NEW YORK — Broadway’s end-of-the-season fare – the fall arrivals are a month away– offered rocking vampires in “Lost Boys,” and cats who sang and danced and competed in a fashion runway, in “Cats: the Jellicle Ball.” ‘Twas a fun trip!

 The best  parody-heavy musical entitled “Schmigadoon,” celebrating all that’s great about the musical theater tradition, was clever, hilarious and inventive, worthy of the 2026 Best Musical laurel.  A Hawaii native was among the superb cast, a bonus if you take in the hit show.

A Celine Dion spoof  —  “Titanique’ – brought out  the laughs, too, with  the big musical turn in “My Heart Will Go On.”

“Harry Potter” is holding up, thanks to the  wizardry of quick scene changes in darkness. But it’s not quite the hybrid of several seasons ago.

“Oh! Mary” introduced Mary Rudolph as Lincoln’s First Lady, and she sizzled – oodles of  musical pokes to Honest Abe.

 “Moulin Rouge,” the prevailing juke box musical champ, offers so many familiar tunes you’ve been singing for decades – numbers close to your heart.

Not so likeable: “Stranger Things, the First Shadow,” a sci-fi play with concerning identity issues. It’s not a musical, but it’s loaded with songs, it has two choreographers, in charge of movement, but apparently not dances.

Here are capsule reviews of the eight shows I saw:

“Lost Boys,” at the Palace Theatre. A musical spectacle with vampires and more, and notable for new angles in staging a show. Ongoing.

Winner of four Tonys in 2026:

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Ali Louis Bourzgui, as vampire leader David.
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Shoshan Bean, as mother Lucy.
• Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Dane Laffrey.
• Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Jen Schriever and Michael Arden.

The show is based on a 1987 film about a family unknowingly moving to a California inhabited by vampires. Thus, Santa Clara gains fame and notoriety. More than fang bites, the show’s eye-filling set with improbable angles steals the attention.

A rock band/score appeals to the young, but for a musical of this dimension, there’s no lingering song to hum as you exit.

“Oh! Mary,” at the Lyceum Theatre. Secrets and music a-plenty, with Mary Todd Lincoln. Closes Jan. 3 2026 but Mary Rudolph’s run is over.

Honestly Abe: This Mary sings! Considering her popularity on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” Mary Rudolph’s Broadway debut as Mary Todd Lincoln in the closing weeks of Cole Escola’s outrageous tour-de-force camp comedy, there was star power when Rudolph brought her signature to this project, and wound up owning it, sort of. She was the eighth actor to portray the illustrious First Lady  to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, beginning with a somewhat timid mood, but unloaded the rockets and power of her artistry in a carnival of charades and the performance evolves into one of Rudolph’s signatures, even if she didn’t invent the show. Costumes are masterful, and the frantic physical comedy speeds through red light with everything from Shakespearean accents to suave vocalizing. I laughed like crazy.

“Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” at the Broadhurst Theatre. The cat’s out of the bag, competing in drag-show, fashion-plate pace, and emphatically proves a cat has more than nine livelihoods, for which we thank Andrew Lloyd Webber, who recycles with whimsy. Closes Aug. 8.

Winner of three 2026 Tonys:  Best Direction of a Musical (Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rouch), Choreography (Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons) and Costume design (Qween Jean; first openly transgender woman to win a competitive Tony Award).

“Cats” remains virtually with no plot or at least a lean plot, but “Jellicle” transposes the cat energy into the world of Harmen’s Black and Latin Queer Ballroom Culture, where Old Deuteronomy (Andre DeShields, known for “Hadestown”) rules, with a bunch of felines (Magical Mister Mistoffelees, Gus the Theater Cat, Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat, Grizabella, Macavity the Mystery Cat, etc.) still hang out, with digs and jigs notably in Act 2, when the cats, thin, short, or huge are reborn to compete in drag shows and soar with new vibrance in the whirl of voguing and undressing, with male cats – surprise!—show more skin than lady cats.

It’s a beaut of an idea, to have the litter prance, dance, and compete for ballroom glamor and fame. All the dancing, the costuming, the vocalizing and the prancing yield one big heck of a “Memory” finale. So what’s a Jellicle Ball? Ask a cat.

“Schmigadoon,” at the Nederlander Theatre.” A parody of “Brigadoon” with homages to “Oklahoma” and more. The year’s Best Musical Tony winner, and the most fun. Doesn’t get dizzier of giddier  than this. Closes Jan. 3 2027.

Winner of four 2026 Tonys: Best Musical,  Best Book of a Musical  (Cinco Paul), Best Original Score (Cinco Paul), Best Orchestrations (Doug Besterman and Mike Morris). (As the producer of “Schmigadoon,” Cinco Paul is the recipient of win includes the Best Musical trophy).

“Schmigadoon” has roots in the original Apple TV series and it oozes with laughter and is bright and colorful as the cast’s costumes.  It pokes gentle fun to the Golden Age of Broadway classis, notably the homage to “Oklahoma” and “Carousel” in its merry-go-round of mirthful magic and memories.

The cast includes Sara Chase as Melissa Gimble,  Alex Brightman as Josh Skinner (he despises musicals), McKenzie Kurtz as the flirty Betsy, Ana Gasteyer as severe Mildred Layton.

