THE LOST BOYS Previews- Page 12
THE LOST BOYS Previews
THE LOST BOYS Previews#275
Posted: 4/19/26 at 12:23am
lots to appreciate here but not as much to actively enjoy.
kudos to michael arden because the book here is truly meh, the jokes so klunky, the characters so dull. the songs blend into one (well sung, and certainly pleasant) tune, so the fact that without anyone all that interesting or any dialogue worth listening to, there is still a somewhat watchable show here---again, kudos to Arden.
this is a production with so many moving pieces, and so many flying actors, and so many well executed scares and stunts--it all comes together well around the emptiness at its core. it seems tailor made for tourist high school students, and is a poor mans Outsiders. I hope it finds its audience. its fits real well into the enormous Palace Theater, which was sold out tonight.
kudos also to this wildly talented cast. sho bean continues to perfect the struggling mom who makes breakfast, and does some incredible vocal tricks here. she does the most she can with a horribly written character, as does LJ Benet who really anchors the first act with incredible vocals and real leading man charisma (before fading into the story in act 2). Maria Wirries is way too sweet and ingenue for this role, but her voice is out of this world. She made me sit up straight with those belts from the jump and brings the house down with a solo number that i cant remember for the life of me a few hours after i heard it. Bourzgui continues to elevate everything he touches, and I genuinely wonder why they have him in such a ridiculous wig.
i really do hope this finds an audience--theres nothing new or original here but the audience around me seemed like newbies to broadway, and they want WILD for this show. its alot of the spectacle and technical and schmaltz that we all love so i hope this lands OK even if iI didnt love it.
the post bows scene is still there and pretty clever-- almost sets up a sequel, for better or worse.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/30/17
THE LOST BOYS Previews#276
Posted: 4/19/26 at 12:56am
Last minute comps. The show is 15 minutes shorter but it still feels long.
Arden picked the band and the book writers for this show. He collaborated with both from the beginning. Maybe he enjoys building under average material to stage or the former is not a strength.
The wires, clipping and unclipping seem more present now - maybe it's any seat not dead center? The lighting is so similar throughout the eyes adjust to all of the mechanics of it.
Bean, and some of the cast still sound good - but the new song is almost just as blah is the one they cut? The music still generally not for this show. and lyrically .... That end of bows scene is back. I'll never understand why. (to follow the film genre structure?)
This still seems a play towards first time theater people who are fans of the movie, haven't seen Stranger Things and young theater groups. Surface spectacle - the flashy Beaches of the season.
Understudy Joined: 12/13/10
THE LOST BOYS Previews#277
Posted: 4/19/26 at 2:59pm
I wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. The opening prologue scene is great fun and sets the evening up brilliantly, only to entirely fail to deliver on it. The set is fantastic, but it's all so thoroughly ordinary besides that, including the flying, which isn't a patch on what many other shows have achieved. Others have written here at length, so I won't belabor things, but despite having been warned that it was a score of ballads, I was still dulled by just how repetitive the music is, often inappropriately so to the narrative. One of the greatest bits of staging is on a bridge, and then they jump off, and it all feels like it's building to something exciting, and that something is ballad #7.
It's not a disaster, it's just long, a bit boring, and tonally all over the place. I'm just not sure what this show really wants to be or who it's for. There's lots that feels squarely aimed at Gen Z and then a load of 80s jokes that have that same crowd turning to each other asking what they mean. There are darkly gory bits and then absurdly camp bits, often just a song apart. It just doesn't work. That post-credits scene was there, I assume purely for the free marketing of people filming it, as it otherwise makes no sense.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
THE LOST BOYS Previews#278
Posted: 4/19/26 at 5:17pm
Bobster159 said: "It's not a disaster, it's just long, a bit boring, and tonally all over the place. "
Lol, it just has no identity.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
THE LOST BOYS Previews#279
Posted: 4/19/26 at 8:33pm
I was in my mid 30s when the movie came out, and saw it in the cinema like everybody else. I remember how excited I was that Oscar winner Wiest was the young mother, and of course, it made the most of teenish heartthrobs of the era over a decade younger than I was, Jason Patric and Sutherland. And Jamie Gertz (fan here). It was fresh because Santa Cruz was such an original locale for the genre, used so evocatively. When I first visited, I immediately thought of the movie..
