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 back in December. The show has been breaking box office records and won several awards, and in 2025, 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. Now, Variety reports that 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! This will be McCartney’s Broadway debut. His final performance in the West End production will be on November 10th.
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.
The London edition of the show had this cast: Shane Attwooll (Chief Hopper), Kemi Awoderu (Sue Anderson), Chase Brown (Lonnie Byers), Christopher Buckley (Bob Newby), Ammar Duffus (Charles Sinclair), Gilles Geary (Ted Wheeler), Florence Guy (Karen Childress), Max Harwood (Allen Munson), Michael Jibson (Victor Creel), Oscar Lloyd (James Hopper, Jr.), Louis McCartney (Henry Creel), Isabella Pappas (Joyce Maldonado), Matthew Pidgeon (Father Newby), Calum Ross (Walter Henderson), Maisie Norma Seaton (Claudia Henderson), Patrick Vaill (Dr. Brenner), Lauren Ward (Virginia Creel), and Ella Karuna Williams (Patty Newby). Taking on unspecified roles are Tricia Adele-Turner, Lauren Arney, Reya-Nyomi Brown, Patricia Castro, Lydia Fraser, Isaac Gryn, Mark Hammersley, Tom Peters, Kingdom Sibanda, Tiana Simone, Danny Sykes, and Meesha Turner. Casting for the Broadway version is currently underway.
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.
Daldry and Martin provided the following statement about McCartney: “Louis is an astonishing actor, and we are unbelievably proud of the incredible life he has breathed into the role of Henry Creel onstage in the West End. From the moment we first met him, we knew he was special, and we are thrilled that Broadway audiences will have the opportunity to witness his extraordinary performance.“
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