Alright so after seeing Lost Boys twice and getting my hands on a boot, I present my list of things I need to see talked about more bc holy shit the lil details and acting choices are so fucking good. This is not a comprehensive list bc it got long quick (because I have a LOT to say) but it’s some of what I consider the more fun and noticeable details. Also some of these may have changed bc my first go around was during previews, but I’m including them anyways bc they’re fun as hell and I think they add a lot to the characterization!!
the scene where Sam threatens to go back to Phoenix and Michael calls him “soft.” Ooooh boy. I fucking love this scene so much. It’s a lot of blink and you miss it moments, but if you catch them it adds so much. Two big things of note here that I twist in my brain bc they are fascinating choices for the characters. First up, Michael glances at Lucy first when Sam mentions their dad— Michael immediately looks to her but she hesitates before looking back at Michael and saying “no one’s going back to Phoenix.” Just some food for thought, bc I have a lot of thoughts about Michael and Lucy’s relationship in context of the dad, and I think it’s interesting that Lucy hesitated, while Michael was instantly looking to her. Second, absolute props to LJ Benet and Benjamin Pajak bc god damn did they act the hell out of the “soft” scene. The entire time Michael is walking over to Sam, he’s flexing his fist and shaking it out, and when he gets close to Sam during the second “no idea how bad it got” he actually raises his fist/arm up to about chest level. Sam reacts this entire scene by backing away slowly and flinching, and when Michael brought his arm up Sam brought his arms up too (super briefly) like he was going to block a hit. Absolutely devastating and so so good, but I’m like 80% sure that my memory of that scene was one of the previews, and they toned down that scene so it’s no longer as obvious which like… yeah I get but it also adds a whole lot to Michael’s fears of being like his dad and his fears about hurting Sam. Even if it’s not in the show anymore, I just need the people to know this.
Also all of LJ’s acting around the bruise is fucking amazing. I noticed in a few scenes, not just when he’s lifting the boxes, he’ll wince and grab at his side or move in a way that (theoretically) wouldn’t pull on injured ribs. There’s also a few scenes where he defaults to covering up his stomach with his arms or he fiddles with the hem of his shirt and makes sure it stays pulled down. Also the most recent time I saw it— which was like a week ago— Michael flinches away from David when David comes at him to pull up the shirt and he says in such a small voice “no please don’t-“, and then hunches in on himself once the bruise is revealed. This was different when I saw it the first week they ran (Michael didn’t say anything and didn’t look as… small I guess?) and I love this change so much bc it is such a real real reaction to abuse. Up until this point, whenever his dad is mentioned Michael always postures up, puts on a front, and gets ready to fight— notably, those times are all in front of Sam or Lucy, who Michael feels he has to protect. We also don’t see any physical injuries up until this point. But in this scene, Michael is already in a vulnerable place and doesn’t need to protect anyone, so he just lets it happen; it’s also hard to deny a very shoe shaped bruise. I also think it’s worth noting that this is the only time (as far as I can figure) that Michael flinches away from David. Every other time he leans into his touch. Which could mean nothing.
Yknow the scene when David sniffs the bloody/sweaty rag he use to clean up Michael’s ear after putting the earring in? And how he kinda sorta mouths at it bc, y’know, blood? Hm yeah one of the shows I saw, David put that thing IN his mouth. Not just a little “oh let me lick the blood off the towel” no no no. Ali opened his mouth and put that towel in there and bit it. It was spectacular. Bc like.. yeah David wouldn’t be satisfied with just licking or sniffing the blood. No he wants it and he wants Michael. He’d 100% bite that towel. Again, can’t remember if this was in previews or what, but I just needed to point out that no he doesn’t just lick and sniff it, he bites it too.
Speaking of David, his facial expressions after Michael punches him are fucking hilarious. Idk why it got me so good, but you can see the gears turning as he mentally shifts from “oh I’m eating him” to “oh I want him” and it’s hilarious. Obvi you have the big turn around and the “I like you Michael” bit, but after that, when the boys start circling Michael who’s threatening to fight everyone, David is in such serious contemplation mode. You can see he’s using all his brain cells to figure out how he’s going to spin this. Also the boys’ reactions to him inviting Michael to the cave is amazing— Marko in particular walks up to David like “wtf,” and David pats him and moves him aside as he goes to grab Michael’s face. It’s a relatively small detail, but I think it’s funny because to me, that confirms that even after Michael raced on the bikes, they were still going to eat him. David still wasn’t fully convinced until Michael punched him and drew blood— that’s what got his attention, not necessarily the bike race and the almost falling off the cliff.
The ending scene. God the ending scene. I’m a sucker for endings where the protagonists live and make it out of the story, by literally walking away from the story/audience. I eat it up every time. I love love love when the last we see of a character is them saying goodbye to the audience, and then walking away without looking back. The audience— whether it be a book a movie or a play— doesn’t get to know what happens anymore. I fucking love it. So when that happened in TLB? Tears. The Emerson+co family walk off, having made it through the night, greeting the sunrise as they leave the stage. Even the ensemble leaves. And left on stage are the Lost Boys and Max, just left to stare after everyone else leaving the story. And then- Max puts his hand on David’s shoulder, and David turns around to look at him, and in turn the audience. FUCKING BRILLIANT. Bc also the layers of like… Max turned David, ie not allowing him to die and move on, and in the final scene Max is physically holding David while they’re stuck in limbo, and David is the only character to look back at the audience. Dude. Listen. I shake this scene so hard in my brain. Especially since, if you subtract the bows from it, the musical goes from that scene— Max (head vampire) touching David, David looking back at the audience like he knows something— right into the post-bows scene of Mrs. Vasquez finding the bottle and drinking the blood, and the implications that the vampires aren’t all gone. Like!!!! I rotate this musical so hard yall have no idea
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