The Lost Boys Broadway Reviews

Because, my children, tonight the design freaks feast. “The Lost Boys” contains the finest spectacle I’ve seen this season outside of the Met Opera: Laffrey’s set consists of a three-tiered brick arcade, a series of arched passageways leading...

Because, my children, tonight the design freaks feast. “The Lost Boys” contains the finest spectacle I’ve seen this season outside of the Met Opera: Laffrey’s set consists of a three-tiered brick arcade, a series of arched passageways leading back into shadow, full of cunning secrets — an ornate old elevator, a jillion sliding staircases, a two-story house. There are as many ways to fall into it as to rise, weightlessly, on wires above it. The Palace is a huge Broadway stage, yet Arden and his team make us aware of how much more space is surrounding it that we cannot see. It’s a bit like that moment in the ocean when you realize, oh, there are miles of water down there.

At intermission, The Lost Boys seemed like a home run to me: a big swing that connected. But the show’s intensity, rooted in daring sincerity, is compromised by the abject silliness of the Sam numbers and the plague of Frogs that elsewhere overruns...

At intermission, The Lost Boys seemed like a home run to me: a big swing that connected. But the show’s intensity, rooted in daring sincerity, is compromised by the abject silliness of the Sam numbers and the plague of Frogs that elsewhere overruns the second act. This may be a function of the fact that the musical is premiering directly on Broadway, without prior out-of-town runs; with more development time, the creators might have devised a second half equal to the first. Instead, just when they seem poised to tap into the heart of the vampire musical, they back off and lower the stakes.

As most Broadway nerds will tell you, vampire musicals have had a bloodier track record than a hemophiliac in a razor blade factory. Dance of the Vampires, Lestat, Dracula—all rightfully earned their place on the theater district haunt Joe Allen’...

As most Broadway nerds will tell you, vampire musicals have had a bloodier track record than a hemophiliac in a razor blade factory. Dance of the Vampires, Lestat, Dracula—all rightfully earned their place on the theater district haunt Joe Allen’s famed Wall of Flops. But The Lost Boys have broken the curse. Finally, a vampire musical that doesn’t suck. And in a lackluster season desperate for a hit, that’s a lifeline.

The Lost Boys ultimately feels more redolent of a theme park attraction than theater. But it at least has the courage of its lack of convictions. This is the type of show so gimmicky that it even emulates the current craze of cinematic post-credits s...

The Lost Boys ultimately feels more redolent of a theme park attraction than theater. But it at least has the courage of its lack of convictions. This is the type of show so gimmicky that it even emulates the current craze of cinematic post-credits scenes with a post-curtain call scene (not that it amounts to much). But, hey, if a movie can do it, why not Broadway?

The show does not reek of desperation after all. In fact, I think it’s better than the film, even with its flaws. And while none are fatal, there are enough to keep The Lost Boys from achieving that one thing vampires and Broadway musicals desire m...

The show does not reek of desperation after all. In fact, I think it’s better than the film, even with its flaws. And while none are fatal, there are enough to keep The Lost Boys from achieving that one thing vampires and Broadway musicals desire more than anything else – eternal life.

I never expected to leave a musical about undead bloodsuckers thinking, “That was kind of fun.” Maybe when the world is run by actual ghouls and fiends, when our phones drain our will to live at night, it feels good to stick the platelet-sipping ...

I never expected to leave a musical about undead bloodsuckers thinking, “That was kind of fun.” Maybe when the world is run by actual ghouls and fiends, when our phones drain our will to live at night, it feels good to stick the platelet-sipping devils center stage and make them sing, then cheer as they burn to dust at dawn.

The spectacular lighting (Jen Schriever and Arden) and sound design (Adam Fisher) create a world of foreboding and creepiness. Dane Lafrey’s magnificent, multi-level design makes maximum use of the Palace’s cavernous stage to create a lair to die...

The spectacular lighting (Jen Schriever and Arden) and sound design (Adam Fisher) create a world of foreboding and creepiness. Dane Lafrey’s magnificent, multi-level design makes maximum use of the Palace’s cavernous stage to create a lair to die for. It’s also a grand space for mesmerizing aerial work, staged by Gwyneth Larsen and Billy Mulholland. Those exquisite night flights bring to mind another bunch of Neverlanders longing for home. In “The Lost Boys” at least one of them makes it back.

