Altar Boyz leaves you wanting more

By Meghan D'Souza

TCR - The who: A boy band called the Altar Boyz from Ohio.

The what: A Raise to Praise concert.

The when: Presented in real time.

The where: A stage that stretches out to the audience in Theatre Cedar Rapids.

Remember N*SYNC? Backstreet Boys? 98 Degrees? LFO? Maybe not LFO. Surely you remember New Kids on the Block. Remember fog machines? Screaming girls? Live bands behind five amazingly choreographed boys who could actually sing?

The musical comedy Altar Boyz will take you right back to those days and leave you feeling amazed with the talent brought forth by the men on stage. It is not every day you see five men who can act, sing, and dance for 90 minutes with full energy that makes the audience jump out of their seats to a standing ovation at the end.

Sure, not all of us are fans of boy bands, but this musical is more than a concert. During the concert mainly led by Zach Parker who plays the band's leader, Matthew, the characters share stories of pain, friendship and faith, all while keeping the comedy going.

As Parker sang a ballad entitled, "Something About You" about love and abstinence, he passionately purred, "Girl, you make me want to wait" into the microphone. Though it had been suggested before this song, it became clear as a sunny day that Mark, played by Alex Schulte, is a homosexual pining for his bandmate. He gets sucked in by Parker's hypnotic voice, leading to an awkward situation that he acted out perfectly, even staying in character when he returned to the background. Such a role could easily have been overplayed, but Schulte knew the limits and stayed within them making his part believable.

To add a twist to this Catholic boy band, there is a Jewish member named Abraham, played by Ryan Foizey. He wowed the audience by beatboxing during one number. The band's "bad boy" Luke, played by Royce Hufford, brought not only the outstanding choreography that the other four men brought to the stage, but also did splits in the air and on the ground. The special talents brought by these men made this musical feel more like we were witnessing the real deal of a concert.

The final boy band member was the Latino Juan, played by Richie Akers. He was found at a church by Hispanic parents who "taught (him) to have a Spanish accent," and felt the pain of never meeting his biological parents. Akers used his facial expressions in the best way to help bring comedy to the show.

Because the biggest impression left is how well the men sang and danced together for this concert, it should be said that Lovar Davis Kidd was the choreographer.

A musical is about more than actors. This musical had a band playing three keyboards, a guitar and drums, all of whom were sitting at the back and center of the stage so the actors could interact with them throughout the musical.

The set was an extended stage with silver streamers falling from the ceiling along the back of the set. There was also a television used during the musical numbers and as part of the plot that I don't want to give away. Set changes were slight, since this was a concert, and were done by the actors, themselves. It mainly involved the addition and removal of stools and microphone stands. What was most exciting to witness, outside of the actors who were properly dressed in sparkling gear supporting Jesus Christ, was the use of light. Between songs, the men would tell stories and the white lights would be soft on them. When they sang, the colorful lights, most commonly red and blue, would light up the stage and change in intensity, depending on the number. For some numbers, they each even had an individual spotlight shining from straight above.

Men were singing in perfect harmony and dancing amazingly choreographed dances. Girls screamed like I did at New Kids on the Block. The audience had a great laugh at the stories and song lyrics ("Jesus tweeted on my Twitter" from "The Calling" is my personal favorite), it was visually entertaining, and we all left with thoughts of faith in our lives to think about.

I rate this a "May I see it again?"


Meghan D'Souza lives in Coralville with her husband and beloved dog. She is a University of Iowa graduate and works at the Iowa City Public Library. She has written for The Burlington Hawk Eye and is currently a freelance writer.