There is something about a cast album that keeps theatre alive long after the curtain comes down. This late-summer crop is particularly eclectic: vampires, Eva Perón, 1979 New York nightlife, memory and mortality, a queer singer-songwriter discovering a family secret, and a developing musical using its music to support Alzheimer’s care. Some are full cast recordings, some are singles offering the first glimpse of what’s coming next, and one is finally getting the vinyl treatment it deserves.

The Lost Boys Sinks Its Teeth Into Vinyl

Atlantic Records’ The Lost Boys (Original Broadway Cast Recording), already available digitally, will arrive physically on October 30 on CD and as a two-LP black-and-red vinyl edition—a color combination that seems almost mandatory for a musical about the vampires of Santa Carla. The 27-song album features music and lyrics by Tony-nominated trio The Rescues—Kyler England, AG and Gabriel Mann—and includes the bonus track “Brother,” which was cut during Broadway previews.

The recording features the Broadway company led by LJ Benet, Shoshana Bean, Ali Louis Bourzgui, Benjamin Pajak, Maria Wirries and Paul Alexander Nolan, with fan favorites including “Secret Comes Out,” “Now, Forever,” “Superpower” and “If We Make It Through the Night.”

It also preserves a show that emerged from the 2026 awards season with four Tony Awards, including Featured Actress in a Musical for Bean, Featured Actor in a Musical for Bourzgui, Scenic Design for Dane Laffrey and Lighting Design for Michael Arden and Jen Schriever.

Listen to or preorder The Lost Boys

Rachel Zegler’s Evita Comes Home From London

Jamie Lloyd’s electrifying London revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita has released EVITA: The Full Album, recorded live at the London Palladium in July 2025. The 30-track recording is available digitally and as an extravagant three-LP vinyl set, arriving ahead of the production’s planned Broadway transfer in spring 2027.

Rachel Zegler leads the company as Eva Perón, joined by Diego Andres Rodriguez as Che, James Olivas as Juan Perón, Aaron Lee Lambert as Agustín Magaldi and Bella Brown as The Mistress. Zegler’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” previously reached No. 1 on the UK’s Official Vinyl Chart, while the Palladium production collected two Olivier Awards, two London Standard Theatre Awards and five WhatsOnStage Awards.

The beauty of recording this particular Evita live is that Lloyd’s production wasn’t conceived as a museum piece. It had heat, theatricality and controversy, and the album captures a company performing the score rather than politely preserving it. Broadway audiences now have something of a musical preview before Eva arrives in New York.

Listen to EVITA: The Full AlbumBat Boy Is Back—and Still Delightfully Insane

Ghostlight Records and Yellow Sound Label have released Bat Boy: The Musical (New York City Center Cast Recording), preserving the terrific 2025 City Center Gala revival directed by Alex Timbers.

The recording features Taylor Trensch as Edgar/Bat Boy, alongside Kerry Butler, Gabi Carrubba, Andrew Durand, Mary Faber, Alan H Green, Evan Harrington, John-Michael Lyles, Tom McGowan, Jacob Ming-Trent, Alex Newell, Olivia Puckett, Christopher Sieber, Rema Webb and Marissa Jaret Winokur. The new album contains 23 tracks, including three songs receiving their world-premiere recordings, and expanded orchestrations for 12 musicians by Laurence O’Keefe and Ben Green.

Inspired by the infamous 1990s tabloid story, Bat Boy remains an outrageous mixture of horror, satire, tragedy, religion, sexuality and small-town hysteria. More than two decades after its 2001 Off-Broadway premiere, the score has lost none of its wonderfully warped personality. As T2C said of the City Center production, it was “absurd, hilarious, and weirdly unforgettable.”

Stream Bat Boy: The Musical

Beau: The Musical Offers Two More Songs Before the Album Arrives

Joy Machine Records has released “Crush” and “It Couldn’t Be,” two new singles from the forthcoming Beau: The Musical (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording). “Crush” features Matt Rodin and Miyuki Miyagi, while “It Couldn’t Be” pairs Rodin with Max Sangerman. The full recording is expected this fall.

Conceived and written by Douglas Lyons, with music by Lyons and Ethan D. Pakchar and lyrics by Lyons, Beaufollows Ace Baker, a young queer singer-songwriter who discovers that Beau—the grandfather he believed was dead—is actually alive. As family secrets unravel, a guitar becomes the connection between generations and a way of recovering years that can never quite be returned.

The Off-Broadway production earned an impressive 10 Drama Desk nominations, including Outstanding Musical, along with nominations from the Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Off-Broadway Alliance. The forthcoming album also features Jeb Brown, Andrea Goss, Amelia Cormack, Ryan Halsaver and Derek Stoltenberg.

Listen to the new Beau singles

Kevin Chamberlin Takes a “Wander” With Big Man

The developing Big Man: A New Musical releases its second single, “Wander,” on September 4, performed by three-time Tony nominee Kevin Chamberlin. The musical features music by Billy Recce, book and lyrics by New York Timesbestselling author Sheryl Berk, arrangements by Lena Gabrielle, with the single produced and orchestrated by Nick Anton.

