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Hawkins is returning to your living rooms. According to Collider, Broadway’s Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the prequel play to the Netflix hit, will be filmed this week for a future release on the streamer.
Performances from Tuesday, February 10 to Saturday, February 14 have been canceled to accommodate. As previously reported, the play ties heavily into the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, which hit Netflix last year. The Netflix release date for the filmed capture has yet to be announced.
Originally debuting on the West End in 2023, the Broadway production of Stranger Things: The First Shadow opened on April 22, 2025, at the Marquis Theatre and went on to win 4 Tony Awards. The play is based on an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Kate Trefry, and is written by Trefry. Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin direct.
The play tells the origin story of Stranger Things villain Vecna, aka Henry Creel. In 1959, Hawkins, Indiana, the Creel family seeks a fresh start, especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past. Initially, things go well after finding friendship and joining the school play. But soon, a wave of shocking crimes strikes the town, and Henry is forced to confront a terrifying truth: is there something inside him that connects him to the horrors unfolding around him?
The current Broadway cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow features Rosie Benton (Patriots) as Virginia Creel, Alex Breaux (“Stranger Things” Season 5) as Dr. Brenner, Janie Brookshire (The Philanthropist), Kelsey Anne Brown (Broadway Debut), Malcolm Callender (Broadway Debut), Ta’Rea Campbell (The Hills of California) as Patty’s Mom, Juan Carlos (Broadway Debut) as Bob Newby, Lia Christina (Broadway Debut) as Alice Creel, Antoinette Comer (Mamma Mia!), Robert T. Cunningham (Broadway Debut) as Charles Sinclair, Ayana Cymone (Broadway Debut) as Sue Anderson, Tom D’Agustino (Apple TV+’s “Dear Edward”), Victor de Paula Rocha (Broadway Debut), Ian Dolley (The Holdovers) as Walter Henderson, Dora Dolphin (Broadway Debut) as Karen Childress, Nya Garner (Broadway Debut), Logan Gould (Netflix’s “The Corps”) as Lonny Byers, Shea Grant (Broadway Debut) as Claudia Yount, Andrew Hovelson (Lucky Guy) as Principal Newby, Rebecca Hurd (Broadway Debut), Alison Jaye (“Shameless”) as Joyce Maldonado, Emmy Award nominee T.R. Knight (“Grey’s Anatomy”) as Victor Creel, Ted Koch (To Kill a Mockingbird) as Chief Hopper, Jamie Martin Mann (Broadway Debut) as Ted Wheeler, Tony Nominee Louis McCartney as Henry Creel (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, West End), Patrick Scott McDermott (Flying Over Sunset), Sean Mikesh (Broadway Debut), Emmy Award nominee Gabrielle Nevaeh (Nickelodeon’s “That Girl Lay Lay”) as Patty Newby, Burke Swanson (Back to the Future: The Musical) as James Hopper, Jr., Stephen Wattrus (Take Me Out), Maya West (Broadway Debut), Eric Wiegand (Plaza Suite) as Alan Munson, Graham Winton (The Ferryman), and Francesca Yhlen (Broadway Debut) as Alice Creel.
It was recently announced that new principal cast members will join the production, including Victor de Paula Rocha, who will take over as “Henry Creel” alongside Ayana Cymone as “Patty Newby,” Shea Grant as “Joyce Maldonado,” Juan Carlos as “Bob Newby,” and newcomer Matthew Erick White as “James Hopper, Jr.” The full original Broadway cast, led by Tony nominee Louis McCartney, will play its final performance together on Sunday, March 29th at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). The complete Year Two cast will be announced shortly.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow won 4 2025 Tony Awards, including Best Scenic Design of a Play (Miriam Buether and 59), Best Lighting Design of a Play (Jon Clark), and Best Sound Design of a Play (Paul Arditti). A Special Tony Award was also awarded to The Illusions & Technical Effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone & Edward Pierce). Additional awards recognition included 3 Drama Desk Award wins including Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play, Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play, and Outstanding Sound Design of a Play and 3 Outer Critics Circle Award wins, including Outstanding Scenic Design, Outstanding Lighting Design, and Outstanding Sound Design.
The production recently broke the 9-performance house record at the Marquis Theatre with a gross of $2,510,948.00 for the week ending Sunday, December 28, 2025.
