NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When opened on Broadway in 2011, John Eric Parker was onstage as the show was showered with rapturous reviews and cheers. In 2026, he’s still, happily, there.
Parker is the only original cast member standing, a rarity in professional musical theater where performers usually move onto the next project within a year.
鈥淚鈥檓 still here. I feel still very much viable. I still feel like I鈥檓 having a good time and I鈥檓 doing good work,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he first indication for me to go is to not have any joy. And this still brings me huge amounts of joy.鈥�
The singer and actor whose Broadway credits also include 鈥淎ll Shook Up鈥� and makes himself available to newcomers in the cast if they seek out his advice. But he won’t press.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 push myself or what I know on other actors because I feel like they have to be afforded the opportunity to find it for themselves,鈥� he says.
鈥淭he show is one of those that is so good that if you just get on the train and ride it, it will take you where you need to go. If they choose to come to me, I am more than available to talk about what I know.鈥�
Producer Anne Garefino finds it special to be able to walk into the theater and get a hug from Parker, who she calls 鈥渁 rock, but without being pushy about it.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 honored that he has stayed this long because he鈥檚 talented, he鈥檚 got a gorgeous voice,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are other shows, but he found his place and I am glad it was with us.鈥�
Lightning strikes twice
鈥淭he Book of Mormon鈥� came to Parker during a low time. His sister passed away unexpectedly at the same time his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. 鈥淭his thick skin was pretty thin for me at that moment,鈥� he recalls.
He juggled two offers 鈥� a new musical called 鈥淢emphis鈥� and what would eventually become 鈥淭he Book of Mormon.鈥� He did workshops and readings for both at the same time.
The first show to be ready to go was 鈥淢emphis鈥� in 2009, and Parker was part of the cast that won the Tony Award for best new musical the next year. Months later, 鈥淭he Book of Mormon鈥� was ready to go, so he joined the ensemble and was part of the cast that won the best new musical Tony in 2011.
鈥淚t was like a lightning striking twice in a row, which is like, 鈥榃hen does that ever happen? How does that ever happen?鈥欌�� he says.
鈥淭he Book of Mormon,鈥� about two Mormon missionaries who find more than they bargained for in Uganda, was written by the creators of Comedy Central鈥檚 irreverent 鈥淪outh Park,鈥� and Robert Lopez, co-creator of the equally irreverent Tony Award-winning musical 鈥淎venue Q.鈥�
鈥淭he Book of Mormon鈥� was a cultural juggernaut when it opened, often becoming a raise-the-roof rock concert. 鈥淚 feel like by the time we got to opening night, I was pretty settled in believing this is about to be something,鈥� Parker says.
He recalls one performance in which he spotted Steve Martin next to Robin Williams who was sitting next to Whoopi Goldberg. He was then told the cast of 鈥淢odern Family鈥� was also in the theater. And Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were there.
鈥淚t was like, 鈥極h, this is different,’鈥� he says. 鈥淎ll right, kids, buckle up, ’cause here we go.鈥欌��
Changes and changes
Cast members eventually left and were replaced and then they were replaced. Parker stayed, although he took time out when his mother died and after becoming a newlywed. He did other projects 鈥� like a role in 鈥淭ales of the City鈥� 鈥� and went on vacations 鈥� but returned to the Eugene O鈥橬eill Theatre and his comfy dressing room, which he affectionately calls 鈥渕y Midtown office.鈥�
He says not having to hustle for the next job has freed him to give back. He’s on the board of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and on the board of directors of Broadway Inspirational Voices.
鈥淭he notion of being tethered to something allows me 鈥� this is just my personality 鈥� to bungee jump even more,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t allows me to really stretch myself in ways that I may not have been able to do if my hustle brain was still on full time.鈥�
He says the show has changed as the world around it changed. It started as a musical about faith and then after the pandemic, it was about the joy of theater itself. He heard audiences react differently to some lines as the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements crested.
鈥淎rt continues to surprise me. Because just when you think it鈥檚 mundane or sort of like pat and routine, something happens in the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is still a living, breathing organism.鈥�
He used to avoid using the term 鈥渓ast man standing鈥� for himself until he went to a family reunion and his uncle 鈥� the last survivor from seven siblings 鈥� showed up.
鈥淭his 78-year-old, 6-foot-4 man drives up in a convertible BMW and jumps out of the car in his Birmingham, Alabama, drawl and says, 鈥榃ell, well, the last man standing is here!鈥� He’s standing like Superman and I thought to myself, 鈥楢ll right, stop shying away from it.鈥欌��
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