Casting Set for Altar Boyz Tour; Launches in Chicago

Matthew Buckner, Ryan J. Ratliff, John Arthur Greene, Jay Garcia and Nick Blaemire will star in the national tour of Altar Boyz.  The show will kick off its 30-week tour with a three-week engagement at Chicago's LaSalle Bank Theatre (18 West Monroe Street), October 10 - 24.

The national tour will star Buckner (finalist on "The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott) as Matthew, Ratliff (productions of Forever Plaid, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) as Mark, Greene (Off-Broadway's MIM, regional productions of tick, tick...BOOM, Blood Brothers, Mame) as Luke, Garcia (Las Vegas Avenue Q, Blue's Clues Live national tour) as Juan and Blaemire (world premiere of Calvin Berger, Off-Broadway's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, composer of Ass Backwards) as Abraham.

Altar Boyz, the acclaimed musical comedy now in its second year Off-Broadway at New World Stages, is the winner of the coveted Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Off-Broadway.  "Full of sharp parody, sinfully spectacular dancing, and irreverent humor, this spoof about a heavenly guy-group is adored by audiences and critics alike.  With an extraordinary mix of side-splitting songs 'convincing enough to be played on MTV,' uncontrollable laughs and lighthearted fun, this award-winning and totally original new musical is 90 minutes of pure delight," according to press notes.  Altar Boyz opened April 12th at ChungMu Art Hall, Seoul, Korea; this marked the first time an American musical, directed by the original director, debuted there.

Altar Boyz is directed by Stafford Arima and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. Altar Boyz has music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, with book by Kevin Del Aguila, based on a concept by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport.

In addition to Chicago, the national tour of Altar Boyz will play engagements in Austin, Boston, Baltimore, Birmingham, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Sarasota, Seattle, Tempe, Tucson, and Wilmington

Tickets for the Chicago engagement range in price from $32.50 - $55 and are available at Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (18 W. Monroe, 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including all Carson Pirie Scott stores, Tower Records, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at www.ticketmaster.com.  Groups of 20 or more can receive a discount by calling (312) 977-1710.

To learn more about Altar Boyz, visit www.altarboyz.com.  For more information on the national tour, visit www.altarholics.com.

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