But first: POP QUIZ! Say, you live in the boondocks that is Antipolo and you’re set to watch a musical at 8pm in a faraway place called Makati. You have to be there 730ish, for a group picture of sorts. Question: what time do you have to leave home to be able to make it on time?

a) Hmm. 6pm-ish? An hour and a half should be enough. I mean, Makati isn’t really that far-faraway. Heck, travel time on a good day takes about 30-45 minutes.

b) TRY THE DAY BEFORE BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT COULD GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG. Like, construction along C5 that will make the hellish commute last an unnecessary hour longer.

About a month ago, I got an invitation to watch Repertory Philippines‘ local production of Altar Boyz. A quick search on Wikipedia and I was armed with all the information I needed: Altar Boyz “is a musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio. It addresses and satirizes, among other things, the phenomenon of boy bands, the popularity of Christian-themed music and products in contemporary American culture.”

Huh. Boybands + religion + indifferent atheist me. Should be interesting.

Last Thursday night, no thanks to the goddamn traffic, I was an hour late for the Manila leg of their Raise The Praise tour (the musical-play is acted out as a concert and the boys are there to sing and save the lost souls in the audience). After managing to find a seat in the dark (the theater was full!), I sat down next to this smelly stranger just in time for the fourth to the last song.

What I loved most about the musical (besides it being witty and hilarious) was— in true boyband fashion— the stereotyping of the band members ( I’m a huge fan of stereotypes and mainly for retarded reasons). The Altar Boyz consists of Matthew, the group’s crucifix-donning leader; Mark, the effeminate dude in pink (prompting the standard “Is he gay?” question); Juan, (to borrow Fritz’s words) the Latin flavor; Abraham, the Jewish dude; and Luke, the pretty-but-dumb badass (my favorite character because it is played by Reuben Uy hotness).

I suck, I know, and I’ll be watching it again. I was thoroughly entertained by the little that I saw of it (the singing! The dancing! The script! The punchlines! The drama!), and as Fritz said: the audience was in stitches from start to end. I’m not about to start listening to Christian pop, though. Heh.

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Altar Boyz is directed by Chari Arespacochaga and stars PJ Valerio, Red Concepcion, Chevy Mercado, Reb Atadero, and Reuben Uy. The musical-play is scheduled to run from April 3 to April 27, 2008 at the Onstage Theater (2/F) Greenbelt 1. Shows are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 330pm. Tickets are at P 550.00 (gold, reserved seating), P 350.00 (free seating), and P 250.00 (free seating).

For tickets, reservations, and information call the Rep office at 8870710 or Ticketworld at 891999. You may also log on to www.repertory-philippines.com or www.ticketworld.com.ph. Tickets are also available at the REP office located at 2316 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City and at the gate before every performance.

To reserve Altar Boyz GOLD tickets for the 26 April Saturday 3.30pm show, please contact Lorna Lopez thru:
(Globe) 0917.9256505
(Sun) 0922.3875729
(email) cranegoddesscorp at gmail dot com