{"id":2390663,"date":"2026-04-27T02:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T02:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2390663"},"modified":"2026-04-27T02:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T02:14:07","slug":"the-lost-boys-review-vampire-show-is-best-new-musical-on-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-lost-boys-review-vampire-show-is-best-new-musical-on-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The Lost Boys&#8217; review: Vampire show is best new musical on Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F04%2Flost-boys-broadway-seen-photo-126450740.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTheater review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tTHE LOST BOYS\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Two hours and 40 minutes, with one intermission. At the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th Street.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At long last, a vampire musical that doesn\u2019t suck.<\/p>\n<p>A captivating and moody rock show about teenage fangst, \u201cThe Lost Boys,\u201d 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: \u201cDracula,\u201d \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2002\/12\/10\/needs-new-blood\/\">Dance of the Vampires<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2006\/04\/26\/bloody-awful\/\">Lestat<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That tacky trilogy of terror has been the target of mockery for so long that simply walking into a new entry in the singin\u2019 undead genre is scarier than anything Count Orlok does in \u201cNosferatu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even more frightening, lousy \u201cLestat\u201d also played the Palace. Eeeek!<\/p>\n<p>But once the lights dim and a striking opening scene commences\u00a0\u2014\u00a0in which a cop is violently killed midair by a group of rocking vamps\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it becomes immediately clear that there is nothing here to ridicule this time. There\u00a0are\u00a0plenty\u00a0of unbelievable sights to\u00a0gasp at, though.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Directed by comeback kid Michael Arden, \u201cThe Lost Boys\u201d is a serious and ambitious effort\u00a0of spectacle and heartfelt adventure\u00a0that doesn\u2019t look or behave like any musical I have seen before.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Without actually being immersive, the\u00a0intoxicating 1980s arcade atmosphere washes over the audience\u00a0sensorily, with a three-level crypt set by Dane Laffrey that uses the Palace\u2019s extreme height to its winning advantage and lighting by Jen Schriever and Arden that\u2019s so gorgeous it should be billed above the title.<\/p>\n<p>And the magical\u00a0aerial stunts \u2014 used for\u00a0everything from\u00a0high-flying music solos to\u00a0vampiric\u00a0sneak\u00a0attacks \u2014 would make Sandy Duncan green with envy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Vampire musical \u201cThe Lost Boys\u201d opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This show, in every aspect, goes breathtakingly gargantuan.\u00a0Good.\u00a0Suffice it to say, \u201cCity Center Encores presents \u2018The Lost Boys&#8217;\u201d wouldn\u2019t\u00a0go over so well.<\/p>\n<p>But on Broadway, bigness has been greatly missed.<\/p>\n<p>Much like the 1987 movie the musical is based on wrestled the undead into the present long before \u201cTwilight\u201d was so much as a twinkle, so too does the show,\u00a0with a book by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch and a score by the band The Rescues,\u00a0swap Victorian Era castles and thick European accents for 1980s California; Gothic for goth.<\/p>\n<p>A family of three craving a new life moves into the coastal town of Santa Carla, California, where rebel youths misbehave on the boardwalk and there\u2019s been a worrying spike in unsolved murders.\u00a0What oh what could be causing them?!<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michael (LJ Benet) moves to tow and meets David (Ali Louis Bourzgui). <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sad, seventeen-year-old Michael (LJ Benet) is looking for purpose while geeky 14-year-old Sam (Benjamin Pajak) obsesses over Rob Lowe and buries himself in comic books. Mom Lucy (Shoshana Bean) needs a job\u00a0\u2014 and a husband.<\/p>\n<p>Michael soon finds himself in with the wrong crowd, a spiky rock band headed by menacing, platinum-blond David (Ali Louis Bourzgui). The group\u2019s\u00a0late-night\u00a0gigs must be\u00a0the reason\u00a0they only ever\u00a0go out\u00a0after dark, right?<\/p>\n<p>Bourzgui, who was brilliant as the title role in \u201cThe Who\u2019s Tommy\u201d two years ago, solidifies himself as one of Broadway\u2019s most enticing new stars.\u00a0An enchanter, his\u00a0smooth-talking David is Beelzebub by way of Bowie, ensnaring Michael into his clutches with beckoning eyes and a rich baritone. