Is satirizing Christianity through the lens of an ‘N Sync-style boy band a gag that can remain funny throughout a whole 90 minute show?

Just about!

Credit the exuberance of the five stars who mmmbop and gyrate their way through Bethesda Theatre’s production of Altar Boyz. The show, while hardly scandalous, is probably the theater’s edgiest fare to date, but the fun that creators Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport poke at Catholicism is done rather gently, and the work’s overall message is one of inclusiveness and friendship.

The show, which exists entirely within the realm of one of the pop group’s concerts, sets the tone with the laugh-out-loud opener, “We Are The Altar Boyz”. The group’s mimicry of boy-band style choreography, taken up a notch and peppered with ceremonial Christian imagery, from genuflection to signs of the cross, is repeatedly amusing, whether the boys are ridin’ the pony or doing riffs on the Robot. The amusement probably wouldn’t last if the cast wasn’t so committed to keeping the energy level high and never seeming too in on the joke. Particularly charismatic is the comically effeminate Patrick Elliot, who always seems to be an extra hip wiggle or eyebrow raise ahead of the rest of the group.