Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson is an Associate Professor of Musicology at Oklahoma City University. He is the author of two books on musicals and religion, Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America (2019) and Lying in the Middle: Musical Theater and Belief at the Heart of America (2021).

Articles

Religion Dispatches

Despite Vastly Different Values, Evangelical 'Hamilton' Connects Secular Left and Christian Right

Last weekend, the Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen, Texas, mounted an unauthorized, unlicensed and “Christianized” production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton . The…

Jake Johnson

August 10, 2022

Article

Religion Dispatches

In Just 10 Years 'The Book of Mormon' Musical Has Gone From America's Darling to America's Latest Problem — The Inverse of the Mormon Story

This year marks the tenth anniversary of The Book of Mormon the musical on Broadway. If this show were an actual Mormon, a tenth is what would be given away as a tithe to God. Thanks to the pandemic…

Jake Johnson

September 28, 2021

Article