I Want It That Way

On the evening of May 29, 2026, the Gay Men's Chorus of Tampa Bay filled Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida with the unmistakable opening of a boy-band anthem during their concert "Love in Technicolor." The second number of Act 1 was "I Want It That Way (Tell Me Why)," the Backstreet Boys' 1999 Millennium smash penned by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, here reimagined in Julien Neel's four-part TTBB a cappella arrangement for the full chorus.

Neel's writing is the heart of the number's appeal. Rather than imitate the original's glossy studio production, the arrangement rebuilds the song from voices alone, planting the famous melody in the Tenor 2 line and ringing barbershop-tinged harmonies around it. Vocal-percussion syllables and sustained pads stand in for the drum machine and synth bed, giving the chorus a buoyant, self-propelled groove.

The full chorus met those demands with a warm, unified sound. Sectional balance kept the inner harmonies transparent beneath the tune, and crisp consonant diction carried the song's much-loved hook cleanly to the back pew. The singers shaped each pre-chorus with a careful swell, then snapped into the anthemic refrain with bright, well-tuned chords and disciplined dynamic control.

Allendale's resonant sanctuary flattered the a cappella texture, letting the chord stacks bloom and the sustained "ah" pads hang in the air without muddying the rhythmic syllables underneath. The audience responded with the delighted recognition only a generational earworm earns, many mouthing along before erupting into applause as the final chord rang out.

Within Act 1's "Love & Heartbreak" arc, the song's plea-and-yearning lyric found a fitting home, its longing softened by the joy of a roomful of men singing it together. In that shared delivery the chorus turned a nostalgic pop hit into an act of community and visibility, the kind of chosen-family celebration that anchors the ensemble's mission.