Theatre Talk
Inexplicable Delights
Host: James C. Taylor
Try to explain the following: there's musical called Altar Boyz--that's Boyz with a'z.' It's a sort of theatrical This is Spinal Tap about a Christian Rock Boy Band. Instead of metal anthems like Break like the Wind, the Altar Boyz sing parodies of syrupy hip-hop tracks with lyrics like: "Jesus called me on my cell phone." This week marks the 2nd year that the show has run successfully Off-Broadway; yet when Altar Boyz made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles last month, it was only booked for two weeks. This was confusing: here's a hit show with proven appeal to young, hip audiences in New York, why not give it a chance to find an audience here? Sure enough, on the Wednesday night I went, Altar Boyz was well attended--except almost no one in the audience was under the age of forty...
