Altar Boyz Passes 666th Off-Bway Performance

The virtuous boy band stars of Altar Boyz have gotten performance #666 behind them.

Tuesday, October 3rd marked the 666th performance of Altar Boyz. "Passing that means the Boyz have beaten the Devil and can continue their 'soul saving' in New York while embarking on a nationwide tour as well," state press notes.

Bookwriter Kevin Del Aguila stated: "My fears of a theatrical apocalypse have thankfully been put to rest. Performing in Hell's Kitchen was a risk we always knew we'd have to take, but I never thought we'd survive beyond the Performance Number of the Beast. Fortunately, in the case of Altar Boyz, God is our business. And business is good. We should also note that no audience members' heads have ever spun around and, other than a Blue Man or two, none of our colleagues Off-Broadway spewed any green liquid from their mouths."

Altar Boyz, the acclaimed musical comedy at New World Stages, winner of the coveted Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Off-Broadway, is the longest running new musical comedy to open in New York in years, having just celebrated its first anniversary. "Full of sharp parody, sinfully spectacular dancing, and irreverent humor, this spoof about a heavenly guy-group is adored by audiences and critics alike.  With an extraordinary mix of side-splitting songs 'convincing enough to be played on MTV,' uncontrollable laughs and lighthearted fun, this award-winning and totally original new musical is '90 minutes of pure delight,'"according to notes. 

Altar Boyz opened April 12th at ChungMu Art Hall, Seoul, Korea; a 30-week National Tour kicks off in Chicago with a three-week engagement at the LaSalle Theatre beginning October 10th; the tour continues on to Austin, Boston, Baltimore, Birmingham, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles (3 weeks), Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco (4 weeks), Sarasota, Seattle, Tampa, Tempe, Tucson, Washington, and Wilmington.
 
Altar Boyz features Kyle Dean Massey, Landon Beard, Zach Hanna, Erik Schneider, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett, and is directed by Stafford Arima and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker with book by Kevin Del Aguila, based on a concept by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport.  It is presented by Ken Davenport and Robyn Goodman, in association with Walt Grossman, Ruth Hendel, Sharon Karmazin, Matt Murphy and Mark Shacket.

Performances are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm & 7pm, at New World Stages, (340 West 50th St.). Tickets are $25 to $79.99. ($1 Restoration charge included). Tickets may be ordered at www.telecharge.com or at 212/239-6200.  For more information, visit www.altarboyz.com or call toll-free 1-877-411-ABOYZ.