“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a stage play based on the hugely popular Netflix series, is heading to Broadway in 2025.
The show will run at the Marquis Theatre with preview performances beginning on March 28 ahead of opening night on April 2. Casting will be announced at a later date.
“The First Shadow,” a spinoff that’s “rooted in the mythology” of the TV show, was written by “Stranger Things” scribe and executive producer Kate Trefry. It’s based on an original story by “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer, along with “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” playwright Jack Thorne and Trefry.
The play, like the television series, is set in the fictional town of Hawkins but it takes place in 1959 when the Indiana suburb was “a regular town with regular worries.” In other words, the events depicted in “The First Shadow” were years before Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and crew entered the Upside Down. As the play’s synopsis describes, “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.”
“The First Shadow” opened on London’s West End in 2023 and has been breaking box office records. In Variety’s review, David Benedict described the production as “eye-widening, often heart-racing.” He wrote, “the laughs — and here the comedy element is mercifully intact — the shudders, the gasps and, at the most spectacular moments, the screams throughout the auditorium are testament to its effectiveness.”
Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliot,” “The Inheritance”) is directing the play with co-direction from Justin Martin (“Prima Facie”). Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions will serve as producers for “The First Shadow.” The Duffer Brothers are billed as creative producers while Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment is involved as associate producers.
“The First Shadow” will feature set design by Miriam Buether, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Paul Arditti, original music composition, orchestration, arrangements and supervision by D.J. Walde, illusions design & visual effects by Jamie Harrison & Chris Fisher, video design and visual effects by 59, choreography by Coral Messam, movement direction by Lynne Page, wigs, hair and makeup design by Campbell Young Associates, technical direction by Gary Beestone and casting by Jim Carnahan.
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