The best way to describe Altar Boyz is a 90-minute “Saturday Night Live” skit. The irreverent high-voltage non-stop musical depicts the final performance in a national “Raise the Praise” tour of the “Altar Boyz,” a hip-hopping Catholic soul-saving boy band. The characters are stereotypical and one-dimensional. There isn’t much of a plot or any rich character development. It is a complete farce and doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

I wasn’t sure the one-joke premise could sustain a full-length production, but the script by Kevin Del Aguila adds just enough human story line and running jokes to keep things interesting. Towards the very end, there is even a dramatic turn that is almost moving, in a satirical sort of way. All along there is plenty of irreverent – some might say sacrilegious – humor. (“Abe, I didn’t even know Jews were allowed in church.” “They must be, I saw one on the cross over the door.”) It mostly relies on mocking the born-again Christian Rock genre, but not to the extent that one would suspect from the outset. No, there is plenty of mockery reserved for gays, Hispanics, Jews, hip-hoppers, and recovering addicts. It is mostly in poor taste and mostly extremely funny.

However, what makes Altar Boyz worth seeing is the musical numbers. The music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker are, for the most part, catchy and clever. And from what I have been able to gather from the Internet (www.altarboyz.com, YouTube - Alter Boyz TV Appearance, YouTube - Altar Boyz - God Put the Rhythm In Me), the choreography and dancing far surpasses that of the original production, now enjoying its fourth year off-Broadway. The original choreography of Ameehan Kaplan is more original and hip and the performers are more energetic, synchronized and age-appropriate.

I went into this production expecting not to like it. (In fact, given my string of positive reviews recently, I was kind of hoping to have something to pan mercilessly lest I lose my critical integrity.) But, while some of the numbers dragged and the acting wouldn’t remind anyone of Barrymore (Lionel or Drew) (c’mon, Juan, even I could do a better Mexican accent than that!), it grew on me and, now, days later, I am realizing how well done and thoroughly enjoyable it was. In fact, while some undeniably good shows are completely forgotten days or even hours after leaving the theatre, I find myself still thinking back on Alter Boys and wishing I could see it all again.

Altar Boyz stars Robert Acinapura as Juan (in search of his parents and a believable Mexican accent), Clifford Banagale as Mark (whose love of Jesus is matched only by his lust for Matthew), Jesse Bradley as Matthew, the leader of the band (facing overt advances from record producers as well as from Mark), Kelly Rice as Abe (proving, I suppose, that Jews make the best lyricists, even of Christian rock), and Jake Wesley Steward as Luke (suffering from a recurring struggle with “exhaustion”). Although all five can sing and dance, the hip-hop moves of Bradley and Rice are especially “dope” while Banagale’s pipes are, well, “da bomb.” Altar Boys is directed by Patrick Pearson and produced by Christopher Sepulveda. Christopher Lloyd Bratten is the musical director.

The editor of LA Theatre Review insists that attending small theatre in Los Angeles is like a crap shoot. With what I’ve seen over the last few months, I gotta say I like my chances. (Editors’ Note: What I said was something akin to “there are gems out there, but you often have to go through a lot of dross to find them.” However, I must agree with Mr. Elkins; since I opened this site and started reviewing plays, I have seen some wonderful theatre and very little dross.)

Altar Boyz is performed Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 pm through August 23, 2009.

The Celebration Theatre is located at 7051 Santa Monica Blvd., just east of La Brea

Ticket prices: $30 (group pricing available)

Reservations online at www.celebrationtheatre.com or by phone at (323) 957-1884