Boyband Send-Up at Swift Creek Mill Is Funny, Sweet, and Talent-Packed  

I love taking time for the occasional ladies’ night out, especially one when we don’t have to try to figure out where to have dinner. Swift Creek Mill Dinner Theatre takes all the decision stress away, and we were happy to toast our friendships in the Mill’s cozy, historic dining room before their production of the musical comedy Altar Boyz. 

The show opens on the last night of the Christian boyband’s “Raise the Praise” national tour, right here in Colonial Heights, Virginia. While dreaming of hitting big-time stages like Madison Square Garden, the five-man group is on a mission to save the souls of the audience during their performances, which their soul sensor machine, the DX-12, shows needs a lot of saving here in Virginia. They have ninety minutes to get that big number on the machine down to zero, and they aren’t going to quit until everyone’s aboard (they even pluck an audience member out of the crowd to bring on stage and serenade, so be prepared!).

You’re in for a rafter-raising good time as these five singing and dancing heartthrobs from Ohio take you on a journey to save your soul and tell you about how they got their start. Along the way, the audience enjoys all the boyband clichés and witty dialogue that was filled with double-entendres and religious parody – think a much softer and sweeter Book of Mormon for Catholics. We all laughed out loud quite a bit, and I nearly lost it when one of the band members came on stage munching communion wafers from a chalice like they were Pringles!

Each band member has his stereotypical boy-band role to play: Luke, the hot but dumb one, Matthew, the getting too old for this brains of the operation, Mark, the gay one, Abraham, the Jewish one, and Juan, the Latino one. The cast and live band on stage behind them were all stellar and worked so well together. My group commented several times how fun it must have been to prepare for these roles and learn the songs and cheeky choreography together. I was tickled to read on the Mill’s Facebook page that Derek Tatum, who plays Matthew, always wanted to be in a boyband growing up and now has the chance to make that fantasy become reality – way to make it happen for yourself, Derek – NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys have nothing on you guys!

In addition to Tatum, the harmonious cast includes Christopher Newport University Musical Theatre grad Chandler James Pettus as Luke (also a former RFM cover kid), VCU Theatre Performance grad Billy Heckman as Abraham, recent Appomattox Regional Governor’s School grad and current VCU student Angelo Galarza as Juan, and Shenandoah Conservatory Musical Theatre grad Mason Blaine, who plays Mark. On the ride home, my group was trying to decide which of the five was our favorite and who was the best singer of the group, but we just couldn’t single out one – they were all so talented.

Altar Boyz is a quick ninety minutes with no intermission and runs through Saturday, April 20, 2024. For showtimes and tickets, visit swiftcreekmill.com.