The spiky blond-tipped hair, the sexy jeans, the dreamy puppy dog eyes that stare through the camera and into your heart. The glory days of the boy band helped define a generation. Those days are returning for one sweaty, sexy night in Wilton Manors.
The Boy Band Project is a group of totally rad Broadway performers who bring back the vibe of the *NSync and Backstreet Boys.
“It’s a reimagining of *NSync and Backstreet Boys music with Broadway talent,” founder Travis Nesbitt said. “Like *NSync meets Magic Mike.” Although Nesbitt says, unlike Magic Mike, no skin. But it’ll be very hot, so we’ll see.
Unlike other boy bands, TBBP has a rotating cast of performers. They come and go as they book other gigs. The changing lineup keeps things fresh.
“I created a Broadway roster of talent so that if you’re not in a show at that time, you can come be in a boy band,” Nesbitt said.
The “Boy Band era” has spanned decades, arguably going back to The Beach Boys and The Beatles and coming of age again in the early ‘90s (we’re looking at you, New Kids On the Block). Nesbitt says this show focuses on the late nineties to early aughts.
“We try to make it as flashy as possible. There’s a pedestrian element to being in those bands. They’re guys from your hometown, and we try to be very approachable like that.”
And of course, there is the look. “We say we’re like drag queens without the heels and the wigs."
The boys also fill each role in traditional style. “There’s the sensitive one, the sporty, the bad boy and the boy next door. The bad boy wears a lot of leopard print and necklaces, the boy next door has a popped polo shirt. The personalities inform their costumes.”
Nesbitt says the set list will take you back to the days when Carson Daly was must-see afternoon TV. “We like to travel back in time to the TRL [Total Request Live on MTV] era. I call it the millennial boy band, so that includes anything from 1990 through 2010. I grew up racing home after school to watch TRL. That was access to the performers, the music. You knew what was hip and current at that moment.”
Watch the entire interview and get a preview of the show at the YouTube channel, OutSFL Live.