Ann Harada, left, invited Wayne Harada (no relation) and grandnephew John Rhoades and wife Vi Harada for a post-show chat at the Nederlander Theatre, where “Schmigadoon:” is playing through Jan. 3 2027.

Of special note, Ann Harada (no relation), appears as Florence Menlove, the spouse of Mayor Menlove, played by Brad Oscar. Harada is a Broadway notable, with a string of stage credits ranging from “Avenue Q to “Les Misérables,” from “M. Butterfly” to “Into the Woods,” from “Cinderella” to “Seussical.”

She was kind enough to invite me, wife Vi and grandnephew John Roades, to share a theater “moment,” taking photos after a performance of “Shmigadoon.” She also said the show’s cast album will be released in August, and the closing date for the successful run will be Jan. 3, 2027.

“Shmigadoon” succeeds because it has a style, sound and look of its own, but borrows conventional musical signature and stamps on its own indelible identity in moments like the “Oklahoma” parody, the dream ballet, and a vigorous tap dance number. The costumes immediate ID the country kingdom that is “Shmigadoon” through and through, like that signature rural flavor of warm hues and simple architecture.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” at the Lyric Theatre. The magic is not magnified in this drama about Albus Severus Potter, son of Harry and Ginny, who strives to maintain and live up to the fame of his father’s legacy. Ongoing.

OK, I did see the original two-part “Harry Potter” dramas, when the legacy of the genius magician and his pals were in the height with the wonders of wizardry. The best thing element of this abridged exploration is the fascinating appearances and disappearances of the wizards, in a swift gust of wind or twirl of an overcoat. The fanship is keeping the show floating. The lighting and quick scene changes are still intriguing.

John Skelley is Harry Potter, Rachel Christopher is Hermine Granger, Daniel Frederick is Ron Weasley, and Tom Feldon is Draco Malfoy.  The play, by Jack Thorne, retains ties with Potter creator J.K. Rowling, but perhaps the production is cursed with somewhat detached interest largely because much of the action unwinds in mood-setting darkness.

“Moulin Rouge,” at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. A jukebox musical, loaded with 70 disco and boogie music, embraces a tragic star-crossed romance between songwriter a Christian and chanteuse Satine, set at the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.

Let’s start with good news/bad news: Aaron Tveit, who “owned” the  Christian lead role  (saw him, back in the day), has returned to the production for a limited 15-performance gig Aug. 18 to  29, to join Kelsie Watts as the courtesan Satine. Tveit, with his typo-prone surname, dusts off  his charismatic soaring voice prior to the final curtain Aug. 30, but the symbolic finale performance of Christian will be tendered by Christian Douglas, who toured with a company in “Moulin Rouge,” prior to making his Broadway debut and stamping his ownership of a sort, Saw him, and he’s a handsome charmer, and likely will become a Broadway first-stringer in the months to come.

Oh, “Moulin Rouge” remains a solid disco-tempoed jukebox musical that showcases medleys of hot numbers by the likes of Madonna, Beyonce, Tina Turner and Dolly Parton, and the playlist has changed over time. Thus, a rundown of the tracks never appear in the Playbill. The one everlasting title is “Lady Marmalade,” which receives multiple publicity so you can practice your French: “Voulez-vous couche avec moi,” remember?  

“Titanique,” at the St. James Theatre. A parody of “Titanic” and vocalist Celine Dion. And of course, The Song goes on and on.

Here’s a project with absurd laughs, defined as a jukebox musical because it score is dotted with known tunes. Clearly, this was a little engine that could – and did. Originally a scaled down cabaret show, it emerged and sailed the waters of off-Broadway, but finally sailed to the Great White Way.

It was skedded for a 16-week run, but attracted meaningful followers, so instead of ending July 12, it’s been extended to Sept. 20, 2026. If there’s more demand, it has to set sail at another venue, since the St. James Theatre has a new tenant,

     The absurdity here is that Celine Dion would hijack a Titanic tour about the ill-fated liner in 1912) and start singing some of her hits, including, natch, “My  Heart Will Go On,” with Marla Mindelle,  one of the show’s writers, thumping her heart in assuming the Celine style. It’s tongue-in-cheek frivolity complete with patter-chatter about romance between Jack and Rose (played by Constantine Rousouli and Melissa Barrerra, respectively), the duo immortalized in the mammoth blockbuster film.

And don’t ask why Tina Turner is on the ship tour prancing through “River High, Mountain Deep.”

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow:” Talk about strange things; this is a strange play that features songs and dances but is not a musical.  It was the worst show among eight that I saw earlier this summer, and longest-running play, clocking in at 2:45. Closes. Jan. 3 2027.

It boasts a choreographer, and acknowledges the dancing, but while the actors sing, they are not credited for their vocal work as in a conventional musical. This is a sci-fi play, and not ashamed of the variants among the performance art.

 It’s a prequel to the Netflix streamer, whose audiences admire the tale of how a boy becomes a villain.  The Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry are collaborators of his outing, and they at best know their audience; the show I took in attracted throngs of very young people, viewing a play that clearly has R-rated elements, including brutalities that could explain its peculiar appeal.

I daresay, Victor De Paula Rocha, as the intense but villainous Henry Creel,  turns in a mind-blowing performance in his Broadway debut. It’s not your usual entrée, but clearly one jammed with passion and power, like a loaded pistol or keg of dynamite. Boom!