Paul Alexander Nolan on Finding Truth and Tone in THE LOST BOYS

For Paul Alexander Nolan, originating a role on Broadway is nothing new. But The Lost Boys, A NEW MUSICAL presents a uniquely high-wire challenge. It blends a beloved cult property, a massive physical production, and no traditional out-of-town tryout to refine it before arriving in New York.

Yet, for Nolan, the process began the same way it always does. “Well, as you point out, we didn’t get an out-of-town run to test it,” Nolan says. “But, you know, the creative act is the same. You read a script, you’re full of impressions from it, you come in, and you just start trying stuff.”

What is different, however, is the audience. “I will say a New York audience is actually different than anywhere else,” he mentions. “So in some ways, after an out-of-town run, it’s like starting from scratch again when you come to New York.”

That immediacy has defined the preview process, where Nolan and the company are shaping the show in real time. “You kind of are in real-time response,” he explains. “And with as many years of experience as I’ve got now, I guess it’s an intuitive process. And sometimes I fail, and that’s part of the process. You can’t actually find out what something is unless you find out what it isn’t.”

For Nolan, the path to The Lost Boys began with director Michael Arden. “I just have fallen in love,” he says. “He had such a creative voice and such a specific lens through which he directed,” Nolan recalls. The two first worked together on MY FAIR LADY at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater. “I will follow him to the ends of the earth.”

That trust laid the foundation for his work as Max, a character Nolan describes less in terms of plot and more in terms of tone. “What I like about playing him is figuring out the tone of who he is,” Nolan explains.

From Nolan’s point of view, Max is defined by a kind of disarming formality. “The language he uses is different [than any] other character in the show,” he adds. “He talks more formally than I do. He uses words like ‘indeed’ and ‘decidedly not.’ To me, he just had a formality that affects me in a certain way, and I just go in that direction.”

But that characterization didn’t come from a single stroke of inspiration. Like much of Nolan’s process, it emerged through collaboration. “I can’t tell you that I was smart enough to figure out who Max was,” he admits with a laugh. “I really rely on the eyes and ears of people outside of myself to say, ‘That’s great, keep going that direction.’ So as far as figuring out who he was, it’s always been in collaboration because I could come in with a great choice, but it’s just not the right tone for this specific show.”

For musicals, tone really can be everything, and The Lost Boys is walking a particularly delicate line with aplomb. “It’s not easy making a vampire musical,” Nolan says plainly. “History has shown us, right?” What works on screen with vampires just doesn’t always translate to the stage. “They’re scary, they’re fun, but it can be very tricky to not make it silly doing it live,” he explains. “And we’ve absolutely done it, which is thrilling.”

For Nolan, that challenge extends to his own performance, particularly in such a cavernous Broadway house as the Palace Theatre. “How do you fill the Palace Theater with your energy but also stay in the world?” he asks.

The answer comes down to a guiding principle he returns to again and again: truth. “You just always have to mean it,” Nolan says. “The best stuff is like Bridesmaids. They meant it. They treated it like they were playing a drama.”

Even in a show that blends horror, humor, and self-aware camp, the approach must remain grounded in truth. “It’s not my job to be camp when Max says turning a movie into a musical is desperate,” he continues. “It’s just my job to deliver a wonderful, self-aware line. The writing is self-aware, and I just have to act with truth.” And doing that earns him a big laugh from the audience each night.

One of Nolan’s most meaningful discoveries in the role came through his collaboration with Shoshana Bean. “She’s really dedicated to honesty in her acting,” he says. “When something doesn’t feel honest to her, it really, really rubs against her.” That commitment pushed Nolan to deepen his own work. “I think she helped me marry more honesty to what I was doing,” he explains. “It helped me find a more honest, truthful place from where I was coming.”

Their connection is especially evident in their Act 2 duet, which Nolan calls “one of the best parts of my night.” He says, “It’s a fantastic song in a score of fantastic song after fantastic songs,” adding, “the industry just doesn’t have a lot of singers like her. She’s a thrilling musical artist.”

Like any new musical in previews, The Lost Boys is still evolving nightly, shaped in part by audience response. “You think something’s going to work, and it is falling flat,” Nolan says. “Losing songs is painful sometimes, but that’s what we’re always kind of tinkering with.” From an artistic point of view, that constant refinement is part of the thrill. “We show up, they tell us what we are changing today, we rehearse it, and then we put it in.”

Despite the scale of the production, Nolan is quick to highlight the company around him, particularly the younger performers driving the show’s energy. “It’s thrilling listening to LJ Benet (Michael Emerson) and Maria Wirries (Star). It’s thrilling to watch Jennifer Duka (Alan Frog), Miguel Gil (Edgar Frog), and Benjamin Pajak (Sam Emerson). Everybody is embracing telling this story as a whole,” he says.

Additionally, for Nolan, whose role allows him to weave in and out of the action, there’s a certain appreciation for that dynamic. “I get to come in and out, and in and out, and just dab a little magic here, and a little magic there,” he says with a laugh. “And they’re working hard while I am enjoying almost a semi-retirement.”

As The Lost Boys continues its journey through previews, Nolan remains focused on the same core principle that has guided his entire career. That is to trust the work, trust the process, and—above all—tell the truth. “I am honoring our script,” he says of stepping into a role tied to such a beloved film. “My responsibility is to create something true for me.”

And if the audience response is any indication, that truth is resonating. “It’s just been thrilling,” Nolan says. “The crowds are losing their minds. I wear earplugs at the curtain call because it’s so loud that it hurts my ears. I’ve never been in a show that’s done that. Never.”

For a musical that dares to blend vampires, spectacle, and sincerity, that kind of reaction may be the clearest sign yet that The Lost Boys has found its bite.