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‘SCHMIGADOON!’ Leads LGBTQ Critics’ 4th Annual Dorian Theater Awards Nominations | |
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ Theater Wing members (who include Reverend) announced their favorites in New York theater for the fourth annual Dorian Theater Awards on May 13th. These awards celebrate the best in Broadway and Off-Broadway for the 2025-2026 season. Like GALECA’s annual Dorian film and TV awards, the group's stage honors celebrate both mainstream and LGBTQ+-themed productions. “From the radical reimaging of our world in Prince Faggot, to the tender themes of self-discovery in Schmigadoon!, it has been a wonderful season of queer storytelling on New York stages,” says GALECA’s theater wing co-chair Sam Eckmann. “In addition to the new LGBTQ stories that we fell in love with, we were proud to see previous Dorian Theater Award winners Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Titaníque find new, fabulous life on Broadway. Our stories are connecting with wider audiences and enduring on stages both large and small.” Schmigadoon! earned nine nominations, the most nominations of any production. The new Broadway musical is adapted from the Apple TV series of the same name, which pays loving homage to golden age musicals. In addition to bids for Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production, show creator Cinco Paul is a double nominee in the Dorian Theater Awards’ new categories: Outstanding Original Score of a Broadway Production and Outstanding Book of a Broadway Musical. Performers Sara Chase, Max Clayton and Ana Gasteyer are also nominated. Trailing just behind Schmigadoon! is the vampire saga The Lost Boys. The epic staging earned eight nominations. This includes a nomination in the new Outstanding Design of a Broadway Production category, as well as three nominations in the Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical category, for actors Shoshana Bean, Ali Louis Bourzgui and Benjamin Pajak. The Lost Boys director Michael Arden is a double nominee in the group’s two special categories: LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season and LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer. The other LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season nominees include Obie-winning playwright Shayok Misha Chowdhury, The Rocky Horror Show star Luke Evans, trailblazing costume design Qween Jean, Titaníque co-creator and actor Constantine Rousouli, and Ragtime leading man Brandon Uranowitz. The nominees for the group’s career achievement award, LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer, include Arden; ballroom icon, Junior LaBeija, currently making his Broadway debut in Cats: The Jellicle Ball; three-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane; director and actor Joe Mantello; and the irreverent veteran director Sam Pinkleton. In the group’s Off-Broadway categories, Prince Faggot dominated. The radical new play from Jordan Tannahill earned six nominations, with the unique distinction of being nominated in every category for which it was eligible. This includes Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, Outstanding LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production, Outstanding Writing for an Off-Broadway Production for Tannahill, Outstanding Design of an Off-Broadway Production, and performance nominations for actors John McCrea, K. Todd Freeman and David Greenspan. Winners of the 2026 Dorian Theater Awards will be announced on Monday, June 1, 2026. Full list of 2026 Dorian Theater Awards nominees: Outstanding Broadway Musical The Lost Boys Schmigadoon! Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
The Balusters Giant Little Bear Ridge Road Punch Outstanding Broadway Musical Revival Chess Ragtime Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Becky Shaw Fallen Angels Marjorie Prime Oedipus Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production Little Bear Ridge Road Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Schmigadoon! The Lost Boys Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical Sara Chase, Schmigadoon! Kristin Chenoweth, The Queen of Versailles Nicholas Christopher, Chess Luke Evans, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Joshua Henry, Ragtime Stephanie Hsu, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Caissie Levy, Ragtime Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Play Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels Carrie Coon, Bug Will Harrison, Punch Nathan Lane, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman John Lithgow, Giant Lesley Manville, Oedipus Laurie Metcalf, Little Bear Ridge Road Kelli O'Hara, Fallen Angels Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing Mark Strong, Oedipus Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical Melissa Barrera, Titaníque Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys Max Clayton, Schmigadoon! Rachel Dratch, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon! Leiomy, Cats: The Jellicle Ball Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime Benjamin Pajak, The Lost Boys Layton Williams, Titaníque Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Marylouise Burke, The Balusters Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw Linda Emond, Becky Shaw Jessica Hecht, Dog Day Afternoon Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Cynthia Nixon, Marjorie Prime Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone June Squibb, Marjorie Prime Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman The Balusters Ragtime Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Schmigadoon! Outstanding Original Score of a Broadway Production Death of a Salesman by Caroline Shaw The Lost Boys by The Rescues Schmigadoon! by Cinco Paul The Queen of Versailles by Stephen Schwartz Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) by Jim Barne & Kit Buchan Outstanding Book of a Broadway Musical The Lost Boys by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch Schmigadoon! by Cinco Paul Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) by Jim Barne & Kit Buchan
