As Ken Davenport tells it, "Altar Boyz" was conceived by mating harmony and contradiction.
Davenport is the producer and one of the co-conceivers of the off-Broadway musical "Altar Boyz" that begins a two-week run Tuesday at the Byham Theater, Downtown.
"Altar Boyz" is a spoofy musical-comedy about a Christian boy group from Greenville, Ohio, that aspires to an MTV-size success like that of The Backstreet Boys or 'N Sync.
"It's about guys who dream about being on MTV, and we root for them. But we know it will never happen because they are not an MTV-style group," Davenport says. "It's one of the very few original musicals to debut in the last few years."
Davenport and co-conceiver Marc Kessler had performed together in "Forever Plaid," an enduringly popular small musical-comedy revue about a 1950s group of male singers whose dreams of fame and fortune are stopped dead when their car collides with a school bus.
Sometime during their long run in the show, Davenport says: "It dawned on me that when guys are singing together in tight harmony, it had an effect on the audience."
With that thought in place, Davenport and Kessler set out to brainstorm an original story concept that would involve a bunch of guys blending their voices in harmony.
They considered and discarded a multiplicity of concepts such as a revue based on sports.
Then the lightning bolt of inspiration struck.
"Marc (Kessler) said 'Why not a Catholic boy band?'" Davenport recalls. "It didn't make any sense, so I knew immediately that it would be funny. Comedy is born in contrast."
They created a story about a five-member Christian boy band who are already a big hit on the Ohio bingo-parlor-and-pancake-breakfast circuit who are out to save the world one screaming fan at a time.
Using the guidelines of "Forever Plaid," they originally planned to create a songlist from religiously themed songs that had already been written, such as "Now Sing My Soul: How Great the Lord."
To help them with music arrangements, Kessler and Davenport brought in Gary Adler, who had served as musical director and conductor for "Avenue Q" on Broadway.
Adler listened to Kessler and Davenport's ideas and went away to think things over. A week later, he came back with what became the musical's title song, "We Are the Altar Boyz."
A week or so later, Adler came back with a song which features the show's most often quoted lyric: "Girl, you make me want to wait."
Kessler and Davenport decided original music was the way to proceed. Adler and Michael Patrick Walker supplied music and lyrics, and Kevin Del Aguila wrote the show's book that's based on Kessler and Davenport's concept.
"Altar Boyz" opened March 1, 2005, at Stage IV, a 360-seat theater at New World Stages that's located in the Broadway theater district but operates under an off-Broadway contract.
More than two years later, the show is still playing there, as well as on a multi-city national tour.
Davenport finds himself surprised and not surprised by its success with theater critics, as well as the average theatergoer.
"What surprised us was that because (the New York critics) didn't get what it was about before they saw it, they were ready to cut into it. But they came and saw a genuine show up there," Davenport says. "They were expecting a one-joke show and we were able to create a full-fledged musical without chandeliers and fancy turntables."
Though Davenport says the set has been expanded and enlarged to fill the much larger theaters that "Altar Boyz" will be playing on the road, the producers resisted the impulse to glitz up the production.
"It's a concert setting. It's them with a van and one truck. That's how (The Altar Boyz) would tour," Davenport says. "We had the opportunity to bump it up, but we stopped ourselves. We have to be true to what the group is. ... The great thing you learn on the road is that the story is strong."
And "Altar Boyz" has been gaining a faithful following of converts everywhere it plays, Davenport says.
"We find people may not have heard about it. But once they go, they love it and can't stop talking about it," he says.
Critical darling
Theater critics who cover the Broadway and off-Broadway world are a tough crowd.
They're known for their cynical, tough and often scathing observations about the latest entrants on the New York stage.
Yet "Altar Boyz" seems to have caused a nearly global warming of their icy hearts.
The following are excerpts of reviews written when the show opened in March 2005 at New World Stages, a 360-seat, off-Broadway theater on 50th Street in the Broadway theater district:
"Bummed that the Backstreet Boys are no more?
"Feeling sunk that 'N Sync came 'nstuck?
"Taken ill since Take That took their leaveâ¢
"Then give thanks to the Lord because the 'Altar Boyz' are here, saving souls and spreading the word while adhering religiously to the sacred commandments of the boy-band creed.
"Never mind that the one-joke show is as disposable as the innocuous pop phenomenon it apes to perfection. This breezy entertainment makes no claims to enter the musical theater pantheon, but is an energetic crowd pleaser that should stick around Off Broadway for some time."
-- David Rooney, Variety
"An adorable romp with a Christian boy band, 'Altar Boyz' is a cinch to win over swingers and Sunday school teachers alike. Truly I say to you, there's nothing blasphemous and everything to enjoy about this cute little musical."
-- Michael Sommers, Newark Star-Ledger
"True fans of Christian rock and pop could reasonably take offense at the sly parodies cooked up by the skilled songwriters Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, with winking choruses like, 'Girl, you make me want to wait.'
"But the material is delivered with such a light touch that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of the catchier tunes had won a following among the young faithful. The songs' tongue-in-cheek lyrics come wrapped in smoothly funky synthesizer riffs, and they are sung with a sincerity that softens the sting."
-- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
"This nifty little spoof of Christian boy bands is delightful entertainment, a genial send-up of young performers who sing, dance and praise the Lord, all done in a fast-paced 90 minutes.
"OK, so the score, written by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, is not exactly Stephen Sondheim. No matter. The lyrics and music are fun in a pop-rock way. Direct. Slightly cheeky. And often hypnotic in their repetition."
-- Michael Kuchwara, AP Drama Critic
"When is a spoof not really a spoofâ¢
"When it's so straightforward, with so much affection and humor, that you wind up liking whatever is being spoofed.
"('Altar Boyz')...is a witty and completely unpretentious spoof -- but not really -- of a Christian boy band that sings songs about Jesus in the style of 'N Sync.
"Beautifully choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, the brisk, intermissionless, 90-minute show sends everybody out of the theater on a cloud of mirth."
-- Jacques Le Sourd, The Journal News of suburban New York
Additional Information:
'Altar Boyz'
Presented by: PNC Broadway Across America -- PittsburghWhen: Tuesday-May 6 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays
Admission: $19.50-$54.50
Where: Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown
Details: 412-456-6666 or www.pgharts.org
