In the Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon," Mormon missionary Elder Price wants the church to send him to sunny Orlando, Fla., to spread his faith. Instead he's shipped off to Uganda.

Like Elder Price, the road tour of "The Book of Mormon," set to kick off this August, won't be going to Orlando—or anywhere in the South—just yet. On the first leg of the tour, the show will largely be sticking to the coasts and a handful of major Midwestern cities.

The show, with its profanity-laced songs and irreverent take on religion and poverty, has grossed more than $90 million on Broadway and picked up nine Tony awards. The racy material will stay unchanged for the tour, say sources close to the show. But will it work in the heartland?

During the tour's first year, the producers, Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino, are taking the show primarily to large cities with fairly affluent theater audiences. They are also "underbooking" the show—playing for only a few weeks in most locations—to keep supply low and demand high, so they can come back over and over, according to a person familiar with the strategy. The tour's first run will play in 16 cities for a year starting in August, plus an open-ended show in Chicago. A second season is now being booked.

Megahits like "Wicked" and "Les Misérables" employed the same tactic, maximizing sales early in strong cities, and staying fewer weeks to increase hype. "Wicked," with two national tours, still sells to full houses after seven years on the road.