Last weekend, Aileen and I had the pleasure of seeing The Lost Boys on Broadway, a stage musical adaptation of the 1987 film by Joel Schumacher. We got our tickets the way we often do when we visit New York City, which is to go to one of the sources of discounted resale tickets and get them on the cheap. This means relatively cheap and not usually the best seats.

So we’re sitting in our balcony seats waiting for the show to start, and there’s this rumbling sound in the theater which is kind of curious, but hey, it’s New York which is a noisy place, so whatever. When the show starts it’s clear this was part of the sound design, as the rumbling gets louder and louder and the curtain opens to a screen that simply shows “1987.” Establishing shot.

The rumbling crescendos and stops, the screen rises and we see an impressive, multi-level, darkly lit set – some kind of abandoned industrial site being used by squatters. There’s a TV on playing a speech by President Reagan. It’s a short, dramatic scene that ends with a jump scare and a blackout, then when the lights come back up the set has transformed. How did they do that so fast?

Next we meet the family, the same trio as in the film – Lucy (Mom) and her two sons, Michael and Sam. There’s a montage of them moving from Phoenix, AZ to Santa Clara, CA, and when they arrive, wow does the set change blow your mind. There’s just so much going on with the set design in this production, and it’s basically how it introduces itself, but here’s the best part – as strong as the tech is and amazing as the effects are, they don’t at all detract from the performances. And the script is solid as well!

The story is faithful to the original film. A few characters are dropped, including the canines, normal enough for a stage adaptation. A couple of roles from the movie’s all-white cast are instead portrayed by people of color, and some queer/non-binary subtext is introduced, but not in any kind of intrusive or overwhelming way. It’s like a nod to the changing mores since the 1980s, a bit of a Millennial/Gen Z touch to an otherwise solid Gen X story.

And it is a Gen X story, with a little Boomer in it with the Mom character. Aileen says it’s THE Gen X musical. The script certainly captures key Gen X themes of searching for a sense of belonging and moral grounding in a time of family break up, parental abandonment, and youth running wild. Honestly, it has more depth than the original screenplay, and being a musical is more emotionally expressive. Sure, it’s based on a formulaic 1980s coming of age comedy horror movie, but it’s authentic and speaks with its own voice.

Many of the memorable moments from the film are repeated on the stage, a nice bit of fan service. It’s a rock musical, too, by the way, with a raucous energy that includes live band performances. You will even hear a familiar refrain from Cry Little Sister, the movie’s theme, though not the entire song. Overall, this musical balances levity, even a bit of campiness, with some truly startling horror moments and impressive physical stunts.

I won’t say much more about it, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. What really impressed me about The Lost Boys was how well the excellence of its performances and its technical virtuosity blended together. Theatre is, ultimately, an art of collaboration and trust, and this ambitious production, with its hyperactive set and its daring action, clearly required an enormous amount of trust.

Well, I’ve gushed over The Lost Boys enough. I know we enjoyed it so much we would like to see it again, and probably be looking for better seats in orchestra center, should any cross our path.