IRREVERENT 'ALTAR BOYZ' WOULD MAKE ANY PRIEST CRINGE.

Byline: Evan Henerson

Theater Critic

'N Sync has been sunk. And manning the torpedoes are the boys -- sorry, "boyz" -- of "Altar Boyz." Having apparently tired of musicals about singing nuns, show-minded creators have ventured across the pew. (What's next, "Funky Fathers"?)

And just look what composers Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker have done! Yes, they have given purveyors of the boy-band craze a nice little tweaking (or, at the very least, a vigorous noogie) -- with some catchy music and rather intense dancing, no less.

Half rock concert, half revival sendup, the 90-minute show on tour at the Wadsworth Theatre is a cotton-candy-flavored confection. The acne set should love it, while their parents will get the jokes. You should not take any of this too seriously. The Boyz certainly don't.

"Altar Boyz" is now in its second year off-Broadway and arrives with a rather sweeping following. The tour does exactly what it needs to do, and it's smartly cast.

Here's where they hooked me: Matthew (played by Matthew Buckner), the sweet-natured, muscle-shirt-wearing leader of the group, selects a sweet young thing from the audience, seats her on a stool and informs her, via serenade, that as special as she is, "Girl You Make Me Want to Wait." "Until then," the song concludes, "I'll master -- (big pause) -- my fate."

And here's how the hook became embedded: Two numbers later, swishy and effeminate Mark (Ryan J. Ratliff) senses a certain lack of honesty among those assembled. So he decides to bare his soul and "come out" in a song titled "Epiphany." No, it's not quite the revelation we're anticipating, and it's a scream.

Book writer Kevin Del Aguila presents this gathering as the final stop on the "Altar Boyz" tour. The Boyz, represented and courted by Sony, make it their business to restore the flagging faith of every audience member in 'da house. An overhead scoreboard that they call a Soul Sensor aids in this course.

Matthew and Mark are joined by hip-hopping white boy Luke (Jesse Johnson), ethnic orphan Juan (Jay Garcia) and, er, Abraham (Nick Blaemire). What's a Jew doing among Altar Boyz? Well, the kid can write music and has spirit. When choreography calls for crossing oneself, Abe does so in the shape of the Star of David.

Over the course of the evening, the Boyz read fan mail, receive disheartening news, tell bits of back-stories and generally rock out. Adler and Walker's lyrics -- often suggestive and replete with double-entendre -- mesh easily with the composers' upbeat rhythms and easy harmonies. You could easily envision the likes of 'N Sync or the Backstreet Boys working up a tune like "The Miracle" (although probably with lyrics other than "Jesus called me on my cell phone.")

Choreographer Christopher Gattelli works the quintet like mad. His steps -- no less energetic for the sendups -- include all the thrustings, arm pumps and shimmyings that befit the genre. Truly, Del Aguila, the composers and certainly the Boyz know whereof they tweak.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

[e-mail]

ALTAR BOYZ - Three stars

Where: Wadsworth Theatre, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Building 226, Brentwood.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; through Feb. 25.

Tickets: $28 to $58. [phone]. www.BroadwayLA.org.

In a nutshell: Christian boy bands gone wild. They may not "alter your mind," as promised, but they'll supply plenty of laughs.

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Photo:

From left: Abraham (Nick Blaemire), Mark (Ryan J. Ratliff), Juan (Jay Garcia), Matthew (Matthew Buckner) and Luke (Jesse Johnson) are the altar boys of "Altar Boyz," at the Wadsworth Theatre in Brentwood.