Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells Reflect on BOOK OF MORMON Tonys Performance

It’s been fifteen years since Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells put on their Sunday clothes as their fan-favorite characters in Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. In celebration, the delightful duo joined the rest of the original cast for a throwback performance during the Tony Awards this past Sunday. 

“We had a great time,” Rannells reflected during a post-awards visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers. “It’s been very overwhelming to get to rehearse this material again, and then here we are doing it on the Tonys. And the adrenaline kicked in and I felt like I’m 19 and I can sing forever! And then this morning, I woke up and sounded like Lauren Bacall.”

Gad did not share his co-star’s feelings of juvenescence. “I felt slightly differently. I went out there, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m 45. I shouldn’t be doing this.'” He admitted that, despite having performed in hundreds of performances during his run, the material didn’t come back right away.

“At first you’re like, ‘Wait, I did this?’ And then you do it like twice and all of a sudden it’s muscle memory and everything starts coming back. But there are these new lines that Trey [Parker] and Matt [Stone] have added since we left and those are like a foreign antibody where something short circuits.” 

Also during the interview, the pair spoke about the fire that broke out at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre last month, and returning to the show for the “MAGICAL MORMON MYSTERY WEEK” performances from June 9-14. Check out their late-night appearance, and watch the Tony performance below.

The Book of Mormon opened on Broadway on March 24, 2011. It has become one of the most successful shows in Broadway history, serving as the longest-running show in the 100-year history of the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and is now the 10th longest-running Broadway musical of all time. The Book of Mormon is also playing in London’s West End, on tour in the UK and Australia, and on tour in North America.

In addition to nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, The Book of Mormon won five Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical, the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the Drama League Award for Best Musical and four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Musical. The London production, which opened on March 21, 2013 at the Prince of Wales Theatre, won four Olivier Awards including Best Musical.

The Book of Mormon features book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. The production is choreographed by Casey Nicholaw and is directed by Nicholaw and Parker. The original cast featured Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad as Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, respectively, in addition to Nikki M. James, Rory O’Malley, Michael Potts, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lewis Cleale.