Netflix has teamed up with Sonia Friedman Productions to produce the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is “rooted in the mythology” of the hit streaming series Stranger Things and opened at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End in December of 2023. The show has been breaking box office records and won several awards, and this year, it will be making the jump to Broadway. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is set to begin previews at the Marquis Theatre on Friday, March 28, 2025 and officially open on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. In anticipation of the show’s Broadway debut, Entertainment Weekly has shared a look at the Broadway version of the Mind Flayer creature! You can check it out at the bottom of this article.
A while back, Deadline heard that Stranger Things: The First Shadow “will be the first instalment in a trilogy exploring the dark underbelly of Hawkins, Indiana. Breaking Baz can reveal parts two and three are set to follow the inaugural play in two or three year intervals, according to insiders associated with the production. The stage sequels will launch in London first. Meanwhile, there are already plans for Stranger Things: The First Shadow to transfer to Broadway.”
Written by Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry from an original story she crafted with the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne, Stranger Things: The First Shadow has the following synopsis: Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach. Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and may hold the key to the end.
Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers are creative producers on the play, and the show’s producers at 21 Laps get an associate producer credit. The play is being directed by Stephen Daldry, with Justin Martin co-directing.
The actor who will be playing the character of Henry Creel in the Broadway production is the same actor who has been playing him in London’s West End, Louis McCartney. His co-stars include T.R. Knight of Grey’s Anatomy as Henry’s father Victor Creel, Rosie Benton (Patriots) as Virginia Creel, Alex Breaux (Stranger Things Season 5) as Dr. Brenner, newcomer Nicky Eldridge as Bob Newby, Andrew Hovelson (The Good Wife) as Principal Newby, Alison Jaye (Shameless) as Joyce Maldonado, Gabrielle Nevaeh (That Girl Lay Lay) as Patty Newby, and Burke Swanson (Back to the Future: The Musical) as James Hopper Jr.
Trefry told Entertainment Weekly that when she was writing the play, she was told she could do whatever she wanted. So, “I was like, ‘My big Joker card is at some point we’re going to have this huge Mind Flayer deploy and it’s going to encompass the entire theater. The theater itself is within the grasp of the Mind Flayer, and this whole story is being told from that perspective.’ And everybody was like, ‘Awesome, great. We’re not doing that. That’s… no.’” But there was a giant Mind Flayer in the West End version of the show and a new, bigger one has been made for Broadway. Trefry said, “I am so thrilled by the depth and complexity and detail on the new one. I couldn’t believe that there was another version of it. I didn’t even know it could get better.“
She added that once the West End run ended, “I went into a forensic autopsy of the play to really try to get it to its peak. There are new sequences, there’s new scenes, there are things that we cut out. So it is significantly changed, but the story is the same. I think it’s just a little bit better.” Martin added that there are “new illusions” in this version of the show as well.
Are you interested in seeing Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below – and take a look at the Mind Flayer while you’re scrolling down:
The post Stranger Things: The First Shadow shows off the Broadway version of the Mind Flayer appeared first on JoBlo.
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