Mark Evans, Christopher John O’Neill Join ‘Book of Mormon’ Tour Cast

Mark Evans and Christopher John O’Neill have joined the cast of the first national tour of “The Book of Mormon.”

The actors take over the two lead roles, with Evans playing Elder Price and O’Neill playing Elder Cunningham. They will be replacing Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner, who will reprise their roles in the London version, which is set to begin February 25 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

O’Neill will be making his professional debut in the role, though Evans has been seen in numerous productions in London and on tour in the U.K. He has played Fiyero in the London version of “Wicked,” and Sam in the London version of “Ghost.” On national tours of the U.K., he has appeared in “Oklahoma” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

The national tour of “The Book of Mormon” is currently in Portland, Oregon, where it will remain until January 6. The tour has dates scheduled through a stop at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. July 9-August 18. Other cities the tour will visit include Seattle, Des Moines, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston and Toronto.

In other news for the musical, all three current North American productions broke box-office records for the holiday week ending December 30. The Broadway version at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre grossed $2.16 million, the highest ever brought in at the theater. This marks the 42^nd time the production has broken its own record.

Additionally, the first national tour earned $1.61 million at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre. The second national tour just opened in Chicago in early December, and broke the box office record at the city’s Bank of America Theatre with a gross of $1.65 million.

“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wrote the book and score of the musical along with Robert Lopez, known for his work on “Avenue Q.”