LJ Benet Is Finding Belonging on Broadway in THE LOST BOYS

Rising star LJ Benet is stepping into the spotlight as ‘Michael Emerson’ in one of the hottest new shows of this Broadway season, The Lost Boys.

Based on the Warner Bros. Pictures film, the musical follows Lucy and her two teenage sons as they relocate to a coastal town in search of a fresh start. As Lucy attempts to rebuild their lives, her son Michael becomes drawn into a local group led by a charismatic figure, while his younger brother Sam begins to uncover the dangers lurking beneath the surface of their new community.

“I feel really at home with Michael,” he explained, noting both the parallels and distinctions between himself and the character. “There are some differences we have. There’s a lot of similarities we have. He’s 17. He comes from a really broken family. He’s showing up in a brand new place looking for a new start.

“He just really wants to be seen in a way that no one’s ever quite seen him,” Benet said. “So when he shows up… and he finds Star and David, who are kind of seeing behind his eyes… I think he finally finds that, or at least he thinks he finds that. He wants to find that, so he gives in to that.”

Beyond the character work, the new musical has also challenged Benet musically in new ways. He described the experience of stepping into a fully realized score as both humbling and invigorating. “If anything, I’ve had to really learn to honor the melodies that are on the page,” he shared. “That’s something new and really exciting that I’ve kind of had to surrender to.

“As an independent artist, you’re kind of making your own lane,” he continued. “But when you come into this collaborative process, you really want to honor what’s on the page because so much work has been done before you ever got there. The [creators] have spent hours and hours and hours with every melody—there’s so much intention because that’s a story that’s being told.”