Today is Sunday, and this week’s Report features reviews of Cable Street, The Chequerboard Watch, and The Lost Boys, and “In Remembrance of Dead Outlaw.” Plus, a quote of the week; select press announcements from the past week; and a list of the upcoming week’s previews and openings.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I would rather make people laugh than anything else. A good laugh is fine for everyone, and providing it gives me more pleasure than anything else in the world.” -Anne Caldwell, book writer and lyricist of Good Morning, Dearie (1921), The Night Boat (1920), and The Stepping Stones (1923)

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IN REMEMBRANCE OF DEAD OUTLAW

Dead Outlaw opened on Broadway one year ago last Monday, and attention must be paid, for it is, objectively, one of the best written new musicals of the 21st century. The tragicomic American folktale should be scrutinized by everyone who cares about the art of musical storytelling – even if one does not “like” the story and or the style (which is certainly understandable) – because the musical has been crafted with undeniable brilliance, fashioned expertly, emphatically, distinctively for the stage, with detail, dynamism, freshness, and invention, and superbly finished. (See my review and my reappraisal for a litany of specifics, including the flaws.) A salute to Itamar Moses, Erik Della Penna, David Yazbek, David Cromer, and Dean Sharenow, et al. Dead Outlaw is a masterful piece of theatre. It shall not be forgotten.

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THE LOST BOYS AT THE PALACE THEATRE

The Lost Boys, a new musical based on the 1987 film, opened on Broadway last Sunday at the Palace Theatre. It has a book by Chris Hoch and David Hornsby, lyrics and music by Kyler England, Adrianne “AG” Gonzalez, and Gabriel Mann, and direction by Michael Arden, and it is a relentlessly dull atrocity, in material and production.

The dialogue is mostly stale and stocky. The lyrics are childish, untheatrical, terrible, from beginning to end, with the possible exception of the lyrics written for “My Brother is a…” and “Wild,” if one disregards the incongruity of Max echoing the sentiment of the song, and his nondefinitive presence in the same. The music is generic, impersonal, with the possible exception of the music written for “My Brother is a…” (Ethan Popp collaborated with the songwriters on the arrangements and orchestrations.) And the inefficiency, the wastefulness of the material is one of the primary contributors to the flagrant – and eminently preventable – murder of the storytelling. So is the clunky, largely mechanical manner in which the story has been structured.

The physical world of the show is gargantuan, and strangely light on character. (Dane Laffrey designed the set.) Elevators, in the orchestra pit and in the deck, move up and down. Signs fly in and out. A tower of stairs, two rows of moving boxes, and a massive elevated billboard track on and off. The second floor of a house raises and lowers from the grid. And the impact, the payoff of these pronounced physical gestures, including the illumination of associated bulbs and neons, is essentially nonexistent, because the stage is perpetually – and nondeliberately – unsettled: the elements of the physical world, in most cases, barely come to rest before being set back into motion, during scenes, during songs, during transitions, failing to gain definition in the process, and failing to cultivate any sense of tension or drama.

Similarly devoid of impact, definition, tension, and drama is the manner in which the actors have been sent flying through the air, hanging upside down, jumping into traps, and climbing up the proscenium. (Gwyneth Larsen and Billy Mulholland created the aerial design, and Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant created the aerial choreography.) Devoid of impact, definition, tension, and drama, as well, is every single onstage death, despite the more than half-dozen of them alternately involving fire, sparks, blood, and the like. (Markus Maurette designed the special effects.) Indeed, the deaths simply happen, uneventfully, matter-of-factly, in large part because they have been saddled with limp, suspenseless leadups and diffuse finishes – which is to say: Arden, the authors, the choreographers, and the designers, including the lighting designers, of which Arden is one, have failed to sculpt the moments. (Where is the meticulous timing? Where is the precise calibration? Where is the focus, the specificity, the attack? And where are these critical components throughout the musical?) The deaths of Max and Pete are perhaps the most ridiculous. And the latter is predictable in the worst way.

Spectacle is not new to the musical stage, and it can be an exceedingly valuable tool, when well done, in the service of the story. But it is, in The Lost Boys, not serving the story, and it is not well done. It is not even fresh or particularly imaginative.

