Student Blog: Going on your Mission to Broadway: In Conversation with Broadway Star Diego Enrico
HELLO! Would you like to change religions? I have a free musical written by Jesus!
HELLO! Would you like to change religions? I have a free musical written by Jesus! Well, not exactly… If you know the hit musical, “The Book of Mormon”, then you’ll know that that introduction is the way that the audience meets one of the show's main protagonists, Elder Cunningham. For most of 2024 and most of 2025, Elder Cunningham was played by the incredible Diego Enrico. After playing Elder Cunningham for a year on the national tour of The Book of Mormon, Diego announced that Chicago was going to be his last tour stop and would then be transferring to the Broadway production to continue playing Elder Cunningham! Performing on a national tour and performing on Broadway are two notably different things, however both are an incredibly special experience.
Diego was born in Houston, Texas. However, he spent most of his childhood in Lima, Peru. When he was growing up, he had to move away with some of his closest friends in Peru and adjust to life in the United States. When Diego was younger, he had trouble making friends. However, as he got older, he discovered the art of performance and fell in love with theatre. In 2024, Diego received his BFA in theatre from Molloy University in New York. Along with being an amazing performer, one of his special skills is that he is a Pokemon master… I’m being serious! Look at his resume.
Diego joined the national tour of Book of Mormon in 2024 and had his first performance in Chicago, IL. Diego’s final tour performance took place on October 19, 2025 at the CIBC Theatre. However, Diego only had to take a break from his mission for 9 days and started performances on Broadway on October 28, 2025.
Diego first found his love for acting came during middle school when he started doing theatre for the first time. He did the theatre class in 7th grade and started actually doing shows in 8th grade. Some of his first few shows include Cinderella (as the king) and The Lion King (as Scar). He mentioned that doing The Lion King really set his love for the arts.
He first experienced The Book of Mormon in his freshman year of high school. He continuously listened to the big shows at the time (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and of course: The Book of Mormon)! The first time he saw the show was in 2018 on Broadway. He was participating in Broadway Evolved and The Book of Mormon was one of the shows that Diego decided to see. That night was when he realized that he needed to play Elder Cunningham.
The Book of Mormon was Diego's first national tour and taught him a lot of lessons. The first lesson that being on tour taught him was how to be quick on his feet. This is because when you’re on tour, you’re constantly switching cities, crews, weather, etc… For him, one of the most important things was not being precious about everything. It also taught him to roll with the punches. He mentions that he thinks this is one of the biggest things that actors should learn.
Diego talked about how he said that, as a performer, he prefers performing in a set venue rather than changing each week or two. He said that it helps him stay healthy being in one place, rather than jumping around cities. He also said that it’s really hard to go from city to city and not have a “set routine”.
When he first started playing Elder Cunningham, there were a few things that surprised him with the role. The first thing being how hard it is. He didn’t realize that it was going to be as hard as it actually is. Diego said that Cunningham goes up to a B a couple of times, and it can be unassuming in a way. This is because Josh Gad’s voice is set higher and you don’t expect it to be as high as it is. He talked about how he really has to warm up a lot, vocally and physically. The role of Cunningham is also a very active role. The way that Diego plays Cunningham is more of neurotic and very “little brother esque”. Which makes him have moments where he is constantly running and jumping around.
In the future, Diego would love to jump into the film world. He has also had a big heart for film. Not just being in films, but helping create them. He brought up how he was in a media group in high school and got to create a lot of cool film things. However, his heart will always be on stage. He also mentioned how he would love to play Quasimodo in Hunchback on an actual Broadway production or King George III in Hamilton.
You can currently see Diego in The Book of Mormon on Broadway! Get your tickets by visiting the link below!
