Two musicals in one day is definitely a new record.

We saw the matinee show of Book Of Mormon yesterday and it was packed. The last time I saw a musical comedy was Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in The Producers way back when and even then I went only after listening to the official recorded version a gazillion times. When the moment came to watch it, I was practically mouthing the words to all the songs and was so engrossed in each nuance of every song that I lost track of actually enjoying the experience.

On the other hand I’d only heard of Book Of Mormon in passing and knew not a single note of any song, so coming in I was clueless and didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be an overacted, risque, campy extravaganza that was really funny – and really inappropriate – in a lot of parts and had the audience in stitches. It all made sense later on when I found out it was from the creators of South Park. Enough said.

The second show we saw yesterday was the evening performance of Jersey Boys, which I was already familiar with after seeing the movie version. It was pretty much an exact copy but there is always something to be said about live performances – you can literally see them sweat, and how! The singing was exceptional and on point, and sitting close to center, seven rows out from stage made it perfect to survey the entire stage from any perspective. Same as the Book Of Mormons matinee it was a full house, so it seems like the West End is doing quite well.