Theatre Arlington worship at the ‘Altar’ — can I get an ‘amen’?
ALTARED STATES | Can you guess which is the gay one?
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor
Altar Boyz is a conceptually simple show that must be a bitch to pull off. For 85 breezy minutes, a Christian boy band, on the final stop of its Raise the Praise Tour, tries to convert lost souls in the audience to salvation. Will you be saved?
It’s an interactive experience, with “hallelujahs” and “amens” and “testifies” … or it should be when it works. If the audience doesn’t get the premise, it’s just a lot of jokes about boy bands. And God. And you risk a lot joking about God in Texas.
The audience at the opening night of Theatre Arlington’s rollicking production seemed about half into it, half not quite sure what to make of it. At least during the first half. By the end, they were preaching to the converted.
Altar Boyz may seem to walk a razor wire between mocking religious devotion and respecting it, but really, the target of its satiric barbs are boy bands themselves. Sure, there are jokes about abstinence and “hip” ways to make prayer seem “bad-ass kewl, yo!” but it’s all in service of the clichés of pop music.
The cast of five — clueless heartthrob Matthew (Matt Purvis), flamboyant closet case Mark (Phillip Cole White), bad-boy JT wannabe Luke (Dalton Hutto), sexy Latin Juan (Angel Velasco) and the sensible Jewish member (Tim McCarthy) (he writes all of the songs, strangely enough) — represent their types with such laser-pointed accuracy, most of the time they don’t even need to say anything to get a chuckle: The jewel-toned jumpsuits, the white-boy gangsta “throwing signs,” the corny flirtation with female audience members … if it were any cheesier, your ticket would come with a plate of water crackers.
To make it work, though, not only requires a director who knows how to mock modern music culture, but who understands, and actors who can embody it. Andy Baldwin taps into that with his gifted cast, allowing them to roam free, like wildlife at a rave. White’s Mark is the gayest I’ve seen (this is my fourth version of this show) — his flame burns so bright it’s no wonder they sometimes wear sunglasses indoors — but everyone is spot-on, despite abominable sound problems opening night.
The campy score is one of the most hilarious in recent musical history, with catchy pop hooks and lyrics ripe with double entendres. It’s a show the devout can enjoy with the doubters, a fluffy marshmallow of a show with heart.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 20, 2013.