The Balusters by David Lindsay-Abaire Giant by Mark Rosenblatt Little Bear Ridge Road by Samuel D. Hunter. Punch by James Graham Outstanding Design of a Broadway Production Bug Cats: The Jellicle Ball The Lost Boys Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Schmigadoon! The Broadway Showstopper Award To a standout production number or scene Cats: The Jellicle Ball - “Memory” (“Tempress” Chasity Moore) Cats: The Jellicle Ball - “Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat” (Emma Sofia) Cats: The Jellicle Ball - “Songs of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball” (company) Chess - “Anthem” (Nicholas Christopher) Titaníque - “River Deep, Mountain High” (Layton Williams) Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical Beau: The Musical The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse Mexodus Saturday Church The Seat of Our Pants
Are the Bennett Girls Ok? Bowl EP Cold War Choir Practice Meet the Cartozians Prince Faggot Outstanding Off-Broadway Revival Bat Boy: The Musical Heathers, The Musical Oratorio for Living Things Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park) The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Outstanding LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production Beau: The Musical Becoming Eve Bowl EP Prince Faggot Saturday Church ta-da! Outstanding Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Production Bryson Battle, Saturday Church Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Well, I’ll Let You Go Alana Raquel Bowers, Cold War Choir Practice Will Brill, Kramer/Fauci Tommy Dorfman, Becoming Eve David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water Marin Ireland, Queens John McCrea, Prince Faggot Matt Rodin, Beau: The Musical Outstanding Featured Performance in an Off-Broadway Production Caroline Aaron, The Reservoir Sierra Boggess, Prosperous Fools Justin Cooley, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee K. Todd Freeman, Prince Faggot J. Harrison Ghee, Saturday Church David Greenspan, Prince Faggot Judy Kuhn, The Baker’s Wife McKenzie Kurtz, Heathers, The Musical Casey Likes, Heathers, The Musical Deirdre O’Connell, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp. Jasmine Amy Rogers, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee David Turner, Mother Russia Outstanding Writing for an Off-Broadway Production Becoming Eve by Emil Weinstein Bowl EP by Nazareth Hassan Caroline by Preston Max Allen Cold War Choir Practice by Ro Reddick Practice by Nazareth Hassan Prince Faggot by Jordan Tannahill Outstanding Design for an Off-Broadway Production Beau: The Musical Bowl EP Cold War Choir Practice Masquerade Prince Faggot LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season Michael Arden Shayok Misha Chowdhury Luke Evans Qween Jean Constantine Rousouli Brandon Uranowitz LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer For a lifelong commitment to creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equit Michael Arden Junior LaBeija Nathan Lane Joe Mantello Sam Pinkleton |
Saturday, May 16, 2026
Reverend & GALECA Announce Our 2026 Theater Award Nominations
Monday, May 11, 2026
Reverend's Interview: Getting Intimate in "Blue Film"
After initially being rejected by US film festivals due to its “controversial” storyline, the striking Blue Film is being released in theaters beginning May 8th. It ended up having its world premiere at last year’s Edinburgh (Scotland) International Film Festival and garnered considerable attention. I recommend it most highly precisely because of its provocative content.
When fetish camboy Aaron Eagle (Kieron Moore, who recently caught our attention on the gay-themed Netflix series Boots) visits a client in exchange for $50,000, he discovers a masked man (Tony Award-winning veteran actor Reed Birney) with a camera and a series of increasingly probing questions. But when the man reveals a disturbing connection to Aaron’s past, the two drop their personas and gradually reveal their true desires in this seductive, sexy thriller.
Blue Film is coming to us courtesy of Obscured Releasing. It marks the feature film debut of talented young writer-director Elliot Tuttle. In his director’s statement found in the film’s press notes, Tuttle writes: “Blue Film is an essay on perversion…I feel frustrated that sex in contemporary film is so conceptual. I want to take sex out of the conceptual space and make it feel uncomfortable, scary, and laced with significance. Blue Film is the accumulation of a lifetime of private thoughts regarding sex, fetish, and relationships.”
Tuttle recently sat down with Reverend on Zoom to discuss his work. Some questions and answers below have been edited for length and/or clarity. They are also as spoiler-free as possible.