A motorcycle sequence is mindboggling, and its conclusion is pathetic. A brief a cappella moment is, sonically, very strong, even distinctive and, to an extent, exciting. The sound is frequently deafening. “Superpower” is juvenile. “War” is a catastrophe. Characters, including Michael, are poorly etched and insufficiently activated. The prologue begins well enough, but it ultimately deteriorates. “Time to Kill” finds Michael as safe as can be, though it is meant to find him in danger. And the moment in which Michael and the vampires take flight, essentially for the first time, might have been thrilling, lifting off the ground in unison, in a slow, deliberate, gloriously pressurized fashion, but the moment has been sabotaged by the disorder of the moment prior, outfitted with random aerial descents and irrelevant lyrics.

The performances are merely adequate, with Ali Louis Bourzgui, as David, and Benjamin Pajak, as Sam, registering a good deal more than adequate, and LJ Benet, as Michael, registering a good deal less than. And one wonders if, under the circumstances, the three lead producers should not take the bulk of the blame for the artistic faults of the material and the production.

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THE CHEQUERBOARD WATCH AT DELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY

The Chequerboard Watch concluded a world premiere engagement this afternoon at Delaware Theatre Company. It has a book and lyrics by Selena Seballo, music by Jack Denman, story by Denman, Seballo, Eyakeno Ekpo, and Mimi Warnick, and concept and direction by Warnick, and it is a very poor production of what feels like a very rough early draft of a musical. But the idea holds interest, and the musical, with significant development, might hold interest as well.

The piece takes place onboard a British clipper bound for Australia in 1855. It is, in essence, a study of character and relationships, centering around eleven individuals from different backgrounds, and containing little in the way of plot. But the creators have a long way to go in terms of excavating character and relationships, and in terms of realizing a complete, distinctive, dramatically effective stage show.

The language and composition need to be defined. (Scenes currently butt up against each other in an exceedingly rough fashion.) The structure needs to be adjusted, with the addition and subtraction of incidents and interactions, in the service of the story, meticulously developed, characters meticulously tracked. (Some narrative threads disappear, others fray, and certain speeches and scenelets seem to want to exist inside of song.) Songs need to be more deliberately spotted, stylistically individualized, and endowed with a clear dramatic purpose. (“Don’t Let Them Tame You,” “Glory is Mine to Take,” and “It Haunts Me,” for instance, are major soliloquys that suffer from a knotty, wandering lyric.) The material needs to be more focused and much more efficient. (A greater focus and efficiency will help pave the way for a notable deepening of story without a notable increase in the running time.) The musical, which contains many quiet moments, needs to be endowed with a (quiet) sustained tension, a continuous dramatic charge. The principal characters need to be endowed with a clear internal drive. And the nature of the proceedings needs to be established at the start.

The creators have given themselves much with which to work, including potential explosions of dance, upon which they should absolutely capitalize; they now have much work to do. And perhaps a change of title is in order.

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CABLE STREET AT 59E59

Cable Street opened a limited engagement today at 59E59, after previously having been seen, not by me, overseas. It has a book by Alex Kanefsky, lyrics and music by Tim Gilvin, and direction by Adam Lenson, and it is a poorly done historical drama, set primarily in the East End of London in the 1930s. One might keep tabs on actors Lizzy-Rose Esin Kelly and Isaac Gryn.

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PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Here is a list of select press announcements from the past week. Each headline is clickable for more information.

• You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and More Included in New York City Center Encores! 2027 Season
• John Legend and Lynn Nottage’s Imitation of Life Will Open at the Shed in September
• The Rocky Horror Show Extends Run at Studio 54
• Hit West End Benjamin Button Musical to Make New York Debut This Fall
• Rachel Zegler-Led Evita Revival Announces Broadway Run
• TLC Musical CrazySexyCool Finds Full Cast
• Full Cast Set for ASL & Spoken English Elephant Shoes
• My Ántonia World Premiere Cast Unveiled
• Ragtime Will Launch National Tour in Fall 2027
• Suffs North American Tour Recoups Investment
• Titaníque Extends Broadway Run Into Fall
• Music Licensing Companies Concord and BMG Will Merge
• Truly, Howard Hughes and More Set for York Theatre’s 2026-27 Season

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PREVIEWS AND OPENINGS

Here is a list of the new musicals and revivals either opening or beginning previews during the upcoming week, specifically on Broadway and Off-Broadway. It contains, as well, select new musicals beginning performances regionally, and select new musicals and revivals beginning performances in New York City. Each title is clickable for more information.

Monday, May 4

Tuesday, May 5

Wednesday, May 6
• Previews: Animal Wisdom
• Regional: Ever After

Thursday, May 7

Friday, May 8

Saturday, May 9
• NYC: Falling Out

Sunday, May 10

Photo of a scene from The Lost Boys by Matthew Murphy.