Actress Plays Ambitious Role in ‘The Book of Mormon’

Charity Arianna portrays Nabulingi in “The Book of Mormon.” Photo provided by Broadway in Chicago.
Charity Arianna portrays Nabulingi in “The Book of Mormon.” Photo provided by Broadway in Chicago.

Actress Plays Ambitious Role in ‘The Book of Mormon’

By Tia Carol Jones

Charity Arianna has been singing for as long as she can remember. Singing helped her get through the days. Her love of singing and music led her to theatre. Doing plays and musicals in schools helped her decide that she wanted a career in the theatre. She said her favorite thing about the theatre is that you can walk into one and it completely changes a person’s point of view.

“Not only do you learn something, but you also get to kind of escape from the hardships of regular life. Something about the creativity and the environment, just makes me feel so happy and it fills me with so much joy,” she said.

Charity Arianna is portraying Nabulungi in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is playing at CIBC Theatre, located at 18 W. Monroe St., through Oct. 19th. The musical, written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez, follows two Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints missionaries who go to a Ugandan village.

The Book of Mormon won nine Tony Awards in 2011 for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Director of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical and four technical awards.

Charity Arianna got to audition for the Book of Mormon and did a lot of research about the musical, which included watching it. She said while watching it, there was not one time when she was not laughing and not fully invested in the storyline and the characters. Through the audition process, she said she fell in love with the story and how beautiful the story is. She said that is what she loves about theatre, that people can go into a show that they usually wouldn’t watch and it becomes the person’s favorite.

Charity Arianna began with the national touring company as a swing and understudy for the role of Nabulungi. She said it was special for her because she got to watch different versions of the character, and she got to see different points of views of the role from different actors. She said it was very special for her to be able to learn different parts of the character that she might not have noticed at first that someone else brings out. She said that is the beauty of being an understudy. This season, Charity Arianna is playing Nabulungi full time, and it made her fall even more in love with the character because she has such a special connection to her.

“I get to put on this character every single night and every night I see something new and there’s some nuance I can discover,” she said.

Charity Arianna describes Nabulungi as a Black girl who is an ambitious dreamer. She said it is such a joy to see that on stage and she thinks it is very healing to play a character who is just like her; who goes for what she wants. She said she is very honored to be able to play a character who is very confident. Charity Arianna said her favorite part of the play is Act 2 because the audience gets to see Nabulungi’s character blossom in a surprising and unexpected way. She said her favorite song is at the end of Act 1, called Man Up. She said the song is really exciting, it is one of the most beautiful songs and it makes her feel supported.

“My favorite thing about being on tour is that every city is very different. I really love when people walk into the theater, and their life is completely changed by the comedy and the story. If you can really pay attention to the nuance and the message being brought by this musical, that’s my favorite thing,” she said. She said she hopes audiences take away the creativity and the love that is put into the musical.

For more information about The Book of Mormon, visit thebookofmormontour.com. Tickets cost $64-$151. To purchase, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

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