"Scary, Sexy, And Rock And Roll": How Director Michael Arden Brought "The Lost Boys" From Screen To Broadway

If you're looking for a bloodsucking bully time, The Lost Boys is simply a amusement that needs to beryllium connected your radar.

I saw the matinee a fewer days ago, and was blown away. When you archetypal heard The Lost Boys was becoming a musical, what was your archetypal reaction?

Michael: I deliberation my archetypal absorption was, "A vampire musical??" I wasn't definite what to think, but that's usually what makes thing a bully idea. It means there's an absorbing avenue that radical haven't recovered yet.

I was excited by the younker of it, and that it wasn't each astir century-old vampires. It's astir a family, and astir young radical wanting to belong, and those stories person ever resonated for me.

It felt similar it was an accidental that could truly sing — scary, and sexy, and stone and roll. 

You’re directing, co-lighting, and co-producing the show. What does a emblematic time look similar erstwhile you’re juggling truthful galore pieces?

The Lost Boys is specified an ambitious production, particularly the lighting [co-designed by Tony-nominated Jen Schriever and Michael], and the acceptable plan [by Tony Award-winning decorator Dane Laffrey]. What was 1 large originative situation wherever you thought, "I don’t cognize however we’re going to bash this, but we’re going to get it done?"

Michael: Definitely the flying. We're flying successful a mode that hasn't truly been done successful accepted theatre earlier — our tracks are benignant of connected antithetic angles and transverse implicit scenery. Everything fits together, similar a Rubik's Cube, and it's a situation to marque definite thing collides. 

Safety is the fig 1 concern. There are heavy holes that look successful the mediate of the stage, and things similar that. Just making definite that everybody's harmless has been the astir time-consuming, but besides the astir important portion of the process.

Was determination a infinitesimal during the process wherever everything clicked?

Michael: There's a infinitesimal successful Act 2; it's a nightmare series called "You Belong to Me." It's incredibly complex, and the full formed is involved. I retrieve being successful tech and thinking, "This is the feeling I privation to have." 

It was sexy, and it was scary, and it was sad, and it was haunted. That's a infinitesimal wherever I retrieve feeling that each the elements are moving together.

Your past enactment spans a wide assortment of productions. Is this a amusement you could person done earlier successful your career?

The people has beardown '80s stone influences, which I loved. You brought successful the set The Rescues — however did you envision the dependable of the show?

Do you person a idiosyncratic favourite opus from the show?

Michael: It changes each the time. "Belong to Someone" is conscionable a cleanable song. I emotion what we get to bash with it successful this show. I emotion the song, "Wild," that Lucy sings successful Act 2. I emotion "If We Make It Through the Night" and "Superpower." It's hard to take for sure.

The Emerson family, played by Shoshana Bean, LJ Benet, and Benjamin Pajak, is the bosom of the show. What were you looking for successful casting them?

On a broader level, what does theatre mean to you close now?

Finally, what bash you anticipation audiences instrumentality distant from The Lost Boys?

Michael: I deliberation the constituent of a vampire communicative is to admit one's ain brevity of life, and to beryllium grateful for it. Even though we are calved to die, we get a accidental to unrecorded each day. We get different infinitesimal to take to measurement into the light, and that requires forgiving our mistakes and forgiving others. I anticipation radical permission with a consciousness of the quality of living. 

There's a work we person to instrumentality attraction of each other. Family is overmuch bigger than we cognize — it's household with a superior F, and not conscionable a lowercase one. Family tin mean much than conscionable the radical you're related to. That's ever been thing I've wanted to manus to radical successful my work, and this amusement is hopefully doing that.

Thank you, Michael, for an awesome behind-the-scenes look astatine bringing The Lost Boys to life!

The Lost Boys is present unfastened connected Broadway astatine the Palace Theatre.