Hi Elliot! Great to meet you and congrats on the film, which is…
Beautiful.
(Laughs) Yes, and
obviously a very powerful film. Disturbing at times, very moving at times. I
kind of felt a roller coaster of emotions watching the movie. I read in the press
notes about how this middle school teacher you had was kind of the inspiration.
Can you talk a little more about that experience or your feelings at the time
that led you to want to put this on film?
Yeah, I mean, that was its inception, and I think that the film kind of developed in a lot of ways past that. The original point of conception was I had been watching a lot of these Catherine Breillat films that are pretty much exclusively about adolescent sexuality. I was thinking about my own adolescence and, in particular, this one teacher that I had who I was so in love with. I had also done a lot of journaling about this while watching the Breillat films and, at the time, I really did want him to… to have sex with me. You know, kind of warped adolescent thinking that you do as a 12- or 13-year-old, but thinking about it retroactively or later in life and kind of interrogating, okay, who was I actually fantasizing about? I feel like that led me down a whole path of thinking about the way that sex kind of molds the way we live our lives, and the film developed kind of out of that.
You know, I think
that's pretty universal across all genders and sexual orientations, actually. But
not too many of us really stop to think about it, or how it impacts us later in
life.
Yeah, everything. I mean, obviously, I'm also trying to not speak kind of flippantly about it. Like, it's so good that nothing did happen, you know? But I think it's kind of fair game to interrogate that pain to see and be honest about what it was at the time, and to think about it as an adult.
Absolutely. Your
actors, Reed and Kieron--who are both great in it--obviously had to feel very
comfortable with one another for such vulnerable and intimate scenes. What
steps did you take, or did they take, to really help them reach that point of
comfort or intimacy?
They did, for sure. I knew that they needed to be
comfortable with each other but they loved each other from, like, the minute
that they did a chemistry read together. They were texting all the time,
emailing all the time. They are friends; they love each other. And so, it started
pretty immediately. It didn't require a lot from me although it was something
that I had been thinking about, that these two people need, one, to feel really
comfortable with me and, two, need to feel really comfortable with each other.
If they hated each other, there'd be no escape. (laughs) But that's probably
the part I'm most proud of: how they are.
That's great. Speaking of intimacy, the scene where Hank shaves Aaron in the shower is a standout, at least for me. Was that real? Did Reed actually shave Kieron?
That was real. Reed had a little razor and a little bucket of water that he could dip it in, like, off-screen. And then, I mean, he… we… you know, we filmed what we needed to get for coverage and then, because Kieron kind of has to be hairless for the rest of the movie, sent him to go get professionally waxed.
Wow, that was
impressive. Just the intimacy of it, I mean. I just think that's one of the
most intimate things anyone could do to me, or that I could do to somebody
else, so oh my gosh.
They laughed through it, though. I remember that being a fun day of filming. Nothing was particularly tough in the production process--which was kind of a surprise, I think, to all of us--but that day, I remember as being particularly fun. They were giggling the whole time because it is a funny and intimate thing. It's very….eww. (laughs)
That's great. What have been some audience reactions to the movie at some of the screenings you've had thus far? How have people responded?
I've been really pleased that most people seem to be responding to it in good faith and, if anybody doesn't, I guess they're not talking to me about it. We've had a couple walkouts one time, but the audience reaction is really interesting. I feel people kind of giggling for the first 10 minutes at maybe how confrontationally it begins, and then they settle into it. No one talks for, like, 80 minutes or something. You feel the room change in a really interesting way. And so I've been really enjoying sitting in (on screenings) and then talking to people about that feeling afterwards. I also remember in Edinburgh, at our premiere with people watching the film for the first time, the theater was very hot because they don't really have AC in the UK in their movie theaters. And I remember that kind of adding to, like, the discomfort.
That would not be
pleasant, no. (laughs) You know, I could really see the movie sparking
conversation in the gay or LGBTQ community but also in the community of those
who have been abused, or have kind of been in the situation that the boys were
in the film. I wonder, if you
haven't gotten any of those reactions yet, are you kind of prepared for them?
We have gotten a few reactions and they've all been very thoughtful. It's such intimate and private subject matter that people are not always offering up their personal experience but I see it in, like, Letterboxd reviews or in some of the ways in which people have resonated with the film. It's often really moving, how engaged with the film they are, and how it resonates in some way with them. I think the reason that anybody makes a film is for an audience to hopefully resonate with it.
