‘South Park’ recap: A profane love letter to Broadway musicals

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‘South Park’ creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone took satirical aim at Broadway on Wednesday’s episode the way they know best -- with ample profanity and wall-to-wall sex jokes. They even managed to work in a tongue-in-cheek plug for their own Broadway musical, the Tony-winning ‘The Book of Mormon.’

The episode, titled ‘Broadway Bro Down,’ follows Randy and Sharon, the parents of little Stan. Randy agrees to take Sharon to see a touring production of ‘Wicked’ in Denver after he hears from co-workers that women are more inclined to perform a certain sexual act after seeing a musical.

During the performance, Randy hears subliminal sexual references in the lyrics. Sure enough, on the drive home, Sharon starts feeling frisky. Emboldened by the experience, Randy books a pair of flights to New York and takes Sharon to see every musical on Broadway. (The Broadway depicted in the episode is a bit of a fantasy place where ‘Cats’ and ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ are still running.)

Upon his return home, Randy cooks up the idea to create his own musical after learning that ‘Wicked’ will be leaving Denver soon. But his blatantly sexual lyrics anger a group of prominent Broadway composers -- including Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John and Stephen Schwartz. Naturally, the characters all come together at a Hooters restaurant.

The episode ends with a clever plug for ‘The Book of Mormon.’ (Robert Lopez, who worked with Parker and Stone on ‘Mormon,’ contributed to Wednesday’s episode.) The Tony-winning team shows that they can have their satirical cake, and eat it too.

RELATED:

‘South Park’ goes Broadway, with a visit to ‘Wicked’

‘60 Minutes’ to profile creators of Broadway’s ‘Book of Mormon’

Theater review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre

-- David Ng