The Best ’80s Vampire Movie Getting Turned Into A Musical
One of the most influential ‘80s movies is The Lost Boys, a the film that made both vampires and vampire hunting cool. The movie was successful at the box office and achieved even more success in subsequent decades as more and more audiences discovered this quirky cult classic. Now, it seems even more fans are going to discover this bloody vampire comedy: The Lost Boys is being transformed into a musical that will be directed by Michael Arden, with music by The Rescues.
If you’re not a major fan of Broadway musicals, you may not realize why having Arden as a director is so important. Most recently, Arden led a successful Broadway revival of Parade, earning himself a coveted Tony Award in the process. Speaking of Tonys, the Tony-nominated Ethan Popp will be supervising the music for this ambitious play.
What’s The Lost Boys about, though? If you never watched the iconic 1987 Joel Schumacher film, it tells the story of two brothers (Jason Patric and Corey Haim) who move to a new town that happens to be infested with vampires led by Keifer Sutherland’s charismatic bloodsucker David. When the older brother gets tricked into joining David’s band of bloodsuckers, the younger brother must team up with two other brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), who may have the knowledge needed to put a stake in this town’s vampire problem.
It looks like the musical adaptation of The Lost Boys is going to be very faithful to the source material. From the outside looking in, we must admit that this is a good choice for a musical: the larger-than-life characters and life-or-death “stakes” (sorry) mean there is plenty of material for good singers to sink their teeth into. Plus, the iconic “Once More, With Feeling” musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer proved that music, monsters, and melodrama are a powerful combination for telling a great story as only a musical can.
Considering that the original The Lost Boys had such an amazing cast, you’re probably wondering who will fill their shoes for this new production. We don’t yet know what the full cast will be, but so far, veteran Broadway actors James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson have teamed up to produce this show.
The musical will also feature tunes from The Rescues, although that’s not the most surprising musical news regarding this production. The most surprising thing is that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia writer David Hornsby is co-writing the script and song lyrics, so we can’t help but wonder if he will sneak any references to The Nightman or Dayman into any of the songs.
If you’re still on the fence about whether The Lost Boys is a good choice for a musical, it’s worth noting that the horror genre has produced excellent musicals: in recent years, both Beetlejuice and Heathers have been transformed into Broadway hits. As for The Lost Boys turning from movie to musical, we can’t help but think this franchise now matches Keifer Sutherland’s description of a vampire. It will “never grow old” and “never die” so long as it finds new fans to “feed” on, and it looks like a new hit musical is the perfect way to do so.
Source: Variety
