The Lost Boys – 04 April 2026

From the beginning, The Lost Boys had a mesmerizing hold on me. Everything from the music to the lighting to the sound to the world building to the characters to the writing to the direction and beyond was perfectly integrating into this musical theatre adventure—oh, and there are vampires with impressive aerial choreography. The Lost Boys tells the story of a mother and her two sons who move to California to escape an abusive husband/father and restart their lives. Everyone is searching for a place to belong beyond their family of three, and the eldest son, Michael (LJ Benet) inadvertently runs across the local vampires while his brother, Sam (Pierce Wheeler at this performance) runs across the local vampire hunters. The mother, Lucy (Shoshana Bean) doesn’t know what she’s run across, as her new potential romantic suitor turns out to have some sinister beliefs of his own. A beautifully woven story about people who put their lives on the line for each other and humanity, The Lost Boys is so much more than a vampiric fantasy—it’s about what it means to be a monster and what it means to find the community in which you truly belong.

The scenic design (Dane Laffrey) creates so many unique worlds, and the automated transitions are thrillingly cinematic. In addition to houses and an abandoned warehouse, there’s a boardwalk carnival and a fully functional playground. There’s a comic book store and a video store and a restaurant and a concert space—the last possibly fostering Broadway’s first choreographed mosh pit. Jen Schriever and Michael Arden are co-credited with the breathtaking lighting design that skillfully reveals and hides, colors and desaturates, creating a web of complex moments where what you can’t see is just as important as what you can. Costume design (Ryan Park) leaned into the 1987 aesthetic with full force, and created visually separate looks to differentiate different walks of life, supported by wigs and hair design (David Brian Brown) and makeup design (Christina Grant). Adam Fisher’s soundscape perfectly captured the atmosphere, knowing when to turn up the reverb to be frightening and when to pull back to the purest, most human equalization.

The music pulsing through this show was a true delight. Embracing a variety musical techniques—unison, harmony, counter melody, medley—to weave together a fully original score, The Rescues flexed their skills in ways that celebrated everything this show is—sad, funny, joyous, chaotic, frightening, loving, and tender. The book (Brian Hornsby, Chris Koch) kept pace with the score, and the collaborative moments really shine. The world built by The Lost Boys team as a whole is awe-inspiring, rich, and full, built from the right amount of each puzzle piece. This cast soars, and is comprised solely of musical theatre talents. The lack of stunt casting brings a joy to and love for the theatre community that is very powerful, reminding us that we can do it—we can sell out The Palace on a theatrical production without an international superstar from another medium. I am proud to fully embrace this show, and I hope it has a bright future. This is the place where theatre belongs.

I did not attend this performance on a press pass.