Stranger Things on Broadway [Video]

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a prequel to the hit Netflix series, is set to make its Broadway debut in the spring of 2025. The play will begin previews at the Marquis Theatre on March 28, 2025, with its official opening scheduled for April 2025. The production is a collaboration between Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions.

The play premiered in London’s West End in December 2023, where it is still running. Written by Kate Trefry, “The First Shadow” features younger versions of beloved characters from the series, including Winona Ryder’s Joyce, Sean Astin’s Bob Newby, and David Harbour’s Hopper.

The production’s synopsis reads: “Before the world turned upside down. 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 leave 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 Duffer Brothers, creators of the “Stranger Things” series, are credited with the original story for the play. They are joined by Trefry and Jack Thorne, known for his stage adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Shawn Levy, executive producer of “Stranger Things,” and Dan Cohen of Levy’s company 21 Laps are serving as associate producers.

Stephen Daldry, who directed “The Inheritance” on Broadway and worked as an executive producer on Netflix’s “The Crown,” is co-directing the Broadway production with Justin Martin, who directed Jodie Comer in “Prima Facie” in the West End. Casting for the Broadway run will be announced in the coming months.

The West End production of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” has received positive reviews, particularly for its stage effects, and won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play and Best Set Design.