The Palace was lifted thirty feet into the air and rebuilt, and the first show to really exploit it is a rock musical about teenage vampires on a California boardwalk. Michael Arden, who reinvented Parade and Spring Awakening, directs, and the production converted twelve Tony nominations into four wins. If you want a new musical with genuine visual ambition rather than a jukebox catalogue, this is the fall's best-looking bet.
What to expect
A driving rock score played loud, a cast of young performers in eighties boardwalk costume, and staging that leans into flight, fog and sudden reveals in a theatre that reopened only recently. Expect Shoshana Bean to get the biggest single ovation of the night.
Good to know
- The Palace entrance is on West 47th Street inside the TSX Broadway development, not on Broadway itself.
- Times Square is the nearest station for the N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3 and 7 lines.
- The score is loud and the design uses haze and strobe effects.
- It handles teenage violence and horror imagery; better for teenagers than young children.
- The rebuilt Palace has modern lifts and accessible restrooms on multiple levels.
Planning Sep 5–6, 2026 in NYC?
This list keeps changing as events are verified. We'll send you the final version the Thursday before — and you can unsubscribe right after if that's all you need.
Common questions
Is it based on the 1987 film?
Yes. It adapts the Joel Schumacher vampire film, with a new score by The Rescues and a book by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch, and keeps the Santa Carla boardwalk setting.
What did it win at the Tonys?
It received twelve nominations at the 2026 Tony Awards and won four, tying with Schmigadoon! and Ragtime for the second-highest total of the ceremony.
Is the Palace Theatre new?
The building is over a century old but was physically raised and rebuilt inside the TSX Broadway tower, reopening as a modern house with the historic auditorium preserved.
More theater that weekend
Also in Manhattan
