Latest news with #StrangerThings:TheFirstShadow
Time Out
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Kids and teens can get free theatre tickets all summer as London Kids Week booking opens for 2025
The school summer holidays are famously a nightmarish month-and-a-half of trying to amuse children unaware of the fact that you're desperately trying to keep them entertained during a break that is longer than all your annual leave put together. Still, there are some bright spots, especially living in London, and a big one is London Kids Week. Run by the Society of London Theatre, it's nothing so vulgar as 'a sale', but is rather an initiative to get children into a theatre during the school hols by offering under-18s free tickets when accompanied by a paying adult. In addition, up to two further children's tickets can be booked at half price by the same adult. It's a damn good deal with no real catch (there isn't even a booking fee), beyond the fact that inventory is limited, although rarely massively so. Get in early, though, and you might be able to snag (free) tickets to one of the special workshops or other activities laid on as part of the 'week', which you can book for now and runs the length of the summer hols, from July 21 to August 31 (a strange definition of 'week' but whatever). It's always a good showing and runs the gamut from full on kids' theatre like The Smeds and the Smoos and The Tiger Who Came to Tea – clearly aimed at younger audiences – to much more adult fare like Stranger Things: The First Shadow and the Rachel Zegler-starring Evita that will theoretically allow you to impress teens at an affordable price. To book, and for the full list of shows – which includes the liked of Wicked, Tina and Mamma Mia! – head over to here to book. The best kids' theatre in London.
Business Recorder
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Recorder
‘Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale
NEW YORK: With bloody body contortions, booming blasts and brooding high school angst, 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' based on the 12-time Emmy-winning Netflix science fiction series 'Stranger Things,' took home Tony Awards on Sunday for best scenic design, lighting design and sound design of a play along with a special award for its illusions and technical effects. Miriam Buether, the scenic designer for 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' reflected on the journey of creating frightening moments on stage. 'We love scaring people,' she said backstage at the ceremony hosted by 'Wicked' film star Cynthia Erivo. The play, directed by Stephen Daldry, was nominated for five Tony Awards in total, including best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for Louis McCartney for his performance as Henry Creel, the younger version of the main antagonist of the 'Stranger Things' series who is later called Vecna. 'Stranger Things: First Shadow' is one of the expansions of the 'Stranger Things' universe created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who announced the launch of Upside Down Pictures in 2022, marking an overall deal with Netflix that will also include a live-action Stranger Things spin-off series. The series has spawned video games, cosplay, in-person immersive experiences and merchandise licensing deals, including the January 2025 deal with the company behind the popular Squishmallow plush toys. Last month, at Netflix's globally livestreamed fan event called 'Tudum Live,' it was announced that the 'Stranger Things' TV series would have a fifth and final season split into three parts, with part one on November 26, 2025, part two on December 25, 2025 and the series finale on December 31, 2025. The final season of 'Stranger Things' was delayed by dual Hollywood strikes in 2023. Trump-inspired Cantonese opera in Hong Kong aims to bring love and peace 'Stranger Things,' the story of a group of adolescent friends in rural Indiana in the 1980s who battle creatures from an alternate dimension called the 'Upside Down,' premiered on Netflix in 2016 and became a smash hit created by the Duffer brothers for the streaming platform. The play, produced by the Duffer brothers, takes audiences back in time to 1959, two decades before the period explored in the TV show. Jim Hopper and Joyce Maldonado - adult characters in the TV show - are seen as high school classmates with normal teen concerns about cars and classes until a new student named Henry arrives. Henry Creel is an odd and troubled boy that holds the future of the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in his hands. The New York cast includes 'Harlem' actor Burke Swanson as Jim Hopper, 'Shameless' actor Alison Jaye as Joyce Maldonado and McCartney as Henry Creel, who reprised his role after being in the London production. The monster-filled play debuted in London in 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre and made its New York Broadway debut in March 2025 at the Marquis Theatre.
Deccan Herald
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Deccan Herald
‘Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale
Miriam Buether, the scenic designer for 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' reflected on the journey of creating frightening moments on stage.
