and big song and dance numbers (delightfully choreographed by co-director Casey Nicholaw) to poke fun. Grey Henson is terrific as the closeted Elder McKinley who likes to think that suppressing his gayness is as simple as turning off a light switch. He and the other Mormons sing about it in a fabulous tap-filled number titled “Turn it Off.”

With “The Guardsman” and “Anything Goes,” the Kennedy Center has been on a roll.  And now with “The Book of Mormon,” that winning streak continues for the big boxy landmark on the Potomac.

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PHOTOS: Silver Pride

Rayceen Pendarvis serves as emcee

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Rayceen Pendarvis was the emcee of Silver Pride 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2025 Silver Pride Resource Fair and Tea Dance was held at the Eaton Hotel on Wednesday, May 21.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Out & About

Queer film festival comes to D.C.

DC/DOX to showcase LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers

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DC/DOX film festival will take place in D.C. on June 12.

DC/DOX will host a film festival beginning on Thursday, June 12, at the Regal Gallery Place, Eaton Cinema, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Burke Theatre. 

This festival will premier LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers. Each screening will be followed by in-person Q&As with the filmmakers. 

For more details, visit dcdoxfest.com

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Movies

Gay director on revealing the authentic Pee-wee Herman

New HBO doc positions Reubens as ‘groundbreaking’ performance artist

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The HBO Original two-part documentary ‘PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF,’ directed by Matt Wolf), debuts Friday, May 23 (8 p.m.-11:20 p.m. ET/PT) with both parts airing back-to-back on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)

In the new HBO two-part documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” director Matt Wolf gives viewers a never-before-seen look into the personal life of Paul Reubens, the comedic actor behind the much loved television persona, Pee-wee Herman. 

Filmed before Reubens passed away in 2023 from cancer, Wolf and his creative team created the riveting documentary, interspersing several interviews, more than 1,000 hours of archival footage, and tens of thousands of personal photos.

Determined to set the record straight about what really happened, Reubens discussed his diverse influences, growing up in the circus town of Sarasota, Fla., and his avant-garde theater training at the California Institute of the Arts. 

Ruebens joined the Groundlings improv group, where he created the charismatic Pee-wee Herman. He played the quirky character during the Saturday morning show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” and in numerous movies, like “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and “Big Top Pee-wee.” He also brought Pee-wee to Broadway, with “The Pee-wee Herman Show.”

To get an enigma such as Reubens to open up was no easy task for Wolf.

“I felt determined to get Paul to open up and to be his authentic self,” acknowledged Wolf at a recent press conference. “And I was being tested and I wanted to meet my match in a way so I didn’t feel frustrated or exhausted, I felt determined but I also, it was thrilling to go this deep. I’ve never been able, or I don’t know if I ever will, go this deep with another human being to interview them in an intimate way for over 40 hours.”

Wolf described the collaborative interview experience as a dream, “like we were in a bubble where time didn’t matter.” he also felt a deep connection to the material, having come of age watching “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to put words to it at the time, but I think it was my first encounter with art that I felt emotionally involved in,” noted Wolf.

“He continued: “I recognize that that show created a space for a certain kind of radical acceptance where creativity thrives. And as a gay filmmaker, I also recognize things like Pee-wee Herman marrying a bowl of fruit salad at a slumber party or dancing in high heels to the song, ‘Fever.’ That stuff spoke to me. So that was my connection to it.”

During the documentary, Reubens comes out as a gay man.

“Paul went into this process wanting to come out,” said Wolf. “That was a decision he had made. He was aware that I was a gay filmmaker and had made portraits of other gay artists. That was the work of mine he was attracted to, as I understood. And I wanted, as a younger person, to support him in that process, but he also was intensely sensitive that the film would overly emphasize that; or, focused entirely from the lens of sexuality when looking at his story.”

Their complicated dynamic had an aspect of “push and pull” between them. 

“I think that generational difference was both a source of connection and affinity and tension. And I do think that the level to which Paul discusses his relationships and intimacy and vulnerability and the poignant decision he made to go back into the closet. I do have to believe to some extent he shared that because of our connection.”   

Wolf hopes that the “Pee-wee as Himself” positions Reubens as one of the most “groundbreaking” performance artists of his generation who in a singular way broke through into mainstream pop culture.

“I know he transformed me. He transformed how I see the world and where I went as a creative person. And it’s so clear that I am not alone in that feeling. For me, it was fairly abstract. I couldn’t necessarily put words to it. I think people who grew up on Pee-wee or were big fans of Pee-wee, seeing the film, I hope, will help them tap into intangible and specific ways how transformative his work was for them. It really is a gift to revisit early seminal experiences you had and to see how they reverberate in you.” 

He added: “So, to me, this isn’t so much about saying Paul Reubens is a genius. I mean, that’s overly idealizing and I don’t like hero worship. It’s more about understanding why many of us have connected to his work and understanding where he lives within a legacy of performance art, television, and also, broader pop culture.”

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