The Upside Down comes to the Great White Way on Friday, March 28, as Stranger Things: The First Shadow begins performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theater in New York City ahead of its April 22 opening.
Audiences have been flocking to the acclaimed play, a prequel story to the 12-time Emmy Award-winning Netflix series, ever since it opened at London’s Phoenix Theater in December 2023. But for those who still haven’t made it off the couch and to the theater, the streaming network has a little something to tease what’s to come.
On April 15, Netflix will drop a new documentary about the making of the West End hit and its move to Broadway.
Aptly titled Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the special — directed by Jon Halperin — features exclusive footage of the cast and create team as they build the theatrical experience from the ground up.
“There are huge expectations around us,” one of the creatives says in a trailer for the film, which dropped on Friday, March 28. “It’s Stranger Things, and we’ve got to deliver something incredible.”
“It’s a little bit daunting,” another adds. “The pressure’s starting to turn up, but, we got to get it right.”
Stranger Things: The First Shadow takes place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind. in 1959, long before Mike Wheeler, Eleven and the young stars at the center of the 80s-set TV series were born. The action focuses on high school-aged Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado and Bob Newby — the characters famously played on screen by David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Sean Astin — and dives into the origin story of Henry Creel (a.k.a. Stranger Things‘ Vecna).
The story was conceived by Stranger Things creators, directors and executive producers Duffer Brothers, as well as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child scribe Jack Thorne and Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry.
Three-time Tony winner Stephen Daldry directs Trefry’s script with Justin Martin.
“The challenge is to create a visceral experience for the audience, where they feel shock and awe, surprise and delight,” Daldry said in a statement. “You have to deliver that. The fusion of television and theater is about the speed of narrative and how you create it … There are moments in the show where you will think, ‘I don’t understand how they did that.’ ”
Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions are producing Stranger Things: The First Shadow, alongside associate producer 21 Laps Entertainment. The creative team includes Miriam Buether (set design), Brigitte Reiffenstuel (costume design), Jon Clark (lighting design), Paul Arditti (sound design) and D.J. Walde (original music composition, orchestration, arrangements and supervision).
As for the cast of 34, they’re led by Burke Swanson, Alison Jaye and Juan Carlos, who step into the roles of Jim, Joyce and Bob, respectively. Other principal roles include Rosie Benton (as Virginia Creel), Alex Breaux (as Dr. Brenner), Andrew Hovelson (as Principal Newby), Emmy nominee T.R. Knight (as Victor Creel), Gabrielle Nevaeh (as Patty Newby) and Louis McCartney (as Henry Creel).
Of these names, Breaux is set to appear in Stranger Things season 5, while McCartney is reprising his role from the West End.
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Completing the cast are Janie Brookshire, Kelsey Anne Brown, Malcolm Callender, Ta’Rea Campbell, Juan Carlos, Robert T. Cunningham, Ayana Cymone, Tom D’Agustino, Victor de Paula Rocha, Ian Dolley, Dora Dolphin, Nya Garner, Logan Gould, Shea Grant, Rebecca Hurd, Ted Koch, Timothy Lawrence , Jamie Martin Mann, Patrick Scott McDermott, Stephen Wattrus, Maya West, Eric Wiegand and Graham Winton.
Tickets to Starnger Things: The First Shadow are now on sale.
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