Sure. Any thought
about when the film is released? It did cross my mind watching it: Should there be a trigger warning? A
warning for folks who might be extra sensitive, or maybe have experienced some
of the things that the characters experience.
It's a good question. Actually, no one's asked me that question yet. I think that the idea of trigger warnings is, like, everyone has their personal feelings about it. I recognize their use for some people, totally. I don't love when a film gives me a trigger warning. That's just me. I think that an audience member is totally valid to walk up and leave the theater at any point they choose, and no hard feelings. But my personal feeling about trigger warnings in general is that (they) can defang a film a little bit, or it makes cinema kind of like fodder for something else.
I'm trying to find the right words. (pause) I think cinema, kind of at its essence, is a place for people to be absent of feeling embarrassed. You're in a theater alone, kind of. Like, you're there in a dark room and you're able to look into an actor's eyes so intimately and not feel self-conscious. I think cinema is a place for people to get lost in that and to be confronted by things they are scared of, or excited by, and it's a place to do it kind of without any judgment, because it's just you and the screen, really. But, again, this is my opinion, and a lot of people have use for (trigger warnings).
I think that's
fair, what you just said. And when you think about it, every movie made today
has negative content that could trigger something for someone.
Fascinating. I mean, it's kind of what the--in some kind of tangential or lateral way--what the rating systems are for.
Yeah, absolutely.
Without spoilers, have you thought about
what becomes of Aaron and Hank after your story ends?
Yeah, like, yes and no. Yes, in the way that how both of their arcs land is meant to hopefully aid the audience in imagining where these two characters go. I at least had to think about how I wanted the audience to think that their lives progress. So yes, in that way, but every film has an end. Every film has a beginning and an end, and I feel like my job is to tell that story to the best of my ability and to have that arc hopefully be resonant. In that way it's only after filming that I think, like, both of their endings kind of mean something to the characters. So I would hope that kind of informs where an audience thinks those characters go. No plans for a Blue Film 2 though.
(Laugh) What is
next for you? Are you working on anything already, or waiting for this to get
out there, or…?
I've been really focused on the release of the film but I've been writing a lot. I wrote (Blue Film) when I was 23, made it when I was 24, had a festival premiere when I was 25, and now releasing it in theaters when I'm 26, and so I've had a lot of time to, like, play. I've been cooking up some stuff and I'm really itching to make another thing. I've had enough time since the production of Blue Film that I want to get back in the saddle and do it all over again.
That's great! I
wish you well with this, and I wish you well with your future endeavors.
Thank you so much for your time.
The Most Reverend Chris Carpenter is editor of Movie Dearest and chief contributor. He has been reviewing movies and theatre since 1996 and also contributes to Rage Monthly magazine (ragemonthly.com). He is a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics (galeca.com) and currently serves as a nominating/voting member of its New York-based Theatre Wing. Reverend Carpenter has been an ordained minister since 1995.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Reverend’s Reviews: "Screams from the Tower"…and from Broadway!
Way back in the early 1990’s, Reverend was attending a Roman Catholic seminary in rural Indiana. Saint Meinrad School of Theology, as it is known today, had a college then with a radio station! This priest-in-development had a radio hour on either Thursday or Friday nights during which I previewed and invited discussion of movies being released that weekend. Little did any of us realize then that I would eventually develop into the fabulous Father Flick/Reverend Review!
Writer/director Cory Wexler Grant shared the following about his very good film: “I set out to write Screams from the Tower as a teen comedy, a comingof-age story, very much in the style of John Hughes. I thought ‘What if John Hughes had centered one of his films on two closeted gay high school boys? What would that look like?’ His films defined my youth, were filmed where I grew up, and made such an impact on generations of kids. I don’t think anyone has done it better.”
He continued: “Above all, (the movie) is a love letter to my best friend--we met when we were eight years old–my gay brother from another mother. This film is a romantic comedy about our lifelong friendship. I hope audiences enjoy it. I hope they see themselves in it. And I hope they watch it and share it with their best friends.”
The filmmaker’s sentiments reflect my experience of his film nicely. Reverend highly recommends it to those of “a certain age” like myself.
