Story perspectives

Broadway's $25M “Lost Boys” Debuts Vampire Spectacle

4/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Lost Boys musical opened at New York’s Palace Theatre, marking Broadway’s first large-scale vampire production in over twenty years.
The production cost exceeds $25 million.
Director Michael Arden and designer Dane Laffrey added aerial and lighting effects that critics compare to Stranger Things.
The cast—LJ Benet, Shoshana Bean, and Ali Louis Bourzgui—targets a young-women audience with a rock-driven score by The Rescues, though reviewers note limited song variety.

History

Historical Context

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera opened on Broadway in 1988 under producer Cameron Mackintosh, building on its 1986 London debut and soon becoming the longest-running Broadway musical, lasting 35 years until 2023. Its unprecedented scale showed that costly, technically sophisticated shows could dominate ticket sales, paving the way for later high-budget spectacles.

1 of 2

Story summary

The Lost Boys musical opened at New York’s Palace Theatre, marking Broadway’s first large-scale vampire production in over twenty years.
The production cost exceeds $25 million.
Director Michael Arden and designer Dane Laffrey added aerial and lighting effects that critics compare to Stranger Things.
The cast—LJ Benet, Shoshana Bean, and Ali Louis Bourzgui—targets a young-women audience with a rock-driven score by The Rescues, though reviewers note limited song variety.

1 / 2