Boy Bands and a Bit More Get the Send-Up in Sierra Rep’s ‘Altar Boyz’
By Lisa Millegan, The Modesto Bee, Calif.
Jun. 6–A musical spoof of boy bands, “Altar Boyz” centers on five guys who try to save souls with their funky moves and smooth rhymes.
Their hit songs have lyrics like “Jesus called me on my cell phone” and “Girl, you make me want to wait.” During their performances, they drag out a soul sensor to see how many burdened souls are in the audience.
The popular off-Broadway hit, which ran in
San Francisco last year, will be staged at Sonora’s Sierra Repertory Theatre beginning next week.
“I love the premise of the show,” said guest director and choreographer Troy Magino. “Any time you can parody both a boy band and people taking themselves too seriously, it’s a good time.”
The theater will be transformed into a concert venue with smoke, fog and big-screen projections of notorious celebrities including Britney Spears and O.J. Simpson.
The musical debuted in New York City in 2005 and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best musical off Broadway. With a core fan base of teens and women 35-plus, it attracts a following of “altarholics” who see it over and over again. The New York production also maintains a few Web sites, including a MySpace page on which fans connect with one another.
” ‘Altar Boyz’ is the traditional American story of the underdog,” co-creator and producer Kevin Davenport said in an interview last year with The Bee. “You’re rooting for them, you want them to succeed.”
Group members Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham (“He’s Jewish!” his bandmates sing in “We Are the Altar Boyz”) leave their small towns in hopes of becoming famous, even though their chances of achieving that goal are nil.
Magino said audiences loved the production he did at Musical Theater West in Long Beach last year.
“When you have nuns sitting next to 40-year-old gay men and they’re both enjoying the show for different reasons, it’s fantastic,” he said.
Still, not everybody was a fan. Out of an attendance of about 1,100 people, about 10 people walked out each night, he said. Some complained that the show featured homosexuality, others thought it was too negative about religion, and still others thought it was too supportive of faith. (Consider it a PG-13.)
But Magino said some of his most liberal and most conservative friends liked it.
“I have cousins who are Mormon and they came back to see the show three times,” he said, adding that his devout Catholic grandmother could not stop laughing.
Magino is pleased with his young cast members, Jeff Leatherwood, Matt Densky, Ryan Nearhoff, Joseph Corella and Jeffrey Christopher Todd, who know how to get laughs without being mean-spirited.
“I try very hard not to insult or demean or mock religion while I don’t promote it,” Magino said.
The 35-year-old relates to the subject matter of the show because he grew up in Orlando, where boy bands flourished, and is close friends with Kevin Richardson, the oldest member of the Backstreet Boys. He said he understands the VH1 mentality that dominates the show and has choreographed fun dance moves reminiscent of old Janet Jackson, Run DMC and Beastie Boys videos.
He hopes audience members will laugh and not be offended by the sometimes pointed humor. “I try to walk the line instead of crossing the line,” Magino said.
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