The Lost Boys: A Beating Heart or a Life Drain?

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when a mortal wonders why a certain demonic ritual involves blood, Spike the vampire says simply, "Cause it's always got to be blood. Blood is life."

And in musical theater, the score is the blood of the show. It courses through the everything and provides the life. At today's matinee of The Lost Boys I found myself wondering if I were a vampire, would I consider this show a feast or a famine.

I came to no conclusion, really, and can say for sure I want to see this show again once it is locked. There is a lot to both like and dislike here, but overall I would put this on the good side of mediocre... and that's maybe more than I expected going in. I'm struggling to find a throughline in my thoughts, so I'll comment instead on the varying great to bad aspects of the show.

So let's start with the great:

Michael Arden's direction and the exquisite production design. They simply don't make shows like this anymore. The sheer volume of single-use drops and set pieces was incredible. A multilevel set! A title sign! Horror lighting! Costumes that develop character! It was clear to me that not only has Arden's work elevated this musical enormously, but he has also emerged as the best musical theater director working today.

The good:

Shoshana Bean. Now, I know Caissie Levy was originally on board to take on this role, but I simply cannot imagine it. I have to believe this role evolved enormously once Bean came on, because this role in imbued with her warmth, humor, and gentle grace. She was very good, working with not great book materials and a decent portion of the score to create a memorable performance. The role is probably not strong enough to overcome Nichelle Lewis, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Bean gets the Tony this year as a career achievement award for this solid performance.

LJ Benet & Ali Louis Bourzgui. While certainly not as queer-coded as the film version of these characters, the two had chemistry nonetheless, and each gave strong young leading man performances. Benet particularly wowed me with his vocals and range. While not the powerhouse role that Ponyboy is in The Outsiders, I expect Benet to be an also-ran in the Best Actor race this year just like Brody Grant was.

The mediocre:

The score. There were some genuinely strong moments in the score ("Belong to Someone" toward the end of the first act), but overall this was a traditionally Santa Fe Syndrome score. That is to say, characters don't sing to each other and the score does not move the plot forward. Instead every song is an opportunity for the character to turn to the audience and mostly shout-sing their innermost feelings with a pained expression on their face so you know it's serious acting! It makes sense: We live in an era when we don't talk to each other so much as perform for one another on social media, so musicals are just mirroring that. It's a bit tiresome, tbh. When one character turned to us and sang "This changes everything..." I cringed.

The bad:

Maria Wirries. As Star, the love interest to our leading man, Wirries did not impress. She has a boffo voice, but the role was underwritten and she brought nothing to it. It's not unsalvageable, but alongside a more talented cast doing better work she stuck out like a sore thumb. This honestly felt to me like a lack of experience, as Shoshana Bean was able to do a lot with a little. Wirries was dealt a similar hand, but came up short.

The book. Typical bad musical theater book trying to tell a lot of story across a decent number of characters and not lingering on any drama long enough for it to land deeply. The final battle is so rushed. The relationship between Michael and David and Michael and Star needed more.

The overall balance of drama and comedy. The Lost Boys has always stood out as a darker, less juvenile 80s film than, say, Adventures in Babysitting or The Goonies. Yet here, there was a bit too much airtime given to comedy and not enough sitting in the darkness, which is where the show soared (pun intended). The character of the younger brother and the two vampire hunters was grating by the denouement of the show, and there's a whole (admittedly good) song about superpowers that could be cut for time.

Okay, so overall, is The Lost Boys worth your time? Yes. This is an ambitious, thoughtful musical that is imperfect but on the right track. While they cannot wholesale make the book and score thrilling by opening, most of the other issues are fixable and Arden is such a talent that I'm sure he'll shepherd them to a better place by opening night.

Is The Lost Boys the best musical of the season? No. I'm sorry, but this show is not going to beat Two Strangers or Titanique for Best Musical. But it has a pulse and plenty you can sink your teeth into.