[NEohioPAL] Review of "Altar Boyz" at the Hanna Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Resurrected 'Altar Boyz' makes a joyful noise

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald on 1/21/11 (online 1/17/11)

 

One of the signs of the Apocalypse is when culture collapses. 

 

Yeah, I made that up.  Still, many consider the replacement of the fine arts with lawn gnome sculptures and paintings on velvet an abomination on par with pestilence and famine.  So is Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup Cans silkscreen, which mixes abstract expressionism with blatant commercialism.  Add to the list Broadway musicals that are based on films that are based on comic book heroes.

 

OK, maybe not pestilence, but that doesn't make these artificial artifacts less incongruous or disturbing to some or, for that matter, less attractive and intriguing to others.

 

The ultimate culture crash was the boy bands of the 1990s.

 

Prepackaged and highly commercialized, all-White boy bands such as New Kids on the Block, Back Street Boys and N' Sync pilfered R & B, gospel music, dance moves and street slang from all-Black bands like New Edition, All 4 One and Boyz II Men.  This resulted in soulless but heartfelt ballads sung with intricate a cappella harmonies and highly stylized, overly choreographed up-beat anthems that took the country's teen population by storm and left others in a dazed stupor.  

 

After selling hundreds of millions of albums, these groups vanished into obscurity.

 

>From this blip on the nation's pop culture radar and the contemporary Christian music movement that surfaced shortly thereafter emerged Altar Boyz, a sweetly satirical off-Broadway sendoff of the boy band.

 

With music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, and story by Kevin Del Aguila, Altar Boyz features five born-again and broadly drawn songsters-choirboy Matthew, effeminate Mark, bad boy Luke , token Hispanic Juan and Jew-for-Jesus Abraham-touring the nation to promote their corporate sponsors and their Lord and savior.  This musical comedy is staged as a live concert, with the storyline worked into song introductions and the banter between musical numbers.

 

As do many plays built on parody, this 90 minute, one-act production could easily lapse into a one-trick gimmick that feels 80 minutes too long.  Its saving grace is a clever script and moving music, which renders the playful proselytizing harmless to those who do not imbibe.  It adds humor and poignancy in all the right places and when needed most.

 

In 2008, this production was brought to the Beck Center for the Arts stage in Lakewood.  It was a box office smash, due in large part to the charm and talents of its featured players, the superb direction, technical design and musical direction by Scott Spence, Trad A Burns and Larry Goodpaster, respectively, and the tongue-in-cheek choreography of Hernando Cortez.

 

Currently on stage at the Hanna Theatre in PlayhouseSquare is a resurrection of this Beck Center production complete with the original creative team, save for one cast member.  Time has been good to this production, for it is a mature and beautifully synchronized piece of work right out of the gate (despite some technical glitches).

 

Altar Boyz is an energetic, absorbing, non-stop entertainment.  Josh Rhett Noble, Connor O'Brien, Dan Grgic, Ryan Jagru and new kid Matthew Ryan Thompson (who recently played his role of Mark in another local production) are top-notch performers.  Their harmonies are gorgeous, their stage presence is intoxicating, their dancing is unselfconscious and joyful, and their rapport is genuine.    

 

The boys complement each other perfectly and blend their singular skills to form the ensemble boy band collective needed for this production.  However, at various points in the play each one of the five is given a solo number to perform.  While they are all strong, the performance delivered by Matthew Ryan Thompson's in the eleventh hour number "Epiphany" is worth singling out.  It is a brilliantly conceived song delivered with incredible vocal dexterity and heart.

 

So authentic are these portrayals and so true to the concert scene is this production that the opening weekend audience was peppered with now-mature former boy band groupies who apparently follow this play and its players with pre-pubescent fervor.      

 

The timing for this production of Altar Boyz couldn't be better, considering that members of the original New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys have resurfaced, reunited and joined forces for a 2011 NKOTBSB national tour.  Yes, the boy band is back-at the Hanna Theatre and in concert halls around the country (including Quicken Loans Arena July 27).

 

Apocalypse now.

 

Altar Boyz continues through January 30 at PlayhouseSquare's Hanna Theatre in downtown Cleveland.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $39.50, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.playhousesquare.org.
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