Looking for a lost origin story «The Lost Boys »"? Go straight to the source: Ali Louis Bourzghi. The Tony-nominated star of the hit Broadway musical plays the leader of the eponymous pack of vampires and has crafted the entire story of how his alter ego, David, became the leader of Santa Carla's most bloodthirsty rock 'n' roll club.
«"I think of him as someone born in 1890," Burzgi tells Gold Derby of his version of David, a role first played by Kiefer Sutherland in Joel Schumacher's timeless 1987 film. "That means he could have witnessed the 1906 earthquake, which is often referenced in the series. The Lost Boys live in an old steel mill that collapsed in that earthquake, and I think he was there and lost someone, and that's part of his trauma.".
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Ali Louis Bourzghi in Matthew Murphy's The Lost Boys
«"The year 1890 also allows him to serve in World War I, which is also important for his backstory," the actor continues. "The costume designer even created this uniform for me with two gold chevrons, which means he served a full year in World War I.".
And that's probably all there is to David's backstory. «The Lost Boys »"But Burzgi hints that he has a nine-page story that reveals even more details. "Maybe I'll publish it at one of those Broadway flea markets," he says with a smile. "The main thing is that Warner Bros. doesn't start pursuing me!"«
It's no coincidence that Burzga's co-star, Maria Wirris, also created a personal backstory for her character, Star, who's part of the Lost Boys but hasn't yet become a full-fledged vampire. "She's with them for about a year," the actress explains. "She and David definitely had a relationship at the beginning, and they were very connected, but over time, they began to become antagonists. She also hadn't yet fed on people, and you can only hide that for so long. I even considered having her eat pigeons while sitting by a Santa Clara billboard!"«
While David's military experience and Star's penchant for eating pigeons seem like perfect material for musical numbers, in The Lost Boys« There's not a single duet song that reflects their independent and shared history. And, according to The Rescues—the rock trio who wrote the music and lyrics for all 22 songs featured in the series—no lost collaborations between David and Star have been cut, so to speak.
«"We probably wrote 60 songs for the show, so we have quite a few in our fridge, as we call it," says Kyler England. "But we never had one song that was just about the two of them. Because we have such a large cast, one of the challenges of writing was balancing the need to feed all these characters and tell the story we wanted to tell. We had to keep it under five hours!"»
«There were moments in some of the songs from their personal stories that will probably never see the light of day,» jokes fellow English bandmate Gabriel Mann. «There’s an element of mystery to this show that’s important to maintain. I remember we had some theories about how David became a vampire, and we wrote a song that detailed that, but ultimately we came to the conclusion that it didn’t necessarily help our story, and maybe even harms to her".
Rescue operations at the Lost Boys premiere«
Although fans «The Lost Boys» While they may be disappointed not to get all the details of David's transformation into a vampire in musical form, it was the emphasis on story that led to the creation of the musical, which has been selling out the vast Palace Theatre since its premiere in April. It also received a total of 12 Tony Award nominations—equaling the number of nominations «"Schmigadun!"» — including nominations for Michael Arden's direction, the Rescuers' music and orchestration, and the evening's main award, Best Musical. And regardless of what happens on Tony Awards night, the show is destined to live on after Broadway. The Rescuers are currently recording an original cast album, and a nationwide tour has been announced for 2028.
Here are some more secrets from film "The Lost Boys"« , told to Gold Derby by the people who created it.
Additional content
Thanks to moments like "I'm here to tell you about the Avengers Initiative" and "By the way, my name is Alex," audiences have become accustomed to waiting until the credits roll in blockbuster movies to see extra scenes. «The Lost Boys »" brings this practice to Broadway, capping the show with the final number, "If We Survive the Night." This scene closes the plot thread that runs throughout the show: a woman searching for her missing husband stumbles upon the Lost Boys' deserted lair and discovers a blood-filled chalice from which new vampires are born, thus ensuring that Santa Clara's vampire problem ends. more not resolved.
«"If you're one of those people who sneaks out during the bow, I'm sorry, but you're missing out," says the director. «The Lost Boys »" Michael Arden with a mischievous smile. "I had this idea early on, and I joked about it with the screenwriters, David Hornsby and Chris Hoch. There will always be vampires, you know? And then there are sequels." «The Lost Boys» . So we wanted to leave the door open for fans of the genre, and we did that by saying, "After the final bow, let's scare the crap out of people one more time.".
Because the idea of a post-credits scene on Broadway is so unusual, production designer Dane Laffray recalls how, during three previews, with entire scenes and songs still in development, the production was canceled. «We thought, „We’ll probably be fine without this,“ but people were dissatisfied »"," Laffrey says, laughing. "The actors wanted her back more than anyone! They were like, 'We'll talk faster so we have time.'".