Reverend’s Rating: B+
Here in the greater New York City vicinity where Reverend now resides, the end of April marks the conclusion of the annual theater season. Tony Award nominations have just been announced and die-hard Broadway fans/obsessives are screaming! They’re screaming about new shows they love, new shows they hate, shows that were nominated, shows that weren’t nominated, and the price of tickets for some of the most popular shows we are doing our best to see!
Here are my brief takes on
several new Broadway shows Reverend was able to weasel myself into, with huge
thanks to a few hard-working NYC publicity reps:
Beaches: The Musical (now playing at the Majestic Theatre)
Speaking of best friends, as Cory Wexler Grant does most eloquently above, this adaptation of the 1988 movie that memorably starred Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey arguably works way too hard at capitalizing on its “besties” vibe. It also arrives on Broadway feeling dated stylistically, not surprising given that it had its first, out of town production 10+ years ago.
Jessica Vosk’s terrific performance as wannabee star Cee Cee Bloom is the best thing in the show, although the precocious Samantha Schwartz runs a close second as Little Cee Cee. Kelli Barrett is fine in the admittedly less showy role of straight-laced Bertie White. The songs—which are all new with the exception of power ballad Wind Beneath My Wings—are serviceable but unmemorable. Beaches on stage retains the plot’s climactic tear-jerking effectiveness but it all feels been there, done that. Tony nominators apparently agreed, as it received no love from them. : (
Reverend’s Rating: C
Schmigadoon! (now playing at the Nederlander Theatre)
Speaking of been there, done that, the two-season run of Apple TV’s delightful series that venerates and skewers classic Broadway shows in equal measure was a fairly recent success. I loved both seasons (the second was appropriately subtitled Schmicago!) but adapting it for the stage so quickly reeks of a cash grab.
Although the theatrical Schmigadoon! adds nothing to the first season of the series aside from a couple of new songs, it offers many delights to the unitiated. These include snappy direction and choreography by Christopher Gattelli, vibrant scenic design by Scott Pask, and a very funny if redundant book by series creator Cinco Paul. Best of all, though, is a cast headlined by such Broadway notables as Alex Brightman, Sara Chase, Brad Oscar, Ana Gasteyer and, reprising her role as Mayor Menlove’s wife from the TV series, the always welcome Ann Harada. This show also benefits from the hardest working chorus currently on Broadway.
Reverend’s Rating: B
The Balusters (now playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)
There is usually at least one show each season that everyone walks into knowing next to nothing, and this entertaining new play by previous Tony and Pulitzer winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo) likely qualifies as our 2026 entry. An element of surprise and/or audience ignorance can definitely work in a show’s favor. So can a top-notch cast that includes John Boy Walton himself, Richard Thomas; Anika Noni Rose; Margaret Colin; Carl Clemons-Hopkins; and Marylouise Burke.
This is a very funny, perceptive and unpredictable critique of gentrification via its depiction of the Home Owners Association from Hell. Longtime fans of new Tony nominee Thomas will surely agree it is worth the price of admission just to watch his character lose it at one point and smash up parts of Derek McLane’s meticulously designed set. Lindsay-Abaire has also been nominated once again for Best Play. Reverend prefers The Balusters over the other Best Play nominees I have seen.
Reverend’s Rating: B+
Now I'm screaming: Go see a show and watch the Tony Awards on June 7th!!!
The Most Reverend Chris Carpenter is editor of Movie Dearest and chief contributor. He has been reviewing movies and theatre since 1996 and also contributes to Rage Monthly magazine (ragemonthly.com). He is a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics (galeca.com) and currently serves as a nominating/voting member of its New York-based Theatre Wing. Reverend Carpenter has been an ordained minister since 1995.
Monday, April 20, 2026
Reverend's Reviews: Bloodsuckers On Broadway & Off
The NYC theatre scene has historically not been kind to vampire-themed musicals. Lestat, Dracula: The Musical and Dance of the Vampires all flopped despite multi-million dollar investments. Bunnicula, adapted by drag legend Charles Busch from the children’s book, was a bit more successful off-Broadway.
Things may be about to change, based on the reception accorded The Lost Boys (now having its World Premiere at Time Square’s recently refurbished Palace Theater) during the preview performance Reverend recently attended. Based on the 1987 movie, which was not a blockbuster at the time but gained a following on home video, it depicts a seaside California community besieged by flying bloodsuckers wherein a newly divorced, unsuspecting mother and her two teenaged sons find themselves. Mayhem ensues.