I'm going this week, and hope they captured any of those elements, that distinctive above-LA California ambiance critical. What's fascinating: even for a cult film, it doesn't quite have Carrie's luster. But many of the reports here remind me of the way the revised musical Carrie was received: with a dutiful respect for a fix but not much love for outrageousness or daring. We always hope for something stylistically ambitious (which the original Carrie was) From all of the clips and the score, this feels oddly ... for lack of a more evocative word ... safe. Maybe that's 2026 Broadway.
THE LOST BOYS Previews#280
Posted: 4/19/26 at 9:08pm
This preview period seems like it has gone on forever.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
THE LOST BOYS Previews#281
Posted: 4/19/26 at 9:41pm
rosscoe(au) said: "This preview period seems like it has gone on forever."
That’s how I feel after seeing the third or fourth preview of BEACHES, which began the same night as this but opens four days earlier,
I believe SALESMAN is the only preview period of the season that lasted more than a month.
THE LOST BOYS Previews#282
Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:45am
What’s the record for most above the title co-producers and could The Lost Boys be taking that trophy?
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/30/17
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
THE LOST BOYS Previews#284
Posted: 4/21/26 at 5:56pm
UPDATE: TDF sent an email asking us to arrive extra early, at 10:00 a.m. for the 2 p.m. matinee, because of long lines. My first in 20 years of TDF membership. Wisely offered advice, because at 12:15 when I got to the Palace, they had a single window open, selling advance seats and pre-show pick-ups from the same person, and the line crawled and went down the sidewalk. It was bizarre in the unwillingness to address what TDF alerted.
What's new to say about the show that hasn't been said? I found the music overall better than many posters, and the vocal and band arrangements far more interesting and varied than expected. It's amplified like Tommy or Jesus Christ Superstar, sometimes diminishing rather enhancing vocals, but loud and big mostly serves.
To me, the best sequence in the show occurs late in act one, the staging of "Belong to Someone," and I won't spoil it, but the elements required to musicalize this story come together for the introspective song, and the operatic result feels emotionally and theatrically sharp. It looks like a Magritte painting. Its wallop took me by surprise, and LJ Benet rises to the moment - literally it must be noted - with soulfulness and brio. It is so effective I hoped something comparable would match it later, but nothing quite conjures the inventive magic. "Wild," the other known song from the show is a rafter-raiser for an ex-Elphaba, and Bean attacks it with signature power and investment. I'm in the minority: I found its staging busy and even dizzying, when a simple shared moment on a playground might sell it.
But everything here is busy, everyone moving in and out of every possible kind of theatrical lighting. And the lighting is spectacular, no argument. Yet ... yet whenever the actions slows to let its wonderful singers sing in shadow and find some quiet around the explosiveness the show goes deeper. The second act doesn't tread water, but the comedy set pieces do take up valuable stage time, and this dark tale of abandoned and abused children is at its strongest when it wears its heart on its sleeve. In the best moments, The Lost Boys makes earnestness a virtue.
This is sad musical that seems afraid to own its core sadness until it has no choice. And then, it rushes through the plotting that reaches the sobering catharsis and resolution. We get a "Children Will Listen" styled address at the end, in a decent enough song. But the efforts to construct traditional musical comedy, embellished with FX ornamentation, don't always sell its strength. Again, that underbelly of melancholy is its strong suit. We feel for these adolescents trapped a century in hip young bodies that cannot age. As much as the family unmoored by divorce and displacement. The allegory may be bald - it's even stated outright by one character late in the show: our boys are in trouble - but a persuasive enough case is made. The silliness in the Stephen King-styled efforts to capture the ostensible villains seems at odds with what the show wants to say - without apology - about loss and found family. Everyone seems scared of holding onto the darkness for too long. Maybe that will make it more commercial. But I felt a trade-off that hurts an ambitious piece artistically.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
THE LOST BOYS Previews#285
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:00pm
I have to admit, I enjoyed this more than I expected. That said, there are plenty of issues - pacing is uneven, many of the songs blur together, the sound mix is off, and those giant holes in the stage had me on edge all night. There’s also clearly material that could be trimmed.
