‘Altar Boyz’ succeeds with humor, heart and hip-shaking

There’s not an unkind bone in the body of “Altar Boyz,” Roxy Downtown’s new musical comedy that pairs religion with boy bands – but whose humor comes from the cult of fame and fandom rather than any mocking of Christianity.

Played out like a concert, “Altar Boyz” is a righteous and riotous 105-minute musical that shows the five title characters – Matthew (Ryan Schafer), Mark (Tanner Neath), Luke (Seth Knowles), Juan (Austin Ragusin) and Abraham (Max Wilson) – stopping in Wichita for the final night of their “Raise the Praise” tour.

Each of the characters fits into the cookie-cutter description we’ve become used to for members of the all-male groups: Matthew is the leader, Mark (with Neath’s nearly boy-soprano voice) is the sensitive one, Luke is the bad boy (returning from treatment for “exhaustion”), Juan is the Latin lover, and Abraham is Jewish, called the “Gefilte fish out of water” in the program.

Ready to “praise the Lord with funk and rhyme,” they gather for a preconcert prayer, “Anoint thine hair with product and gird thine loins with leather,” before unleashing five-part harmony and synchronized hip-shaking choreography.

Their mission is to save the souls of those at Roxy’s, complete with Sony’s “Soul Sensor DX12,” which counts down those who have yet to feel the spirit in the audience.

Director Kyle Vespestad struck onstage gold with the five actors who look, act, sing and move as though they’ve known each other as long as their characters have claimed. (One segment shows the “back story” of the Altar Boyz, through the eyes of each of its members.)

Vespestad is also the choreographer, and the athletic moves he’s created fit snugly into the steps created by the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, New Kids on the Block and many others that “Altar Boyz” is meant to poke fun at.

The songs and lyrics, created by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, get an energetic boost thanks to music director Rich Bruhn, leading a four-piece band above the stage at Roxy’s. Most of the score falls into the style of the boy band oeuvre with earnest-esque ballads and energetic pop tunes, although the finale “I Believe” could hold its own in any church on a Sunday morning.

It’s all accented by an awesome rock-concert lighting rush thanks to designer Tyler Gallegos-Lessin, which added to the frenzy of a receptive Roxy’s audience.

The ninth-longest running off-Broadway musical of all time, “Altar Boyz” is heaping helpings of both humor and heart that leave the audiences cheering.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 8:46 PM with the headline "‘Altar Boyz’ succeeds with humor, heart and hip-shaking."