TimesLIVE
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
‘Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale
With bloody body contortions, booming blasts and brooding high school angst, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, based on the 12-time Emmy-winning Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things, took home Tony Awards on Sunday for best scenic design, lighting design and sound design of a play along with a special award for its illusions and technical effects. Miriam Buether, scenic designer for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, reflected on the journey of creating frightening moments on stage. "We love scaring people," she said backstage at the ceremony hosted by Wicked film star Cynthia Erivo. The play, directed by Stephen Daldry, was nominated for five Tony Awards, including best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for Louis McCartney for his performance as Henry Creel, the younger version of the main antagonist of the Stranger Things series who is later called Vecna. Stranger Things: First Shadow is one of the expansions of the Stranger Thing s universe created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who announced the launch of Upside Down Pictures in 2022, marking an overall deal with Netflix that will also include a live-action Stranger Things spin-off series. The series has spawned video games, cosplay, in-person immersive experiences and merchandise licensing deals, including the January 2025 deal with the company behind the popular Squishmallow plush toys. Last month, at Netflix's globally livestreamed fan event called 'Tudum Live', it was announced the Stranger Things TV series would have a fifth and final season split into three parts, with part one on November 26 2025, part two on December 25 2025 and the series finale on December 31 2025. The final season of Stranger Things was delayed by dual Hollywood strikes in 2023. Stranger Things, the story of a group of adolescent friends in rural Indiana in the 1980s who battle creatures from an alternate dimension called the "Upside Down", premiered on Netflix in 2016 and became a smash hit created by the Duffer brothers for the streaming platform. The play, produced by the Duffer brothers, takes audiences back in time to 1959, two decades before the time explored in the TV show. Jim Hopper and Joyce Maldonado, adult characters in the TV show, are seen as high school classmates with normal teen concerns about cars and classes until a new student named Henry arrives. Henry Creel is an odd and troubled boy who holds the future of the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in his hands. The New York cast includes Harlem actor Burke Swanson as Jim Hopper, Shameless actor Alison Jaye as Joyce Maldonado and McCartney as Henry Creel, who reprised his role after being in the London production. The monster-filled play debuted in London in 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre and made its New York Broadway debut in March 2025 at the Marquis Theatre.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Stranger Things: First Shadow': Louis McCartney on ‘creating a language through the movement' to play the tortured Henry Creel
'When I get out there, I'm not giving first,' says Louis McCartney on the exchange of energy between him and the audience each night at Stranger Things: The First Shadow. "They're there and they're tapping, whooping, cheering, screaming immediately. They're ready to have a good night." McCartney plays the central role of Henry Creel in the new Broadway play, which serves as a prequel to the hit Netflix series. In a recent interview with Gold Derby, McCartney describes how the excited energy of American audiences helps propel him through a physically demanding performance. Stranger Things fans enter the theater already familiar with the character Henry Creel. Raphael Luce portrays a young version of Henry in a Season 4 flashback, while Jamie Campbell Bower embodies the adult version and his twisted villainous form known as Vecna. The First Shadow takes place in 1959, when a teenage Henry arrives in Hawkins, Ind. More from GoldDerby How Amy Sherman-Palladino's rapid-fire 'Étoile' dialogue kept French stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou de Laáge on their toes Cyndi Lauper, Mariah Carey are your top choices for the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [Poll Results] 'Awards Magnet': The Emmy implications after Joel's death on 'The Last of Us'for Netflix McCartney says there is 'a strange giving and taking' between his stage iteration of the character and his on-screen counterparts. The actor points towards Bower's performance during a scene with Eleven in the Rainbow Room of Hawkins lab as particularly inspiring. 'It was revolutionary for me, for my work,' he explains, 'It kind of encapsulated his darker side. And in the play, I guess my job is to deal with this nerdy kid who is a good kid and he wants to do right.'Many of Luce's expressions helped McCartney draw a line between Henry's earnest younger self and his ultimate path to darkness. 'There's this haunted look of dissection,' he says of Luce's portrayal. 'He's constantly questioning if he wants to step away. And in our play, we're dealing with this tearing of structural values and morals in a young kid because he's so malleable. And my question was how do you connect the dots between Vecna and a nerd?' McCartney finds fascination in the 'dichotomy' that resides in Henry. He is careful to telegraph the boy's humanity while also showcasing the pull towards wrath and hate, due to a supernatural connection to the evil Mind Flayer of the Upside Down. 'He feels all these things constantly as he's trying to suppress them,' notes the actor. SEE'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' reviews: Critics praise the 'visceral thrill ride,' but lament its lack of 'emotional connection' The tender side of Henry is on full display within his unlikely friendship with Patty Newby (Gabrielle Nevaeh). For the first time, Henry finds someone with shared interests, with whom he can confide in. 'He'll follow somebody if they tell him what he's doing is good because that's what he wants. And when he meets Patty, it's this new version of good that he's never experienced before,' says McCartney. Patty is perhaps the only character who sees the good in Henry, one glimmer of light in his otherwise very dark world. 'She does say to him that being weird is okay and that it's okay to be yourself, which is a big question we throw at the audience the whole time, of how do you feel about yourself? And it's nice to see people fit in because a lot of us don't normally in our everyday lives,' notes McCartney. 'His relationship to fear, to social anxiety, to relationships, to happiness is something that I personally can feel at any point in my day as well.' The First Shadow is stuffed to the brim with eye-popping special effects. One of McCartney's most pivotal scenes involves a true test of the trust between Henry and Patty, as the two actors fight their way through a nightmarish vision sequence in the school bathroom. There will be no spoilers here, but safe to say that the terrifying illusions and physical feats in this sequence have the audience screaming and roaring with applause every night. 'That scene is just bonkers,' admits McCartney, as he describes the ultra precise timing and breathing required to execute each illusion. 'I get out of the scene and I'm absolutely pooped,' says the actor. 'It's so scary. It's so thrilling. I love hearing everybody's reactions.' In addition to these effects-driven moments, Henry also experiences countless fits of mental anguish and violent convulsions as dark forces work their way into his mind. McCartney credits 'time and patience and practice' for being able to sustain the physical toll of the role for an eight-show week, but confesses that it's not easy. There are several movement captains keeping an eye on the actor's stamina and he is greatly aided by finding 'an arc of movement' as the Mind Flayer gains control of Henry. 'We're starting it off basically as this baby Mind Flayer. And by the end of the play, it's like an alien, it's like a face hugger, and it's completely enveloping him,' describes McCartney as he demonstrates how the flick of his arms grows in intensity during the play. 'Creating a language through the movement was really important because I feel that much of the emotional breakdowns are in tandem with the physical breakdowns,' explains the actor, 'because one is his heart and his humanity, and the other is the Mind Flayer and the power that comes with that. And that's the character.' SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Launch Gallery: 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow': Broadway sneak peek Best of GoldDerby 'It should be illegal how much fun I'm having': Lea Salonga on playing Mrs. Lovett and more in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' 'Death Becomes Her' star Jennifer Simard is ready to be a leading lady: 'I don't feel pressure, I feel joy' 'Boop! The Musical' star Jasmine Amy Rogers uses her own 'quirky little eccentricities' to bring iconic cartoon character to life Click here to read the full article.