Still, it’s genuinely thrilling to see a production take such big swings, especially for a new musical. The mounting really showcases both the best and worst of Michael Arden’s directing instincts: some moments are absolutely stunning, while others feel clunky and overworked. The set is phenomenal, and the overall physical production is often astonishing - though the lighting (co-designed by Jen Schriever and Arden) is far too aggressively blinding. The score is chock full of perfectly fine rock ballads, albeit without a whole lot of variety. The book is mostly efficient, but I don't think I've ever heard the name "Michael" spoken so frequently in my life. Make it a drinking game, and you'd be blackout by intermission.
As mentioned, it’s also simply too long. The coda is interesting, but it either needs to be cut or repositioned before the bows - it currently feels awkwardly tacked on.
The cast is mostly strong. While perfectly fine, I’m not entirely convinced LJ Benet has the "it" factor needed to anchor the show (and the repeated "screlting" he's subjected to looked genuinely painful), but Shoshana Bean and Ali Louis Bourzgui are standouts. Shoshana’s first number is a bit of a mess (not her fault), but her later solos (and her duet with Paul Alexander Nolan) land much more effectively. By the finale, I was surprisingly moved by the whole thing. (Before we had to sit back down for the coda...)
There’s a lot to admire and enjoy here, but it does ultimately feel wildly overstuffed and overlong - even after all the documented cuts. It's a solid 7 out of 10, to me.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE LOST BOYS Previews#286
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:17pm
This was the most fun of the new musicals I have seen. As many other people have said, they take such massive swings and that's really exciting. Everything is just BIG. Awesome cast and everything just looks really cool.
Also, this seems to be the most talked about online, their marketing started really early releasing a few songs and really building that excitement, and they have excellent socials which is crucial. It seems to be the "cool" musical of the season, like The Outsiders two years ago.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
THE LOST BOYS Previews#287
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:18pm
I think Wickedrocks is giving us the best overview that reflects current and eventual consensus, though I found Benet entirely successful.
I'm disappointed those swings that the show takes aren't more consistent, and fall away in the second act for too long, admittedly a minority opinion.
I'm an original attendee of the original Carrie, and I felt some of those feelings surface yesterday (it steals one of that production's signatures, in its use of jump scares to start/stop acts.) I remember feeling swept up in Buckley's work to such an extent - it's fairly legendary - and I resented the shift in focus (which was admittedly awful; not true here). I couldn't help but feel a telling whiff of that bifurcation. When the young protagonist, lost in 80s America, feels the pull toward the vampire tribe, the show is instantly psychologically richer, as Carrie found its heartbeat in the pull away from a monstrous mother's grip. No one else will call this the new Carrie. It looks to be a sizable hit. But those of us old enough to remember that flood of mixed feelings can be triggered. Horror is hard to pull off. This hasn't entirely changed my mind about that. But I'd recommend this show to just about anyone interested in its subject and warm to the genre.
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THE LOST BOYS Previews#288
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:50pm
Those big swings are what I really felt drawn to. This is not a show that took the easy way out and it really is trying to balance that "beloved film" with "working stage musical." Things like the prologue, the bridge, entering the lair, even just giant set pieces like that impossibly high dock that's Star's favorite place. I'm bad with heights as a rule and the stagecraft decisions added an extra thrill to the show for me. Because why not hang the second floor of the house from the ceiling or leave those giant holes open on the deck for fog to come out of?
I really do want to see it again now that it's frozen. I got spoiled on the revised epilogue and see even minor shifts working better. That one tiktokker Kate that does really good criticism on her own dime around the country has been regularly visiting the previews and reporting on updates, down to individual line changes in dialogue. The Lost Boys really made the most of this long preview period to actually address changes. That cast has been working hard to keep up, that's for sure.
