The Lost Boys: A New Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by American indie pop/rock band the Rescues and a book by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch, based on the 1987 comedy horror cult classic film The Lost Boys.
Directed by Michael Arden, the show opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in April 2026.
Contents
Development
Producers Patrick Wilson, James Carpinello, and Marcus Chait had issues securing the stage rights for The Lost Boys from Warner Bros until the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020: "We had a lot of time to Zoom, a lot of time to meet with masks and talk about how we bring vampires to life." Director Michael Arden suggested The Rescues as the musical's lyricists and composers, and the musical's producing team reached out to the band at a concert in 2021. An industry-only presentation of The Lost Boys was held on March 14, 2025.
The song "Have to Have You" was released as a single on October 14, 2025, along with a video to promote the musical. The recorded demo featured an electric guitar solo from Slash. The subsequent EP The Santa Carla Sessions was released on Halloween, featuring two additional songs from the musical: "Wild" and "Belong to Someone".
Broadway previews at the Palace Theatre began March 27, 2026, and The Lost Boys opened April 26, receiving mixed to positive reviews.
Plot
Act I
The musical opens in the supposedly abandoned Steelworks Factory of Santa Carla in 1987 where a lone Security Guard investigates a report on strange noises, finding a broadcast of then President Ronald Reagan speaking about the need for traditional family values, only to get captured and eaten by a flying figure, David.
Meanwhile, the recently divorced Lucy Emerson and her sons, Michael and Sam, move from Phoenix Arizona to Lucy's childhood home, the California seaside town of Santa Carla for a fresh start ("No More Monsters"). As they unpack their car into Lucy's recently deceased father's house, it becomes clear that there's a rift between the three concerning the topic of the boys father and Lucy's ex-husband resulting in Michael to leave the house after an argument with his brother. Michael explores the boardwalk looking for cheap thrills as a way to escape the responsibilities he's been pushed into following the divorce ("Lose Yourself"), and ends up witnessing the performance of a local rock band called "The Lost Boys" (performing "Have to Have You") with Michael becoming infatuated with one of the band's singers, a young woman named Star.
Down the boardwalk, the movie rental store owner Max offers Lucy a job that she needs to support her boys, momentarily running into the wife of the missing Security Guard who is looking for her husband. At the same time in the nearby comic book store, Sam meets the Frog Brothers, Edgar and Alan, where they warn him about dangers lurking in Santa Carla causing him to run from the shop terrified ("Murder Capital of the World"). Michael meanwhile meets Star and the two hit it off with her offering to pierce his ears prompting him to scrounge for the items Star needs, while David momentarily freezes time to warn Star that she needs to feed ("Hurt a Little"). Faced with Michael's blood after piercing his ear, Star runs off causing David to reveal himself and finishes the piercing before introducing Michael to the other band members: drummer Paul, guitarist Marko, and bassist Dwayne. David offers Michael a guitar lesson as a distraction showing off his hypnotism skills to make Michael hit the correct cords as the band crowds in around him, preparing to eat him ("Time to Kill"). Michael evades harm when Sam, Lucy, Max and one of Max's employees arrive, and Max escorts the Emersons back home. After they leave, the Lost Boys feast on Max's employee revealing their fangs and exposing them as vampires to the audience.
Musical numbers
Atlantic Records released the original Broadway cast recording digitally on 24 July 2026. The album includes the bonus track "Brother", which was cut from the show during previews.