“The Lost Boys” doesn’t stray from its 1980s roots. Ronald Reagan, in fact, even makes an appearance.
What pulls it into the new millennium is bold staging by director Michael Arden that reminds you Broadway can do anything — even spruce up an old movie.
Following a mother and her two sons to Santa Clara, California, it tells the story of a town populated by vampires. Numerous folks have gone missing. But where are they, and who’s responsible?
Michael (LJ Benet, center) and David (Ali Louis Bourzgui) take to the skies in "The Lost Boys."
Soon, a band called the Lost Boys comes into view, and they’re eager to get new kid Michael (LJ Benet) into their fold. He warms to the music and one of its singers. Younger brother Sam (Benjamin Pajak) is suspicious. He and mom (Shoshana Bean) worry about Michael and check out the boardwalk where she gets a job at the video store, and he finds two new friends who call themselves the Frog brothers.
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The intrigue, though, rests in the Billy Idol-like hands of David (Al Louis Bourzgui), the leader of the band. He’s alluring, dangerous and comforting all at once. He’s also a vampire (spoiler alert) who wants fresh meat.
Fellow bandmate Star (Maria Wirries) is charged with “turning” him, but she isn’t sure she should.
The awesomely directed show then brings out the big surprises — the vampires can fly, and they help save the newcomer on a railway bridge. That forces the issue and lets the musical’s technical whizzes pull out all their tricks. “The Lost Boys” has so many up its sleeves, it’s hard to say which one deserves the “Whoa!”
Single mom Lucy (Shoshana Bean) reflects on the past in "The Lost Boys" musical on Broadway.
Bean makes this mom (she has played several) stand out, and Bourzgui is such a compelling/repelling force “The Lost Boys” wouldn’t work as well without him. The songs, written by The Rescues, fit perfectly and make the retro setting highly memorable. Benet does the music proud.
“Turning a movie into a musical reeks of desperation,” a character says when referencing “Little Shop of Horrors.” It wasn’t true then; it certainly isn’t true now.
This “Lost Boys” redeems the earlier one and makes you glad someone learned from the past to inform the present and point toward the future. It soars.
