Book of Mormon Chicago Stay Extended to June; Atlanta, Tampa in 2013-14

Due to popular demand, the previously announced upcoming Chicago residency of “The Book of Mormon” has been extended by nearly three months.

The production, which will begin previews at the Bank of America Theatre on December 11 and then officially open on December 17, will run through June 2. The show was previously scheduled to run through March 3. Tickets for the extended portion of the run will go on sale on September 21.

Additionally, it was also recently announced that the national tour of the musical will visit Atlanta and Tampa as part of the 2013-2014 season, though no official dates have yet been confirmed for either city. Broadway in Atlanta said that subscribers for the 2012-2013 season in the city that renew for the following season will be guaranteed seats to the Atlanta premiere of the production.

The first national tour for “The Book of Mormon” kicked off about a week ago at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. The production will run through September 2, and tickets for all shows sold out within hours of being released. The national tour also is scheduled to visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston and Washington, D.C., among others for the current season.

Of course, the musical was created and written by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with “Avenue Q” writer Robert Lopez. The Broadway version of the musical began previews at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on February 24 before opening exactly a month later. The musical won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

The musical also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The original Broadway cast recording, released in May 2011, peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart.