Altar Boyz Rulez... and so does Shari Lewis

Friday night, Annie, the non-redhead, and her family, minus the redhead, drove out to Colonial Heights, passed the Beary Crafts Store, and went to see Altar Boyz at Swift Creek Mill Theatre. Now, let's preface this "review" with a few things. First, as soon as we left the theatre, our dad said, "Now we don't go to 'the Mill' that often, but every time we do, I love what we see." And that's so true! We've only seen six shows there- the first one being 1776 starring Duke Laffoon as Thomas Jefferson (nice), but literally every time we have a ball. If it wasn't an hour away we'd definitely make it out there more often. 

Second, this review might be a little biased because Annie and Elyse are, in actuality, huge fans of boy bands. Funny story: Annie and her friend Erin were, in cough *the beginning of high school* cough kind of obsessed with *NSync. So much so that they decided to learn all the choreography to "Dirty Pop," record themselves dancing to it, and send it into TRL- when the show was still popular and Carson Daly was the host. And guess what? On the season premiere, their video was played on the closing credits! Very cool. So bragging about that claim-to-fame aside, no matter what, Annie will like a show with boy bands.

And OH. MY. GOSH. What an AMAZING SHOW! Even someone who doesn't know who *NSync is would love the show. If only you could have seen the 80-year-old man clapping to the beat in the second row. Incredible lighting. Really great and fitting choreography. And really talented guys who danced so hard and strong, the floor literally shook. Kid you not. Annie looked over at one point and her parents were bouncing a little bit.

"Everybody Fits" was our favorite number in the show, and it also was when we saw the show in NYC. However, in Swift Creek's production, they added a hilarious touch that we didn't see in New York. All the guys were just too cute. Brandon Becker as the lead is an amazing dancer, and we've actually always thought that he looked like JC Chasez of *NSync, so that's a nice touch. Sean Williams as Abraham had a really great voice, Eric Stallings as Luke was hilarious and able to hold himself up in the air for a really long time, and David Janeski was so cute and sweet as Mark. Finally, even if Brett Ambler was playing Aida, as long as he opened his mouth to sing, we would have loved him. Awesome voice, and funny. Nice :).... remember that? ;)

In short, just go see this show. We're not kidding, it's worth it. It appeals to just about everyone and will put you in a great mood. We only wish we had been able to see the other Richmond production of it. Anyone have it so we can watch it? Good. So grab some bear arts and crafts, attempt the buffet or just skip that part, and see a really fun, high-energy, and impressive show at Swift Creek Mill Theatre!