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Amusing boy-band satire is equal opportunity offender

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By KATHY L. GREENBERG

Tribune correspondent

Published: April 17, 2009

Updated: 04/17/2009 07:44 pm

The title "Altar Boyz" is misleading. Nothing's sacred in this musical satire of squeaky clean boy bands.

An American Stage in the Park production, the off-Broadway hit gets people laughing while poking fun at organized religion and those cherub-filled bands that grow bigger than life about once every decade.

Kevin Del Aguila wrote the book for the show, about five young men on a mission. Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker wrote the music and lyrics.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham tour the nation singing inspirational songs to cleanse sin-filled souls and bring audience members closer to God. They schlep their Sony Soul Sensor DX-12 to every concert and watch the digits rise or fall, depending on how many folks allow Jesus into their heart. Their work is done if they hit zero - meaning all of the demons have been cast out.

"Altar Boyz" is at its best when it blatantly mocks, with lyrics like "God put the rhythm in me so I could bust a move," "Jesus called me on my cell phone" and the dismissive "It doesn't matter if you face Mecca when you pray."

When the five gospels relay the band's genesis, each recalling a slightly different version, Abraham (the only Jew in the group) poses the question, "What makes this night different from all others?" - an unexpected reference to the Passover seder.

"Altar Boyz" also takes a few jabs at those who, in the name of God, spend more time condemning than embracing anyone who's different.

Gays, Hispanics, drug addicts, unwed mothers and murderers are lumped together as misfits and undesirables. When it's time for Mark to out himself to the band, the best he can do is confess that he's Catholic.

The young rock stars, like the rest of the play, are all stereotypes: Juan, a poor orphan from Tijuana, plays the Latin lover to the hilt. Luke claims exhaustion led him to rehab. The labels and overgeneralizations - all to the exclusion of too many groups to name - fit the bill for a successful satire.

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