Nick Bernardi and Greg Laucella. All photos by Rich Wagner
Feel like being saved? Does your
soul need a little dry cleaning? Do you want to feel the spirit move you? Well,
if you’re craving to cavort with some Christians – Catholics, to be specific
(except for one Jewish lad) – then get off your knees, praise the Lord and get
thee up to Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, where “Altar Boyz,” with music
and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and a book by Kevin Del
Aguila, is playing until Dec. 21.
This sprightly, tongue-in-cheek
musical comedy doesn’t take religion, or much of anything else, too seriously.
As directed by Kyle Brand, who also provides some groovin’, get-down-get-funky
choreography, it’s 90 minutes of salvation on the sly as five altar boys entertain
on the last night of their “Raise the Praise” tour.
When it first appeared in 2004, the
show won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical, and it’s
easy to see why: it’s a tuneful and fast-paced send-up of boy bands that takes
gentle pokes at organized religion -- “Church Rulez,” a snappy
stand-up-sit-down-kneel number, captures the choreography imposed by the rite
of the Catholic mass on the faithful, movement that used to be made to the
sound of clickers in the hands of eagle-eyed nuns (ah, those were the days!).
Mark G, Merritt sings "Something About You"
to a member of the audience
to a member of the audience
The five altar boys – Matthew (Mark
G. Merritt), Mark (Brandon Beaver), Luke (Nick Bernardi), Juan (Greg Laucella)
and Abraham (Adam Cassel), overseen and motivated by God (Brock Putnam) – work
well together as they run through their numbers, interspersed with dialogue
that sketches in their various characters. Matthew is the strong, silent type,
much admired by Mark, who eventually comes out of the closet to finally admit
that he is…Catholic (in “Epiphany,” one of the high points of the evening and a
definite crowd-pleaser). Luke, the
bad-boy hophead of the quintet, has been in rehab for “exhaustion,” and Juan is
a Mexican orphan searching for his parents. As for Abraham, well he just
wandered into the church one day and, along with the others, was commanded by a
deep baritone voice that spoke from a blinding light (compliments of lighting
designer Christopher L. Jones) to go forth and spread the word, at least to a
certain demographic that responds to rock, rap and funk.
There’s really not a dull moment
for most of the evening – Juan’s despair at learning about his parents may drag
on just a bit but is saved by the group’s rendition of “La Vida Eternal” (a
take-off on Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loco’), and the grand revelation of
perfidy amongst the five lads that leads into the finale (the somewhat
saccharine “I Believe”) is a bit too-message driven – but for the most part
things move along apace. There are audience sins revealed…and purged, a young
lady from the audience is brought down to the stage by Matthew for the opening
number of the second act (“Something About You”) and the devil is cast out (a
la in the “The Exorcist”) in “Number 918.”\
"Luke" and "Matthew" hear the word of God
Backed by a quartet of Robert James
Tomasulo and Luke McGinnis on keyboard, Benjamin Tint on guitar and Eric
Hallenbeck handling drums and percussion, the five altar boys cavort, writhe,
sing and dance, all while bathed in the pulsing light of two large crosses set
stage left and right by scenic designer Christopher Hoyt. The hour-and-a-half
seems to fly by as the five talented actors praise the Lord and pass the
innuendos.
“Altar Boyz” runs through Dec. 21.
For tickets or more information call 860-523-5900, X10, or go to www.playhouseonpark.org
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review! Looks like you had a good time.
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