Audiences also responded positively to the bonus scene, as Jen Shriver, one of the lighting designers, can attest. "After one of the trailers, a man came up to me, looked me straight in the eye, and said, 'I've seen this show several times—put it back,'" she recalls, adding that she immediately knew which "thing" he was referring to. "I said, 'Don't worry!'"«
Reactions like these were a powerful reminder for the trio of how important the preview process is for Broadway musicals—especially those that don't have the opportunity to preview outside of the city before reaching the heart of the New York theater world. "The extra stage was one of the most important parts of the preview process," Laffrey says now. "When it wasn't there, we all realized, 'Oh, this isn't the show.'".
«The previews were a time for experimentation, and I’m so grateful to the audience for being part of our chemistry lab,» Arden echoes. «I’d love to continued »We want to change something, but we can’t!”
Super-duper
Benjamin Pajak, Jennifer Duca, Miguel Gil
While the first act of the film «The Lost Boys» While the film largely follows the plot, right up until that wild motorcycle ride, the second half allows us to delve deeper into the characters' inner lives through songs. And one of the most striking numbers in this regard is "Superpower," in which Sam Emerson (Benjamin Pajak)—the youngest member of the Emerson clan caught up in the affairs of David and the Lost Boys—fully embraces his dual identity as a comic book fan and a gay teenager.
This moment is staged, combining maximum seriousness and maximum hilarity: Sam literally encounters supervillains who seem to have stepped straight out of the pages of a comic book. In this sense, "Superpower" is deliberately closer in spirit to the series. about Batman from the 60s than to the film «The Lost Boys» from the 80s.
«"The most challenging and at the same time most rewarding aspect of this project was the tone," says Arden. "To make the vampires truly scary, we also had to be able to laugh at the comic-book-style vampire imaginaries Sam creates and show that his imagination is ultimately his greatest strength. I wanted it to be a triumphant moment, where Sam defeats the comic-book vampires and now he has to kill them." real vampires.".
«"It may not be for everyone," Arden adds, acknowledging that the change in tone may catch some viewers off guard. "But the film «The Lost Boys» "It's also a horror film with a lot of kitsch and comedy. It was important for us to show the audience all of this—we wanted to engage their emotions as much as possible.".
«"This performance is a real tonal cocktail," notes Laffrey. "We wanted this moment to be joyful and ecstatic, because the second act is very emotionally charged. So, yes, we wanted to add a little 'bang' and 'pop'.".
The Rescues, who wrote the song "Superpower," had a specific goal in mind. "The story of how someone's sexuality makes them special has been told often enough," says band member AG. "We wanted to write an uplifting story about how your superpower isn't being gay, but being different, and being gay is part of that otherness. That's what interested me most about this song, as a gay man: Sam isn't defined by his homosexuality; it's simply part of who he is.".
«"The song 'Superpower' is a little counterintuitive because we're focusing on the idea that it's your differences that make you cool, but for me, being cool is normal, and the word 'normal' comes with problems," Mann adds. "What's great about this show is that everyone can be themselves. And with this song, we're saying that you can be whoever you want, whenever you want, and no one should tell you who that is. That's hard to explain to young people because they see a lot of people in the world telling them who to be, and it's hard not to believe that when you're young.".
«I’ll go even further and relate it to us, The Rescues,» Mann adds. «We figured out what each of us sounded like individually and how that fits together as a group, and that’s what this show is built on. We wrote songs that reflect our truest, most natural selves, and whenever we strayed from that, it wasn’t as good. So if someone doesn’t like a song [like «Superpower»], that’s fine, but it’s an honest expression of who we are—and the kind of music we make.».
Sing of the friendly sky
One of the additional challenges of writing music for «The Lost Boys» It was important to remember that the actors would sometimes be in the air performing certain melodies. «There were moments when we had to remind ourselves, „At this moment, they it is forbidden "'Sing,'" Mann recalls. "For example, in that big scene right before the end of the first act, where all the vampires are flying, Michael told us, 'You have to let them focus on what they're doing so they're safe.' The safety factor is paramount—you can't mess around with that.".
«"At the same time, sometimes the actors are just floating in space and can sing like that," Mann continues with a laugh. "You'd think they'd have to be grounded to do that, but they seem to pull it off just fine.".
Burzgi, one of the actors who has to sing while floating in space, shares some helpful tips. "Honestly, it's fun," he says. "They make me sing the highest notes while I'm up there. There's a singing exercise that a lot of instructors suggest: lean your back against a wall and sing; it helps keep your ribs elevated, like using a safety rope. Sometimes my body wants to sing even higher when they lift me up!"«
Wirris admits she missed her chance to fly when the climactic battle between the Emersons and the Lost Boys was reshot. "There was a whole sequence where I was flying, and there were aerial battles," the actress recalls. "So I was flying originally, but it didn't make the final cut, and I'm okay with that. Those harnesses are so strong! I have to give credit to all the guys who..." often They wear them in the series.".
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