STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 6:39pm

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 7:20pm

Adam Feldman says the embargo is midnight 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:04am

Vincentelli in NYT is mixed(-to-negative?). No Critic's Pick


‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Review: An Origin Story for the Stage

This Broadway production delivers lots of spectacle as it winds back to the teenage years of Henry Creel, an antagonist from the Netflix series.

"The show starts with the kind of technically demanding, visually ambitious coup de théâtre most productions save for later — think battleship at sea, shrieks of pain and terror and, of course, paranormal dimensions. The director Stephen Daldry and the co-director Justin Martin can’t sustain that intensity for almost three hours, but they sure do try: The production is pitched at 10, except when it’s at 11. Even the scenes involving a school play (“Dark of the Moon,” a real Broadway show from 1945) have a semi-hysterical tone, usually set by the relentless Joyce.

While there are some fun jump scares, they, by nature, come and go quickly. For the most part, the show doesn’t mine the suspenseful, lingering dread that the series effectively deploys to keep you on the edge of your seat."

 

"A major reason for the success of “Stranger Things” is that you don’t walk away thinking just about battles in parallel realities, but about the emotions and relationships of people who feel very real in a town that also feels very real. It’s grounded in an intimacy and details that are mostly absent here.

In the making-of documentary “Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things the First Shadow,” Trefry (who is also a writer on the series) says that you can’t do a close-up, a montage or a hard cut onstage. The thing is, you can, but it requires resourcefulness and craft that are different from the ones involved in making spiders look realistic or a person fall in slow motion. Because it is locked into an operatic volume, “The First Shadow” never quite finds the grace notes and tonal variations that would bring out the show’s sadness and horror."

Updated On: 4/23/25 at 12:04 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:06am

3 stars from TimeOut

A spectacularly designed Broadway prequelto the Netflix series tells the origin story of a monster

"Unless you’re a franchise fanatic on the hunt for Easter eggs, the non-Creel material drags. But it may be wrong to judge Stranger Things as a play, exactly. In a way, it’s not so far removed from other Netflix tie-ins like Squid Game: The Experience or The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. When Daldry and Martin bring the show's best elements together—McCartney’s acting, Miriam Buether’s sets, Brigitte Reiffenstuel’s costumes, Jon Clark’s lighting, Paul Arditti’s sound, the production group 59’s video design and effects—the production is like a breathtaking theme-park ride. And as with a roller coaster, there are longueurs as the show chugs up to where it needs to be to deliver the next big whoop. Go and enjoy, but don’t be surprised if you soon forget that Stranger Things has happened. "

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:08am

Slant

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Review: On Broadway, a Pure-Horror Scale-Up

'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' feels like a dim approximation of what makes the Netflix series so special.

 

Updated On: 4/23/25 at 12:08 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:11am

Holdren in Vulture:

High School, Dramatically: Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Grief Camp

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-stranger-things-first-shadow-grief-camp.html

"If The First Shadow is purely an act of fan service, at least it’s an unapologetic and, if the audience around me was any judge, satisfying one. Is it a play? I mean, yes-ish? Is it an extravagant TV-meets-theater-meets-theme-park hybrid that probably has not entirely heartening implications for the future of Broadway? For sure. Is it also so unrelentingly absurd that it’s hard to be mad at? Absolutely."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:12am

WSJ

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Review: A Streaming Series Takes the Broadway Stage

The popular Netflix show receives a theatrical spinoff that favors visual spectacle over human drama.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/stranger-things-the-first-shadow-review-a-streaming-series-takes-the-broadway-stage-b1ec7e77

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:13am

Washington Post

The ‘Stranger Things’ Broadway show is a terrifying cash grab

Netflix’s new stage extravaganza is a brand tentacle aimed at existing fans, and it may leave newcomers in the dark.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2025/04/22/stranger-things-first-shadow-broadway/

"The production’s visual effects, designed by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher with video design by 59, are among the most spectacular — and certainly the most frightening — on Broadway. (Yes, there are plenty of nosebleeds.) They are also a distraction from the script, which traffics in the incidents, mini quests and breadcrumbs of intrigue that entice streaming viewers to click on the next episode. But straining to make sense of a play, which lives and dies in the moment, is not dramatic engagement."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:14am

The Wrap

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Broadway Review: Netflix Mashes Up With ‘Grease’ and Stephen King

Stephen Daldry’s flashy direction and Kate Trefry’s comic adaptation makes for an oddball jukebox musical

https://www.thewrap.com/stranger-things-broadway-review-netflix/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:15am

Theatrely

STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW Is A Triumph On Broadway — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/stranger-things-the-first-shadow-is-a-triumph-on-broadway-review

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:16am

1 1/2 stars from NYP

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ review: Netflix’s Broadway play is an assault on the senses

https://nypost.com/2025/04/23/entertainment/stranger-things-the-first-shadow-review-netflixs-broadway-play-is-an-assault-on-the-senses/

"The material, screechy and heartless, bares little resemblance to its warm source. Part of what makes the series work, by the way, is the alchemy of its casting. Without the original kids and their 1980s garb and sweet bond, the soul of “Stranger Things” is missing.  

