Altar Boyz Tour Kicks Off in Chicago, Oct. 10; Luke Recast

Matthew Buckner (as Matthew), Ryan J Ratliff (Mark), Jesse JP Johnson (Luke), Jay Garcia (Juan) and Nick Blaemire (Abraham) will star in Altar Boyz when it kicks off a 30-week national tour with a three-week engagement at The LaSalle Bank Theatre (18 West Monroe Street) in Chicago beginning October 10th. John Arthur Greene has left the production for personal reasons.

The tour continues on to Austin, Boston, Baltimore, Birmingham, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Hawaii, Los Angeles (for 3 weeks), Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco (for 4 weeks), Sarasota, Seattle, Tempe, Tucson, and Wilmington.

2006          
  7-Oct.   PRE-TOUR/Des Moines   Civic Center (2 preview performances)  
  10-Oct.   Chicago - The Lasalle  
  17-Oct.   Chicago - The Lasalle  
  24-Oct.   Chicago - The Lasalle  
  31-Oct.   Boston - Colonial  
  7-Nov.   Baltimore - Hippodrome  
  14-Nov.   Birmingham - Alabama Theatre  
  28-Nov.   Philadelphia - The Merriam  
  5-Dec.   Fort Lauderdale - The Parker  
  15-Dec.   Sarasota - Van Wezel PAC  
  19-Dec.   Minneapolis - Pantages  
  26-Dec.   Minneapolis - Pantages  
  2007          
  9-Jan.   Austin - Paramount  
  16-Jan.   Dallas - The Majestic  
  23-Jan.   Tucson - The Music Hall  
  30-Jan.   Portland - Newmark  
  6- Feb.   Seattle - The Moore  
  13-Feb.   Los Angeles - The Wadsworth  
  20-Feb.   Los Angeles - The Wadsworth  
  27-Feb.   Los Angeles - The Wadsworth  
  6-March   San Diego - Civic  
  13-March   San Francisco - Golden Gate Theatre  
  20-March  San Francisco - Golden Gate Theatre  
  27-March   San Francisco - Golden Gate Theatre  
  3-April   San Francisco - Golden Gate Theatre  
  10-April   Tempe - Gammage Auditorium  
   17-April   Hawaii - Hawaii Theater  
  24-April   Pittsburgh -The Byham  
  30-April   Pittsburgh* - The Byham  
  1- May   Pittsburgh - The Byham  
  8-May   Wilmington - DuPont 
* all dates and venues subject to change

Altar Boyz, the acclaimed musical comedy now in its second year Off-Broadway at New World Stages, is the winner of the coveted Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Off-Broadway.  "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 press notes.  Altar Boyz opened April 12th at ChungMu Art Hall, Seoul, Korea; this marked the first time an American musical, directed by the original director, debuted there.

Altar Boyz is directed by Stafford Arima and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. Altar Boyz has 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.  Altar Boyz is produced by Ken Davenport and Robyn Goodman, in association with Joe McGinnis, Ruth Hendel, Sharon Karmazin, Matt Murphy and Mark Shacket.

Tickets for the Chicago engagement range in price from $32.50 - $55 and are available at Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (18 W. Monroe, 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including all Carson Pirie Scott stores, Tower Records, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at www.ticketmaster.com.  Groups of 20 or more can receive a discount by calling (312) 977-1710.