Inspired by Berk’s own family experience, Big Man enters the imagination of Albert, whose modest memory-care room gives way to the swagger and fantasy of 1960s Las Vegas. “Wander” is Albert’s assertion that age and circumstance do not erase identity, dignity or the desire to determine one’s own life.

The song follows the musical’s first single, “Wanted to Believe,” performed by Ramin Karimloo. There is also a purpose beyond introducing a developing show: proceeds from 99-cent downloads of both songs benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.

Big Man: A New Musical

This Ain’t No Disco Goes Back to New York in 1979

For those who prefer their musical theatre with considerably more downtown grit, Center Stage Records has released This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording—Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask, the composer behind Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Peter Yanowitz.

Part rock opera and part impressionistic portrait of New York City in 1979, the musical moves between Studio 54, the Mudd Club, downtown lofts and the art world, following strivers, artists, dreamers and beautiful disasters searching for identity and belonging in a city about to undergo enormous cultural change.

And what a recording cast: John Cameron Mitchell, Lena Hall, Sean Ono Lennon, Jake Shears, Miriam Shor, Brandon Uranowitz, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Lilli Cooper, Taylor Hanson, Chilina Kennedy, Adam Chanler-Berat and more.

The musical originally premiered at Atlantic Theater Company in 2018 under the direction of Darko Tresnjak with choreography by Camille A. Brown. Eight years later, the recording gives Trask and Yanowitz’s score an entirely new opportunity to find its audience.

Stream This Ain’t No Disco

Night Side Songs Preserves One of the Season’s Most Intimate Scores

Finally, Octoverse Media and Warner Music Group’s Arts Music have released the cast album of The Lazours’ Night Side Songs, following its 2026 Lincoln Center Theater engagement at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater.

Featuring Robin de Jesús, Brooke Ishibashi, Jonathan Raviv, Kris Saint-Louis and Mary Testa, the album captures Daniel and Patrick Lazour’s folk-inflected score and its examination of illness, caregiving, faith, fear, memory and the strange intimacy created when someone’s life changes irrevocably. An in-studio audience even joins the company in song, giving the recording the communal quality at the heart of the piece.

The stage production earned a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Music, a Drama League nomination for Outstanding Production of a Musical and Lucille Lortel nominations for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Ensemble. The digital album is available now, with CD and vinyl editions planned for later this year.

What connects these recordings isn’t style—there could hardly be more distance between Evita, Bat Boy and Night Side Songs. It is preservation. Theatre disappears nightly, even while a production is still running; no two performances are precisely the same. A cast album catches one incarnation before everyone moves on.

And this summer, Broadway and Off-Broadway have given us quite a lot worth keeping.

The Hamptons went to the dogs—in the very best possible way—as NYC Second Chance Rescue gathered animal lovers, philanthropists and familiar faces at a private Bridgehampton estate for its 5th Annual Concert for a Cause.

The summer benefit honored legendary entrepreneur, philanthropist and longtime animal advocate John Paul DeJoria, while also marking the world introduction of Pawpoint.

Beth Stern (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

DeJoria, whose philanthropic work has long extended to animal welfare, was recognized for a commitment that dovetails naturally with the mission of Second Chance Rescue.

“It is an honor to be recognized by NYC Second Chance Rescue,” DeJoria said. “Their compassion, dedication, and commitment to animals are truly inspiring, and I am grateful to be part of an evening that will help so many animals in need.”

Hamptons benefit should never forget the party, the evening came with some serious musical wattage.

Ashanti (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

Grammy Award winner Ashanti headlined alongside platinum-selling artist Fabolous, giving the intimate Bridgehampton gathering considerably more star power than the average summer fundraiser.

Fabolous Photo by Rose Billings

Fabolous (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

The generosity continued offstage. A live auction featured experiences including a yacht charter donated by Lauren and Eddie Shapiro of NestSeekers, while a paddle raise brought in additional funds for the rescue’s work with some of the animals most difficult—and expensive—to save.

Beth Stern (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

Among those joining the evening were Beth Stern

Caroline Radziwell (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

Carole Radziwill, Peter Cook,

Bradley Fishel, Alexandra Fishel, Maria Fishel, Kenneth Fishel Beth Stern (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

Kenneth and Maria Fishel, Blair and Margit Brandt, Jennifer Brooks, Lisa Blanco, Lisa Rose, Katie McEntee, Daisy Toye, Eric Muschinski, Tina Guidipipietro and Rocco Guidipipietro, along with DeJoria, Ashanti and Fabolous.

Lisa Blanco, Ashanti, Jennifer Brooks (Image Credit: BFA / David Benthal)

Behind the glamour is a mission with very real consequences. Founded in 2009, NYC Second Chance Rescue concentrates much of its work on animals that frequently have the fewest options: large-breed dogs and critically injured or medically complex dogs and cats pulled from overcrowded municipal shelters.

Since its founding, the nonprofit has rescued more than 17,000 animals, providing medical treatment, rehabilitation, foster care and ultimately the possibility of a permanent home. Its work extends beyond rescue through community programs designed to help people keep the animals they already love.

