Conundrum

Remember that one time I was all "Oh, I'm gonna write a post every day in October," and then I failed on the very first day?  Yeah, me neither.  I'm going to pretend like I published this post yesterday and we can all forget that that's not true.  M'kay?

On Saturday I had an audition for Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon.  You know, the smash Broadway musical?  They were holding auditions for replacements for the leads in the Broadway company as well as two touring companies.  Initially I basically told my manager, "Thanks, but no thanks."  And then she was all, "Oh no no no, you need to audition for these people."  And then I was like, "...okay."

I went to the audition.  Maybe I rocked their socks off (admittedly I forgot some of the words to the song, but I sounded good - I think - and I hit the high notes, and the song is really about whether I can sing, not whether I can memorize the words in 2 days, amiright?).  I did make them laugh.   I left the audition feeling great.

Enter conflict.

So here's the thing.  Getting cast as one of the two leads in this show would/could be a huge thing.  And I don't mean huge like "Neil Patrick Harris is my boss and bought me pizza" huge .  I'm talking multiple-Olympic-Gold-Medal-winning, Burt-Reynolds-shaving-his-mustache, life-changing huge. HUGE.    I can also see it as being a cool/interesting/unusual/good missionary opportunity in oh-so-many ways.  And I won't lie, while preparing for my audition (I sang a song from the show.  This one, if you want to listen, but just in case you've been living at the bottom of the ocean for the last couple of years, know that The Book of Mormon can be somewhat - read: entirely - inappropriate) I had a couple of moments where I would say I felt the spirit.  The song talks about Christ and the atonement - albeit flippantly - which gets one thinking about such things.  And is it wrong of me to feel that performing in a show that gets me to think about Christ - yes, even a show such a this - maybe isn't such a bad thing?

On the other hand, I think I'd have a really - REALLY - hard time performing in a show that treats so lightly things I consider sacred.  And it's not even just that.  Yes they mock my religion.  Some would say it's tongue-in-cheek.  I call BS on that.  When you degrade something that someone holds sacred, you're crossing a line.  I think it would be like someone writing a cheery musical about the Holocaust.  But I digress.  Aside from any religious elements, it's also that, from what I've heard, it's just crass and offensive in general.  Being in the entertainment industry I get enough of that in my life without purposefully adding more.  I've had a couple of people even say something like, "Well, The Church bought ad space in the program ya know."  Right, because the people at The Church are sharp cookies and saw an excellent marketing opportunity, not because they in any way endorse the show.

Anyway, I don't know.  At this point it's really a long shot.  Mostly my manager wanted me to audition to get in front of the casting people because they do a lot of big musical theater casting - which I am all for.  If I got cast in something more appropriate on Broadway I'd probably move out there tomorrow.  So, as with many many things in this business - we'll wait and see.

What do you think my interweb friends?  Let's say I get a call tomorrow and they want me for the show.  Do I do it?  Do I even consider?  Do I politely bow out and hope and pray that equal or greater, but less shady opportunities come my way?  Whaddya think?