THE LOST BOYS Previews#289
Posted: 4/23/26 at 1:35pm
Someone said the post-bow scene is back. For people who have seen it previously and more recently, is it still exactly the same?
Leading Actor Joined: 11/17/11
THE LOST BOYS Previews#290
Posted: 4/23/26 at 2:07pm
WiCkEDrOcKS said: "The cast is mostly strong. While perfectly fine, I’m not entirely convinced LJ Benet has the "it"factor needed to anchor the show (and the repeated "screlting"he's subjected to lookedgenuinely painful), but Shoshana Bean and Ali Louis Bourzgui are standouts."
I pretty much agree with you. Did anyone else who saw the show wonder how it might have looked with Ali and LJ swapping roles?
THE LOST BOYS Previews#291
Posted: 4/23/26 at 2:31pm
YvanEhtNioj said: "Someone said the post-bow scene is back. For people who have seen it previously and more recently, is it still exactly the same?
"
Mostly the same. They added her husband's uniform hat and the walkie-talkie going off with his voice to give her a reason to find the chalice.
THE LOST BOYS Previews#292
Posted: 4/23/26 at 3:00pm
trentsketch said: "YvanEhtNioj said: "Someone said the post-bow scene is back. For people who have seen it previously and more recently, is it still exactly the same?
"
"
So funny I didn’t even remember the husband at the start having a hat on, it was so dark and the over acting turned me off.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/30/17
THE LOST BOYS Previews#294
Posted: 4/23/26 at 4:42pm
The big swings are what I'm drawn to as well. Unfortunately, they are mostly foul balls. They don't hit. The best part is the amount of money to make the physical production exciting - yet it sill falters and doesn't fly. The stage managers are doing excellent work.
We will see many an elevator show at the Palace now. Because it's been lifted they have a LOT of space below the stage. (Tammy Faye used large pillars lifting up cast members on elevators upaward. Lots Boys is primarily just the first to be able to use the option. There will be lots of radio city lifting and upward elevations from now on.
AJ felt flat for me as well. I kept identifying him as a "Michael Arden"-actor type. Vocally , mechanically and from an acting place - it's as if the director placed himself in the leading role via AJ. The cast overall are not great actors (except Bourgouzi & Nolan - and maybe Bean?)-- but instead great vocalists - and they don't seem to be helped any further. The direction is VERY uneven as is the development of the show - and relies on the tech in full to create a world of interest. The music still feels like emo-church pop. Just not sure Arden is cut out for developing new musicals but instead has fun with tech (who wouldn't with 25m+)
That said, the tech is fun to watch on the first watch despite seeing all the mechanics/wires (the 2nd not so much) - where as Stranger Things I enjoyed the three times I have seen it. Lafferty has once again done great work making the show more exciting than it is.
Despite a song swap or two - and some small tinkering here and there - the material itself is very similar to the workshop. No big swings in changes. The tech opts for swings but the show, material and its music come off a bunt.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE LOST BOYS Previews#295
Posted: 4/23/26 at 4:58pm
You slammed this show for months and now you have reviewed the performance you saw like 14 times. We GET IT.
Leading Actor Joined: 3/12/14
THE LOST BOYS Previews#296
Posted: 4/23/26 at 5:01pm
You love STRANGER THINGS but hate THE LOST BOYS?
Mmmk.
THE LOST BOYS Previews#297
Posted: 4/23/26 at 5:04pm
As far as scenic design, this show doesn't reach the heights that FRANKENSTEIN had. That was a flop too.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/30/17
THE LOST BOYS Previews#298
Posted: 4/23/26 at 5:12pm
Sutton Ross said: "You slammed this show for months and now you have reviewed the performance you saw like 14 times. We GET IT."
I've seen multiple performances now and will be there Sunday. you're welcome.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE LOST BOYS Previews#299
Posted: 4/23/26 at 5:20pm
No one is thanking you for your rambling, constant negative reviews of this production. No one.
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