The evening was presented with support from Alexander Capital Ventures LLC, Montauk Project and the Phenom Foundation, with Renaissance Properties, Margot Brandt Palm Beach and Cindy Karen serving as Champion sponsors.

There are plenty of beautiful parties in the Hamptons every summer. The best ones manage to send everyone home having accomplished something besides being photographed.

Concert for a Cause did exactly that—turning one glamorous Bridgehampton night into second chances for animals who desperately need them.

New Yorkers have been looking up lately. From renewed fascination with Artemis to Hollywood’s continuing obsession with what waits beyond our atmosphere, space is once again capturing the imagination. Now you don’t need a rocket—or a NASA badge—to get considerably closer.

Space Explorers: The ISS Experience has landed in New York, bringing a remarkable free-roaming virtual reality journey aboard the International Space Station to Eclipso at 555 West 57th Street.

This isn’t a fictional spacecraft or someone’s idea of what life in orbit might look like. The experience incorporates extraordinary 360-degree 3D footage actually filmed by astronauts during NASA missions, allowing visitors to travel virtually some 250 miles above Earth and enter a world very few human beings have experienced firsthand.

Created from the Emmy Award-winning series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, the project comes from Felix & Paul Studios in association with TIME Studios and in collaboration with NASA and other international space agencies. More than 500,000 visitors have experienced versions of Space Explorers around the world; New York receives the new Free-Roaming Edition.

Slip on the headset and suddenly the International Space Station becomes explorable territory. Visitors move through a walkable 3D recreation of the ISS, encounter astronauts and discover the surprisingly human routines of living in a place where virtually everything—from eating and sleeping to working and simply moving—has to be reconsidered.

Then comes the reason to go…..Earth.

Seen from orbit, our familiar planet becomes something altogether different: brilliant, fragile and astonishingly alone against the darkness surrounding it. The experience even includes the first spacewalk captured in cinematic virtual reality, creating the sensation of stepping outside the ISS into an immensity the human brain isn’t particularly accustomed to contemplating.

Astronauts have long described something called the overview effect—the profound shift in perception that can occur when seeing Earth from space. Borders disappear. Countries vanish into geography. What remains is one small living planet suspended in an incomprehensibly enormous universe.

Space Explorers attempts to give those of us remaining firmly on Earth a taste of that perspective. That may be what makes this more interesting than another technological attraction. The VR is the vehicle; perspective is the destination. There is something deeply humbling about looking back at Earth rather than looking outward from it. From 250 miles above us, so many things we consider enormous suddenly become very small.

The approximately 40-minute experience is open to ages eight and older and runs Tuesday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Monday is dark. The final entry is at 6:30 p.m.

One important consideration: the experience is not ADA compliant, something guests with mobility concerns should know before purchasing tickets.

For everyone who stared at the night sky as a child and wondered what it would feel like to leave Earth, Space Explorers: The ISS Experience offers an extraordinary approximation.

You won’t actually become an astronaut, but for 40 minutes on West 57th Street, Earth can become the place you’re looking home toward.

Every night in September, just before midnight, Times Square will abandon reality for three minutes.

For September’s Midnight Moment, artist duo LIZN’BOW transforms the district’s monumental digital screens into Niñalandia, a wildly saturated alternative universe where flying grandmothers, unicorn cows and islands made of money replace the considerably less charming anxieties of the present.

Titled El Mundo es Niña, the work rejects our cultural fascination with dystopia in favor of what the artists call a “pro-pocalyptic” future—a world built not around impending collapse, but radical joy, imagination and human connection.

Against a magenta sky, a neon-green island fashioned from money rises into view. Liz’s abuela sails overhead on a flying bicycle. A dancing unicorn cow races across the landscape on a jet ski as strange and wonderful creatures converge for what feels somewhere between a celebration, a dream and a wonderfully deranged Saturday-morning cartoon.

Beneath the exuberance is a more serious proposition.

LIZN’BOW have created an expanding fictional universe informed by queer and Latinx futurisms, personal memory, pop culture, humor and nostalgia. Here, fantasy isn’t an escape from reality so much as an opportunity to redesign it. That distinction gives El Mundo es Niña its bite.

We are continually presented with visions of the future dominated by climate catastrophe, technological upheaval, isolation and fear. LIZN’BOW ask a far more interesting question: What if imagining disaster isn’t the only way to take the future seriously?

Their answer is Niñalandia, where kinship, mutual care, resilience and play become acts of rebellion against despair.

Times Square may be the perfect place for it. The Crossroads of the World already exists somewhere between reality and fantasy, its enormous screens constantly selling us versions of who we might become, what we might desire and what tomorrow supposedly requires.

For three minutes each night, those screens will sell nothing. Instead, they become a portal. El Mundo es Niña will be presented throughout September as part of Midnight Moment, Times Square’s nightly digital art program, appearing across participating electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight.

In a neighborhood built on spectacle, LIZN’BOW are offering something surprisingly subversive: the possibility that joy itself might be a vision of the future.