Reviews

Altar Boyz (Greenwich Theatre)

The hit Off-Broadway musical makes its UK premiere in a strictly limited run of 14 performances at Greenwich Theatre

© Claire Bilyard

Every now and then New York treats us by sending across an absolute gem of a show. Not since Avenue Q have I watched a show coming out of Off-Broadway that offers such laughter and joy in a viewing experience.

Altar Boyz tells the tale of Christian boy band members Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham as they conclude their Raise the Praise world tour. If that sounds silly, that's pretty much the point. The show is a beautiful confection, 90 minutes without an interval of irreverent, pin sharp comedy. The show could scarcely be more of a joyous experience, with spot on direction from Steven Dexter (Loserville), top notch choreography from Ewan Jones (Vert Vert , Garsington) and songs catchy as anything.

The performances are all absolutely knock-out too, all five of the Boyz – Liam Doyle (Matthew), Jonny Fines (Mark), Jamie-Ray Hartshorne (Luke), Alex Jordan-Mills (Abraham) and Faisal Khodabukus) (Juan) – are genuine triple threats, Fines in particular made the most of a gift of a part and was glorious to watch.

If you love a good comedy, go see this show. If you love a great musical, go see this show. If you love boybands, go see this show. I grinned and laughed through the whole show and unless you're a serious sour-puss then you will too. In fact if you are a serious sour-puss, definitely go see this show and let these boys' evangelical zeal give you a much needed lift in your life.

The show deserves sell out crowds, so do yourselves a favour and grab a ticket, get yourself a pre show beer or glass of wine, sit back and enjoy what is one cracker of an evening's entertainment.