{"id":390758,"date":"2026-11-02T11:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/390758\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:42:18","slug":"familiar-faces-rejoin-the-book-of-mormon-on-broadway-nikki-m-james-and-rory-omalley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/390758\/","title":{"rendered":"Familiar Faces Rejoin ‘The Book of Mormon’ on Broadway: Nikki M. James and Rory O\u2019Malley"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 It’s been 12 years since Nikki M. James<\/a> was last in the Eugene O\u2019Neill Theatre on Broadway starring in \u201cThe Book of Mormon.\u201d<\/a> So much has changed and yet some things are exactly the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sink in my dressing room is still clogged,\u201d the Tony Award-winner says, laughing. \u201cYou can\u2019t run the water that long. I don’t know what it is. What’s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

James and fellow original co-star Rory O\u2019Malley<\/a> have returned to \u201cThe Book of Mormon\u201d for the first time since they left when Barack Obama was just starting his second presidential term.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was totally surreal being on that stage again, doing a show that I love so much, hearing an audience loving it too, and having people who clearly were seeing it for the first time,\u201d says O\u2019Malley after his return last week.<\/p>\n

James likened the experience to going back to your hometown after decades away and someone asking you to grab something from the deli. \u201cYou\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, sure.\u2019 And before you know it, you\u2019re in the car and you\u2019ve driven there,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s like those pathways are all still there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair will be in the show in their old roles until Jan. 17.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Book of Mormon\u2019 in a new world<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Book of Mormon,\u201d about two Mormon missionaries who find more than they bargained for in Uganda, including gun-toting warlords and villages infected with HIV, was a cultural juggernaut when it opened on Broadway in 2011. After they left, new cast members kept it going and this year’s 15th anniversary offered a way back.<\/p>\n

They’re doing the show \u201cin a completely different world\u201d than the last time, says James. \u201cThe discourse around race, around religion, around comedy, about responsibility of artists and representation \u2014 all of it was different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The musical earned James a Tony Award and she went on to marry and have a baby, enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe and earn another Tony nomination for \u201cSuffs.\u201d O\u2019Malley earned a Tony nomination and also went on to marry and have a child, winning roles in \u201cHamilton\u201d and \u201cShe Loves Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and O\u2019Malley admit they were nervous coming back, even though each had performed it well over 800 times. They’ve had huge career moments since but \u201cnothing that comes close to touching this,\u201d she says. \u201cWe know for a fact that this doesn\u2019t happen again. So we have to treat it like the precious gift that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

James and O\u2019Malley are part of a boomlet of original actors returning to their hit shows, like Aaron Tveit coming back to \u201cMoulin Rouge\u201d and Leslie Odom Jr.<\/a> and Christopher Jackson<\/a> jumping back into \u201cHamilton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that I hope is done a lot more,\u201d says O\u2019Malley. \u201cI hope that there are more shows that have the ability to be open long enough so that people can come back and revisit it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changes for the actors and the show<\/p>\n

James and O\u2019Malley have changed and the show they rejoin has also changed. During the pandemic shutdown, the creators \u2014 \u201cSouth Park\u201d masterminds Trey Parker and Matt Stone,<\/a> and Robert Lopez, co-creator of the equally irreverent musical \u201cAvenue Q\u201d \u2014 made minor changes to the script.<\/p>\n

One notable tweak is giving James’ character \u2014 the potential love interest Nabulungi, who sings the torch song \u201cSal Tlay Ka Siti\u201d \u2014 more agency by becoming the one who scares off the warlords at the end.<\/p>\n

That change now puts her on equal footing with the missionaries and means she gets to end the show center stage. \u201cIt\u2019s a small little thing, but it makes a huge difference to me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

One of the show’s highlights is O\u2019Malley singing \u201cTurn It Off,\u201d a mock ode to keeping your homosexuality hidden. Raised Catholic, O\u2019Malley has been out since he was 19 and co-founded the gay rights group Broadway Impact. \u201cI love how far this show has let me explore my own faith journey,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The full cast of \u201cThe Book of Mormon\u201d has stayed close with an active group text, and some from the original cast came to the theater to welcome back James and O\u2019Malley.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone says that their theater family is like a family, and that is really true here,\u201d says James. \u201cWe\u2019ve been there for each other\u2019s weddings, babies, deaths of family members, deaths of each other’s parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Backstage, the pair have found stickers and notes that have lasted for 15 years. There’s a new tradition of putting headshots up in the stage-right dressing room tower, including one from the late Gavin Creel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If James has her clogged sink, O\u2019Malley rediscovered a specific smell under the stage: \u201cI walked down there and I am immediately transported back to February of 2011 when we first moved into the theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although they rehearsed the show for two weeks to relearn everything, O\u2019Malley hit a snag at the top of Act 2 on his first night back when he suddenly didn’t know how to get on stage. He had to ask for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI deleted that file a long time ago,\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

The Month in Photos: Sept. 2026<\/p>\n

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