Altar Boyz Cast Joins Effort to Hold Largest Carol Service in the World, Dec. 19

By: BWW News Desk Dec. 01, 2005

St. Bartholomew's Church, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the cast of Altar Boyz will join forces in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest carol service in the world on Monday, December 19 at 6 PM on the steps of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue at 51st Street.

The cast of the acclaimed off-Broadway hit, Altar Boyz, will kick off the event, performing "Joy to the World," and then will be joined by more than 800 Carolers, led by St. Bart's parishioners. This record-breaking attempt, held on the front steps of the church, will include a selection of favorite carols of the season: "Deck the Halls," "Silent Night" and others. At the end of the event, the Altar Boyz will collect a voluntary donation for BC/EFA. The current largest carol service in the world took place on December 20, 2003 when 1,175 carolers gathered in the town square in Cambridge, Ontario.

St. Bartholomew's church was founded in January 1835 in the Bowery section of Manhattan and currently lives in one of New York's great landmark buildings, built in 1918. The church is 365 days a year, with worship services seven days a week. St. Bart's hosts more than 18,000 events annually; its buildings and grounds are used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The church's Community Ministry Program is staffed by more than 150 volunteers and serves 78,000 meals each year; shelters eight homeless men and women every night of the year; and supplements the diets of more than 7,500 of the domiciled poor. In 2001, St. Bart's was selected as one of 300 excellent Protestant congregations nationwide, the only such Episcopal church in New York State.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the nation's leading industry-based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization. BC/EFA is the on-going, committed response from the American Theatre community to an urgent worldwide health crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of this community, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $100 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV or HIV-related illnesses.

Altar Boyz is a musical-comedy spoof about a fictitious Christian boy-band on the last night of their national "Raise the Praise" tour. "The Boyz - five ultra-talented heartthrobs from Ohio - are lead singer Matthew (the pretty-boy hunk and leader of the pack), Mark (a sensitive young man with a deep faith in Cher), Luke (a bad-boy with an 'interest' in communion wine), Juan (a hot-blooded crooner with a passion for pretty girls) and Abraham (a nice Jewish boy, who's not quite sure how he ended up here...though his mother would sure like to know). As they perform their signature hits soul-wrenching secrets come tumbling out– with hilarious results. The Boyz begin to question their faith in each other, and learn if fate is really holding them together – or if it's just their extra-firm hair gel," according to press notes.

Altar Boyz, which is currently playing at Dodger Stages (340 West 50th Street, just west of Eighth Avenue), was the winner of the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. With direction by Stafford Arima, choreography by Christopher Gattelli, music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, and a book by Kevin Del Aguila, Altar Boyz currently features Scott Porter as Matthew; Danny Calvert as Mark; James Royce Edwards as Luke; Nick Sanchez as Juan; and Dennis Moench as Abraham.

For more information about the carol service, call St. Bart's Central at 212-378-0222 or visit www.stbarts.org. For more information about Broadway Cares, visit www.broadwaycares.org. For tickets to Altar Boyz, call Telecharge.com at 212-239-6200. For more on the show, visit www.altarboyz.com.

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