An adaptation of the 1987 vampire cult favorite, the stage show delivers the feeling of a blockbuster more successfully than the substance of a great musical

NEED TO KNOW

• The Lost Boys brings a cinematic, high-energy musical adaptation of the 1987 cult vampire film to Broadway
• Shoshana Bean delivers a standout performance as Lucy, showcasing her powerful vocals and emotional depth
• Tickets for the musical, which opened Sunday, April 26 at the Palace Theatre in New York City, are now on sale

Broadway and vampires have rarely mixed well.

Over the years, the Main Stem has been littered with bloodless attempts to turn creatures of the night into musical theater stars: Dance of the Vampires became an infamous flop in 2002, Dracula, the Musical vanished quickly after arriving in 2004 and Lestat — based on Anne Rice's beloved novels, with a score by Elton John and Bernie Taupin — closed after just 39 regular performances in 2006.

So when The Lost Boys arrived at the Palace Theatre, it came with lofty expectations and one lingering question: Could this be the show to finally break Broadway's vampire curse?

It sure looks like it.

Directed by Tony Award-winning director Michael Arden, this slick, sexy adaptation of the 1987 vampire cult favorite — which opened on Sunday, April 26 — arrives with prowling danger and moody rock-star attitude.

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At times, it feels less like attending a Broadway musical and more like you're watching a summer blockbuster unfold live in front of you. Smoke pours across the stage, shadows creep around every corner, characters descend from the rafters. And a giant title card lands with the swagger of a studio tentpole. There's even a post-credit scene!

That cinematic sensation is real, and often thrilling. It moves with the swagger and speed of a movie determined to keep topping itself. This is not a show that asks audiences to lean in quietly; it grabs them by the collar and dares them to hang on.

Whether it adds up to a satisfying musical is another matter.

Based on the Joel Schumacher-directed The Lost Boys starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Kiefer Sutherland and Jami Gertz, the story follows recently divorced Lucy Emerson (Tony nominee Shoshana Bean), who relocates with her teenage sons Michael (newcomer LJ Benet) and Sam (Benjamin Pajak, last seen in The Music Man) to a sun-soaked California beach town where young people keep disappearing.

Michael, restless and eager to belong, falls under the spell of Star (theater veteran Maria Wirries) and her dangerous pack of leather-clad night dwellers led by David (The Who's Tommy breakout Ali Louis Bourzgui) — the role made famous onscreen by Sutherland, who produces the musical here alongside lead producers James Carpinello, Marcus Chait and Patrick Wilson. Meanwhile, younger brother Sam begins to suspect that Michael's new friends are not merely troublemakers, but vampires.

It remains a juicy premise: teen angst, family fracture, seductive danger and campy horror wrapped in MTV-era cool. The stage version smartly leans into all of it.

Arden and his design team create a production of near-constant motion and atmosphere. Dane Laffrey's set keeps transforming in clever ways, revealing new corners of the boardwalk town as if by sleight of hand. Lighting by Jen Schriever and Arden is the show's secret weapon, sculpting the stage with moonlight, neon and menace. The aerial work from Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant sends bodies soaring and diving through the darkness with impressive precision.

The cumulative effect is undeniably exciting. Mainstream audiences will likely feel they are seeing an event — and in an era of rising ticket prices, that matters.

But spectacle can only carry a musical so far.

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.

That larger issue extends to the storytelling, where the troubles really land.

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In its rush to keep momentum high, the musical often takes narrative shortcuts that leave characters underdeveloped. Michael's seduction by David's world should be the emotional spine of the piece. But by the second act, the focus shifts awkwardly toward Sam's efforts to save his brother, sidelining both Michael and Star in the process in favor of hijinks with Sam's friends, the Frog Brothers (Miguel Gil and Jennifer Duka).

The result is a show that loses its center just when the stakes should be sharpening. Even the climactic revelations, including the confrontation with the story's big bad, feel hurried.

Still, the cast works hard to give the material shape. Bourzgui brings genuine menace and charisma to David, while Benet has strong leading-man presence as the conflicted Michael. Pajak supplies much-needed comic spark as Sam, and Wirries gives Star a luminous mystery that helps anchor the romance.

Then there is Bean. The Tony nominee has become one of Broadway's most reliably electrifying presences, and once again she emerges as the production's beating heart.

As Lucy, Bean brings warmth, humor and lived-in grit to a role that could easily fade into the background. Vocally, she remains in a class of her own. Every note she sings seems infused with raw feeling, each phrase pushed through with power and purpose.

Even if she often feels like she wandered in from a better musical, in this one so often preoccupied with surface, Bean supplies soul.

That may be the central contradiction of The Lost Boys. It is frequently fun. It is consistently showy. It offers audiences a glossy, high-voltage night at the theater. But for all its smoke, style and sensory dazzle, the show never quite finds the pulse beneath the polish.

There's no doubt The Lost Boys will entertain. In many ways, it feels too big to fail. So Broadway may finally have that vampire hit. It's still waiting on a vampire masterpiece, however.

Tickets to The Lost Boys are now on sale.

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