This new musical’s ace in the hole is two-time Tony Award winning director Michael Arden (Parade, Maybe Happy Ending), although actress Shoshana Bean runs a close second. Despite his recent Broadway misstep The Queen of Versailles, much of which I enjoyed during its Boston tryout, the out Arden has proven himself to be an innovative crafter of modern musicals. He does not disappoint here. Bean, meanwhile, is smarter and stronger in the single mother role played by Dianne Wiest in the movie, with some help from the musical’s more progressive book by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch.
After attending the musical, Reverend streamed and re-watched the original Lost Boys movie for the first time in nearly 40 years. It endures as a time capsule for several young actors who went on to have big careers including Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, the Coreys (Haim and Feldman) and, most notably, Kiefer Sutherland as lead vampire David. But one wouldn’t say it screams out for musicalization.
Perhaps because of this, I was impressed by many things about The Lost Boys new musical. First and foremost with any musical is the score. The composers here are The Rescues, a 20-year old group I had vaguely heard of, so I was most dubious about their songs going in. I was pleasantly surprised. If anything there were too many good but extraneous songs, some of which may have been cut or modified since.
Standouts that need to be retained are the opener (later reprised) “No More Monsters,” the rockin’ “Have to Have You,” Bean’s fun VHS-era homage “Be Kind, Rewind” and the climactic “If We Make it Through the Night.” More questionable but still good were “Wild,” “War” and the queer-positive but length-extending “Superpower.” Regarding the latter, let’s just say this 21st-century take gleefully runs with the fact that colorfully-dressed younger brother Sam (well played on stage by Benjamin Pajak) has a shirtless Rob Lowe poster hanging in his closet in the movie.
The best elements of The Lost Boys on Broadway are Dane Laffrey’s astounding scenic design (an additional Tony award is virtually guaranteed following his win for Maybe Happy Ending last season) and the flying effects or aerial design by Gwyneth Larsen and Billy Mulholland. Indeed, we see more of the vampires actually flying on stage than we saw in the movie, and the results are spectacular.
The preview performance I attended on April 8th ran nearly three hours, including a 10-minute interruption due to an unspecified issue. That was way too long for a fairly slight story, no matter how impressive the visuals. But most of the audience--including the three teen girls and their talkative, Kiefer Sutherland-loving mother seated next to me—seemed unbothered and received the show enthusiastically. (Of note, Sutherland is one of the musical’s many big-name producers.) Perhaps the vampire musical is about to rise from its longtime casket?
Reverend’s Rating: B
David J. Glass’s play Spare Parts is also marking its World Premiere through April 30th at Off-Broadway’s Theater Row. Literal vampires might not figure in this timely original tale, but there’s still some significant bloodsucking/manipulating going on.
An aging billionaire summons a genetic researcher and his young assistant to his compound to discuss how to extend the billionaire’s life, ideally for eternity. The financier introduces them to his queer personal assistant, who falls for the researcher’s also queer assistant. Romantic and ethical complications ensue.
I don’t want to spoil things by giving too much away but Spare Parts ends up being prescient and thought-provoking, to say the least. Of note, the playwright is an MD who also works as a biotech researcher and educator. Glass previously wrote Love + Science, which Reverend reviewed here: https://moviedearest.blogspot.com/2023/06/reverends-reviews-love-science-plus.html. He knows his medical/scientific stuff, which gives the play more credibility even as it remains speculative.
Spare Parts runs an intense, intermission-less 95 minutes. The cast comprised of two-time Tony Award nominee Rob McClure (Chaplin, Mrs. Doubtfire), Michael Genet, Jonny-James Kajoba and Matt Walker is excellent. I was especially pleased to see McClure (pictured above) play a more serious role, and intrigued that Walker is seemingly the playwright’s muse/stand-in since he previously headlined Love + Science as a similar character.
Michael Herwitz’s taut direction and Scott Penner’s futuristic, multi-functional set are also attributes to this memorable production that boasts at least one big plot twist. If you’re in NYC, catch it while you can.
Reverend’s Rating: B+
The Most Reverend Chris Carpenter is editor of Movie Dearest and chief contributor. He has been reviewing movies and theatre since 1996 and also contributes to Rage Monthly magazine (ragemonthly.com). He is a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics (galeca.com) and currently serves as a nominating/voting member of its New York-based Theatre Wing. Reverend Carpenter has been an ordained minister since 1995.