The show looks spectacular — though it’s far less graphic in both its gore and sexiness than Joel Schumacher’s R-rated movie, which generated many of its cheap thrills from closeups of its dewy young stars. In another nod to the material’s mu...

The show looks spectacular — though it’s far less graphic in both its gore and sexiness than Joel Schumacher’s R-rated movie, which generated many of its cheap thrills from closeups of its dewy young stars. In another nod to the material’s multiplex origins, Arden has devised a Broadway first: a post-credit scene that begins after the final curtain call, a sequence involving a minor character that serves as both a callback and teaser for a possible sequel. It’s one of many final gambits that elevate The Lost Boys into something special.

Pajak fortunately also gets to lead the show’s more delightful vampiric coming-out number, “My Brother Is a…,” as he pieces together the clues (sleeping during the day, aversion to light, crashing through the second-story window, and so forth...

Pajak fortunately also gets to lead the show’s more delightful vampiric coming-out number, “My Brother Is a…,” as he pieces together the clues (sleeping during the day, aversion to light, crashing through the second-story window, and so forth): “Well, this explains a lot/He’s been acting like a freak/It’s worse than I thought/It’s turning out to be a real shit week.” A chorus of cartoonish Draculas pop up around him in the show’s most sensible embrace of its own ridiculousness. Nobody’s flying just then, but The Lost Boys, with its addictive sense of whimsical wonder, is soaring all on its own.

At long last, a vampire musical that doesn’t suck.A captivating and moody rock show about teenage fangst, “The Lost Boys,” flew open Sunday night at the Palace Theatre and brought an end to the decades-old curse unleashed by a string of unfortu...

At long last, a vampire musical that doesn’t suck.A captivating and moody rock show about teenage fangst, “The Lost Boys,” flew open Sunday night at the Palace Theatre and brought an end to the decades-old curse unleashed by a string of unfortunate aughts Broadway mega-flops: “Dracula,” “Dance of the Vampires” and “Lestat.” That tacky trilogy of terror has been the target of mockery for so long that simply walking into a new entry in the singin’ undead genre is scarier than anything Count Orlok does in “Nosferatu.” Even more frightening, lousy “Lestat” also played the Palace. Eeeek!

Vampire stories are about the changing body and the alienation that comes with it. Arden also makes sure we remember we are in the era of Reagan, when the heterosexual, nuclear family was upheld as the paragon of virtue and honor, a bulwark against t...

Vampire stories are about the changing body and the alienation that comes with it. Arden also makes sure we remember we are in the era of Reagan, when the heterosexual, nuclear family was upheld as the paragon of virtue and honor, a bulwark against the degenerate and unseemly. Anything that fell below that standard was vulnerable to attack. Arden’s expert direction signals at these themes, yet the book boils it down to trite messaging. We’re left reminded that families come in all shapes and sizes. They can be formed around circumstances other than genetics and blood. Well, in this case, blood might have something to do with it, too.

The Lost Boys even has one up in the gumption category over First Shadow and Cursed Child: Music. The prospect of a chorus full of undead breaking out in song certainly runs the risk of cringy absurdity, but The Lost Boys sails over those traps: The ...

The Lost Boys even has one up in the gumption category over First Shadow and Cursed Child: Music. The prospect of a chorus full of undead breaking out in song certainly runs the risk of cringy absurdity, but The Lost Boys sails over those traps: The driving score by L.A. indie band The Rescues (Kyler England, AG, Gabriel Mann) puts one in mind of the rock-based sounds of Dead Outlaw, sometimes even Stereophonic. Not bad company at all. (There’s a rambunctious dash of the wildly popular The Outsiders here, too, for those keeping count).

“The Lost Boys” certainly is superior to the notorious “Dance of the Vampires,” which I remember seeing at the Minskoff in 2002, not to mention Elton John’s “Lestat,” in this very theater. Beyond that, non-phantom, non-Dracula vampires...

