Parody with pious pop

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By John Benson

entertainment@vindy.com

The Christian contemporary-music world is being turned on its head with pop-music parody “Altar Boyz,” which appears next Thursday to Jan. 30 at the Hanna Theatre. The sharp and irreverent 90-minute show explores what happens when the *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys fanfare is led by a pious pop act known for songs such as “Girl You Make Me Wanna Wait” and “Jesus Called Me On My Cell Phone.”

“It’s about these five guys from Ohio — four of them are Catholic, and one is Jewish — and basically they heard the calling,” said “Altar Boyz” book writer Kevin Del Aguila, calling from New York City. “God brought them together to form this boy band and spread his word with funk and rhyme. That’s their mission, to go around the world and cleanse the souls of North America with the glory of sweet pop music.”

Winner of the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Off-Broadway Musical, the production centers around a fictitious boy band — Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham — as they perform their last concert on their “Raise the Praise” tour. The quintet went from playing the Buckeye State’s bingo-hall-and-pancake-breakfast circuit to the bright lights of New York City. Now comes the ultimate test of their faith, with the temptation of fame and all the extravagance and indulgence that comes along with it.

“Altar Boyz” made its Ohio debut in 2008 at The Beck Center. Now the Lakewood-based theater company, which is producing the current Hanna Theatre show, has moved the production to the more prestigious PlayhouseSquare in hopes of attracting a larger audience.

Naturally, whenever a theater production tangles with religion, there’s always the risk of offending people and their beliefs. Del Aguila said this show was specifically designed to avoid such pitfalls.

“People think that, but in reality if you have a sense of humor then you’ll be fine,” Del Aguila said. “It pokes fun more at boy bands and kind of like the commercialization of religion than anything else. We’ve had priests sitting next to rabbis sitting next to agnostics and atheists who have all enjoyed the show equally. The show was even blessed by a priest at one point. For the most part, people tend to take it with a grain of salt and have a good time. So it’s been good.”

Finally, with a title like “Altar Boyz,” the production often confuses unsuspecting audiences unsure of what to expect. Del Aguila stressed there are certain misconceptions that the show does avoid.

“People instantly think it’s going to be about pedophilia because it’s called ‘Altar Boyz’ or that it’s just tearing religion apart,” Del Aguila said. “It really doesn’t. We realized the strength of the piece is that you really do kind of become a fan of this group by the end. They’re kind of a ragtag bunch — a real underdog kind of group — and you really root for them and want them to succeed no matter what your religious faith is. You get onboard with them and what they believe. They’re committed to what they believe, and you kind of join them on that journey.

“As far as pedophilia goes, those jokes have already been made and are too easy. That’s not what we were interested in. We don’t let religion off the hook, but everything is done with tongue inserted in cheek.”