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kiefer Sutherland, the original David, didn\u2019t croon a note in the movie, but turning the vamps into guitarists and drummers naturally drops music into this world and eliminates the insanity of Dracula breaking out into a power belt. There\u2019s also an inherent hellfire to punk rock that ups their threat. What\u2019s more anti-establishment than a vampire? \u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>In this telling, the vampires are also rock musicians. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The\u00a0Rescues\u2019\u00a0songs have energy and attitude, even it there are\u00a0a\u00a0few too many. Look, they\u00a0won\u2019t wind up on any playlists alongside \u201cGypsy\u201d and \u201cThe Sound of Music,\u201d but the tunes\u00a0contribute a brooding, heavy-eyeliner vibe, at times channelling Evanescence as much as contemporary musical theater, and\u00a0they\u00a0work\u00a0harmoniously with the design and acting. The score, with a haunting main theme, is\u00a0not\u00a0undead weight. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The band\u2019s jams are joined by the usual\u00a0character numbers. A serene one called \u201cBelong to Someone\u201d figures into the show\u2019s stunner of a defining moment, when Benet\u2019s Michael lets go of the train tracks above and sings \u201cfor so long I\u2019ve been lost and looking for the light\u201d as he floats weightlessly above the stage.\u00a0Incredible, really.<\/p>\n<p>Benet,\u00a0our in-flight entertainment\u00a0making his Broadway debut, has teen idol looks and a\u00a0strong, pure\u00a0and\u00a0emotional sound.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Benet gets an impressive ballad called \u201cBelong to Someone.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And belting Bean, whose role is slightly above a plot device, gets a rousing reclaiming-my-girlhood duet with new boss and possible beau Max (Paul Alexander Nolan) called \u201cWild.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Michael hangs out (upside down on occasion)\u00a0with his sinister new pals and a girl named Star (Maria Wirries) and Lucy flirts with her man, Sam makes an alarming discovery with the help of the Frog Brothers\u00a0(Miguel Gil and Jennifer Duka): Santa Carla\u2019s crawling with vampires.<\/p>\n<p>As Sam,\u00a015-year-old Pajak, who just four years ago was little Winthrop in \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d proves\u00a0he\u2019s a lot more than a guileless River City child. He\u2019s a\u00a0gifted comedian and impressive singer\u00a0with a command of the stage far beyond his years. His Act 2 number, \u201cSuperpower,\u201d is wacky in retrospect, yet sweet and bright in a show with a lot of shadows.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Shoshana Bean plays Lucy, the boys\u2019 mom. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The trio\u2019s mission to find and stop the bloodsuckers is perilous and scrappy with\u00a0the\u00a0lil \u201cIndiana Jones\u201d\u00a0quality of \u201cThe Goonies.\u201d\u00a0And the manner in which the plot\u2019s mysteries unfold onstage is much more compelling than in the film. I kept thinking\u00a0that\u00a0this is\u00a0exactly\u00a0what strident and unpleasant \u201cStranger Things: First Shadow\u201d should have been. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What a wild year Arden\u2019s had. He\u00a0started out by\u00a0directing\u00a0the first\u00a0new\u00a0musical of the season, \u201cThe Queen of Versailles,\u201d which was\u00a0also\u00a0one of the worst. Though, there are plenty of folks in the blame line ahead of him for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, with the\u00a0final\u00a0show of\u00a0the\u00a02025-26\u00a0crop, he\u2019s\u00a0delivered the best.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u00a0show\u2014 I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m writing this \u2014 is a vampire musical<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theater review THE LOST BOYS Two hours and 40 minutes, with one intermission. At the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th Street. At long last, a vampire musical that doesn\u2019t suck. A captivating and moody rock show about teenage fangst, \u201cThe Lost Boys,\u201d flew open Sunday night at the Palace Theatre and brought an end to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2390664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[344468,21741,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2390663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-broadway","tag-entertainment","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/The-Lost-Boys-review-Vampire-show-is-best-new-musical.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2390663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2390665,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390663\/revisions\/2390665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2390663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2390663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2390663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}