“The Lost Boys” certainly is superior to the notorious “Dance of the Vampires,” which I remember seeing at the Minskoff in 2002, not to mention Elton John’s “Lestat,” in this very theater. Beyond that, non-phantom, non-Dracula vampires aren’t terribly over-exposed in the Broadway genre.

Can any show break the curse of failed vampire-driven musicals? Following belatedly in the footsteps of the ill-crafted “Lestat,” “Dance of the Vampires” and “Dracula” is “The Lost Boys,” now at the Palace Theatre. And there may not b...

Can any show break the curse of failed vampire-driven musicals? Following belatedly in the footsteps of the ill-crafted “Lestat,” “Dance of the Vampires” and “Dracula” is “The Lost Boys,” now at the Palace Theatre. And there may not be enough garlic or wooden stakes in America to ward off this adaptation of the beloved 1987 film from becoming a commercial hit. It’s got a very appealing cast, some fine songs from the indie band The Rescues, and plenty of spectacle on its side. What more does it need? Frankly (and artistically), it needs less.

A show this big has so many metrics for evaluation that it’s possible to find ways to hate it and love it, marvel at it and disdain it at the same time. Ultimately, when this kind of scale manages to bring with it both genuine humor and beauty (Ard...

A show this big has so many metrics for evaluation that it’s possible to find ways to hate it and love it, marvel at it and disdain it at the same time. Ultimately, when this kind of scale manages to bring with it both genuine humor and beauty (Arden and Jen Schriever co-designed the lavish, illusion-fueling lights, and damn but they’re firing on all cylinders), I’m pulled toward enjoyment. Did I walk away singing any of the Rescues’ score? I confess that I did not. Are there perhaps more than enough numbers that end with a full-blown crescendo and someone with outstretched arms belting a final note like Whitney Houston on The Merv Griffin Show? Arguably. Do I, in my heart of hearts, wish David were the hero of this musical in which the actual hero and his little brother have to take down a glam-rock vampire coven by teaming up with a pair of Frogs and a badass lady half-vamp?

Things start to fall apart with the original rock score by The Rescues. It begins strong, full of pulsing guitars and brooding hooks that suit the material. Yet as the night wears on, the songs begin to blur together. None are particularly bad, it's ...

Things start to fall apart with the original rock score by The Rescues. It begins strong, full of pulsing guitars and brooding hooks that suit the material. Yet as the night wears on, the songs begin to blur together. None are particularly bad, it's just that nearly every number arrives at the same emotional temperature: loud, intense and sung at full blast. There are highlights — especially the Shoshana Bean showcase “Wild,” which jolts Act II to life, or the haunting "Belong to Someone," which becomes a showcase for the vampire gang— but too few songs vary the texture of the evening.

The Lost Boys’s rushed final battle traces back to the source material’s spectacle-driven climax. A post-curtain call epilogue, theatrically fun but thematically sloppy, suggests vampires will always rise elsewhere beyond Hollywood endings. It’...

The Lost Boys’s rushed final battle traces back to the source material’s spectacle-driven climax. A post-curtain call epilogue, theatrically fun but thematically sloppy, suggests vampires will always rise elsewhere beyond Hollywood endings. It’s a testament to Bourzgui’s magnetism that he still eclipses everything that came before.

If you like your musicals to run on an engine of bigger, louder, faster, MORE, The Lost Boys is for you. Dane Laffrey’s set is a mechanical marvel that not only stretches up three full stories into the heights of the Palace Theatre’s fly space an...

If you like your musicals to run on an engine of bigger, louder, faster, MORE, The Lost Boys is for you. Dane Laffrey’s set is a mechanical marvel that not only stretches up three full stories into the heights of the Palace Theatre’s fly space and includes a functioning elevator but creates a sunken level, often sinking with actors on it, and Michael Arden’s production fills all of that vertical space ingeniously, usually operating on at least two levels at once. It doesn’t entirely make sense that there would be a functioning elevator in an earthquake-damaged ironworks, nor why vampires who can fly would need to travel in it anyway, but coherent worldbuilding was never part of the charm of The Lost Boys on stage or screen, and it’s a cool effect.