Grey Henson was a senior, working on his Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting and musical theatre at Pittsburgh’s acclaimed Carnegie Mellon in 2012 when he auditioned for the role of Elder McKinley in the upcoming road show of “The Book of Mormon.”

“I was a little nervous,” the Georgia native said. “I was half way through my senior year and rehearsals would be starting that May. I was able to graduate, rehearse for my role, open the tour and get my equity card right after graduation.

“I was also very lucky,” the 23-year-old Henson said. “The timing was perfect. I’ve been totally spoiled. Since then, we’ve done over 700 shows across the country.”

No waiting on tables, endless auditions or the usual traumas of a graduating actor, Henson hit the ground running and has not stopped yet.

“I felt like I had been shot out of a cannon,” he said.

“The Book of Mormon” has been playing to sold-out audiences from California through the Midwest to their four-week run in Boston. The winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, opens in Providence April 29 and runs for two weeks, an unusual feat after a month run only an hour up the road.

Boston is the first city to have the hilarious musical back for the second time, having played there at the same time last year during the horror of the Boston Marathon shootings.

“I’ve been literally homeless since graduation, with little time off to get back home,” Grey said. “The good news is that I’m seeing places I would never have a chance to see. I’m like a tourist in my little time off. There’s not a lot of time to do much. The show is exhausting and we all need our rest.”

Henson’s role as a Mormon missionary in Uganda gives him a chance to sing one of the musical’s big hits, “Turn It Off.”

“While the show is about Mormons, it could be about any religion,” he said. “We all have certain feelings, and in the case of the missionary we have to smile when we try to turn them off.”

You’ll also have many moments to smile and laugh out loud at this hilarious musical, which audiences and critics have called the funniest they have ever seen.

Tickets are going fast. Call 421-ARTS for reservations. Check them out at info@

ppacri.org.