The Book of Mormon by the Numbers: 15 Years, 42 Hellos and One Incredible Broadway Mission

The Book of Mormon first said “hello” to Broadway on February 24, 2011 and has been leaving audiences in stitches ever since. The musical, created by South Park funny guys Trey Parker and Matt Stone with double EGOT winner Robert Lopez, follows young Mormons on their maiden mission to Uganda. The opening night cast starred Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad, with Nikki M. James and Rory O'Malley. In celebration of the show's 15th anniversary, the original Broadway cast reunited for a performance at the 2026 Tony Awards. Come with us, two by two, on another mission of sorts—where we break down The Book of Mormon by the numbers.

The Book of Mormon is the 10th longest-running musical in Broadway history and the fourth longest-running current production.

How’s this for an introduction? The Mormon missionaries say “hello” 42 times throughout the show.

The Book of Mormon has embarked on three national tours, two Australian tours and one U.K. and European tour. In addition to Broadway, you can catch the missionaries in London's West End production and on tour in Australia.

After a show playing Elder McKinley, Charlie Franklin hears one reaction more than others. “A stage door response I get pretty often is, ‘We’re Mormons from Utah!’ I’m always so curious what they thought of it,” he says. “Way more often than not, they absolutely loved the show. They get it the most!”

They’re not gold plates, but The Book of Mormon won nine competitive Tony Awards in 2011: Best Musical; Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score for Parker, Lopez and Stone; Best Featured Actress in a Musical for James; Best Direction of a Musical for Casey Nicholaw and Parker; Best Orchestrations for Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus; Best Scenic Design for Scott Pask; Best Lighting Design for Brian MacDevitt and Best Sound Design for Brian Ronan.

The Book of Mormon won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2012.

The original Broadway cast recording became the highest-charting Broadway cast album in over four decades, reaching number three on the Billboard charts.

Lopez is currently the youngest person to achieve EGOT status, at 39 years old, which he earned in part thanks to The Book of Mormon. He has two Oscars (for “Let It Go” from Frozen and “Remember Me” from Coco), three Emmy Awards (for Wonder Pets and "Agatha All Along" from WandaVision), three Tony Awards (for Avenue Q’s score and The Book of Mormon's book and score) and three Grammy Awards (two for Frozen and one for The Book of Mormon). By this tally, Lopez has a double EGOT, making him the sole person in history to achieve this honor!

Grab your passport! Thirteen cities and countries are mentioned in The Book of Mormon: Salt Lake City, Norway, France, Japan, Orlando, Uganda, China, Mexico, San Francisco, Australia, Cheyenne, WY, Provo, UT and Rochester, NY.

Now that you’ve traveled locations, why not travel in time? Three years are mentioned in the show: 326 A.D., 1823 and 1978.

Ensemble member Andrew Stevens Purdy is doing a different kind of traveling—movement, that is! Out of every piece of Nicholaw’s choreography, the “Man Up” sequence is Purdy’s favorite. “It is truly a perfect marriage of dance and comedy,” he says. “I love that I get to live out my ‘90s boy band fantasy while also fully committing to the absurdity of the moment. And to do it all in skinny jeans and a sparkly top? This is what dreams are made of.”

There are 150 costumes in the show, which require seven loads of laundry to keep clean!

Dresser Amy Elizabeth Bravo’s favorite costume in the show belongs to the angel Moroni. "I like the color palette and he has hair flair,” she says.

The most challenging costume change for Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor Virginia Ohnesorge is the one from the opening prologue to “Hello.” “Those are very fast changes, and both involve two dressers for each actor,” Ohnesorge says. “Because they’re so fast, they have their own choreography, with actors and crew knowing what they need to do and when. Our dressers and the hair and props crews are so good that those changes run like machinery at this point.”

Sixty-five ties and 34 name tags displaying a total of 18 different Elder names can be seen in the show.

Nineteen copies of The Book of Mormon are kept backstage at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.

The phrase “The Book of Mormon” is said or sung 10 times throughout the show, while the word “elder” is said 102 times.

Ensemble member Kristen Jeter is making her Broadway debut in The Book of Mormon. A phrase from the show she has found herself saying in real life is, “Tomorrow is a latter day.” For her, it’s a way to say “you’ll get them next time.”

To date, 194 performers have appeared in Broadway's The Book of Mormon, with 116 making their Broadway debuts in the show. Two members of the original Broadway cast remain with the company, as well as 11 original crew members.

Ensemble member John Eric Parker has been with The Book of Mormon since it opened, and he's seen the show through it all. “After all the awards and accolades have been received and the milestones have been reached, my favorite part of doing the show is watching the audiences transform nightly,” he says. “From the folks under the marquee before the show, to the folks filled with joy, laughter and sometimes outrage during the show, to the folks under the marquee after the show. There is a wonderful exchange of energy that happens between the actor and the audience. Yes, the escapism that our show provides is so needed in our world today. But it also makes you think. Fifteen years later, that is still happening. What a joy!"

Now that we’ve moved past pleasantries, "Sal Tlay Ka Siti" is your next stop. Your mission location is the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, and we believe you'll see something incredible.

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