What’s mostly left is dumb and Duffer."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:16am

B+ from Entertainment Weekly

Stranger Things: The First Shadow review: The Upside Down comes to life in jaw-dropping Broadway prequel

Louis McCartney reprises his West End role as a young Henry Creel, who settles down with his family in Hawkins in 1958.

https://ew.com/stranger-things-the-first-shadow-review-11715935

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:18am

NY Daily News/Chicago Tribune

BROADWAY REVIEW: ‘Stranger Things’ is peak fusion of streaming TV and theater

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/04/22/broadway-review-stranger-things-is-peak-fusion-of-streaming-tv-and-theater/

"I’d venture so far as to say here that I’ve never seen this scale of richly realized horror on a Broadway stage before. Most Broadway horror shows (the intentional ones, anyway) end up less than horrifying. This one delivers all the immersive feels, with new illusions and scares flowing at often neck-breaking speed. You feel like you are getting the primordial orange from which Netflix then squeezed five seasons worth of juice.

In an ideal world, I thought while watching, this show would be able to breathe more, let the audience feel and care more and that we all suffered together from diminishing technical returns, especially in Act II. Palpably, no one around me thought the same.

"

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:20am

AMNY

Review | ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’: Now streaming live on Broadway

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/broadway/review-stranger-things-the-first-shadow/

"A three-hour fan wiki brought to life, complete with origin stories, stilted dialogue, lame jokes, and sequences seemingly constructed only to set up the next visual effect. Yes, there are plenty of them: levitations, transformations, and a monstrous spider that hovers over the audience like the Phantom’s chandelier. Some in the crowd  who were dressed like they were attending Comic Con rather than a Broadway show ate it up."

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:37am

Louis McCartney Tony nom for best lead actor in a play incoming?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:50am

DTLI Consensus: The enormously popular Netflix brand extension dials the stunning visual spectacle and stage imagery up to Eleven, but leaves all sense of dramatic cohesion outside the Marquis doors.

7 positive, 5 mixed (including the NYT), 5 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/stranger-things-the-first-shadow/

Updated On: 4/23/25 at 12:50 AM

[ElizaSchuyler]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:59am

EDSOSLO858 said: "Louis McCartney Tony nomfor best lead actor in a play incoming?"

No.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 7:08am

The Post and the Times were similarly dismissive of the London production. The London critics were much more positive and focused on the spectacle. That seems to be a trend over there in years past.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow – Reviews | West End Theatre

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 7:22am

Sara Holdren nailing it, yet again.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 9:08am

MemorableUserName said: "The Wrap

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Broadway Review: Netflix Mashes Up With ‘Grease’ and Stephen King

Okay, now I want to see Christine: the Musical 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 9:55am

Looking at availability starting next week, this show seems to have sold almost nothing, which is bizarre. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 10:00am

EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:The enormously popular Netflix brand extension dials the stunning visual spectacle and stage imagery up to Eleven, but leaves all sense ofdramatic cohesion outside the Marquis doors.

7 positive, 5 mixed (including the NYT), 5 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/stranger-things-the-first-shadow/"

1) Whoever writes the consensus, I wish they would put these on the website.

2) Basically a theme park. Cool. I’m going tonight, but nice to know I’m probably going to be bored out of my mind since I’m not familiar with the ST lore and hate spectacle over substance 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 10:01am

quizking101 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:The enormously popular Netflix brand extension dials the stunning visual spectacle and stage imagery up to Eleven, but leaves all sense ofdramatic cohesion outside the Marquis doors.

7 positive, 5 mixed (including the NYT), 5 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/stranger-things-the-first-shadow/"

1) Whoever writes the consensus, I wish they would put these on the website.

2) Basically a theme park. Cool. I’m going tonight, but nice to know I’m probably going to be bored out of my mind since I’m not familiar with the ST lore and hate spectacle over substance"

I myself think of what to write / pun on for each Broadway show's consensus, inspired by those one-sentence movie consensuses on Rotten Tomatoes. Glad you enjoy it :)

Updated On: 4/23/25 at 10:01 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 11:34am

Never saw an episode and thought this was spectacular. I didn’t find the story lacking at all. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/23/25 at 12:35pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Looking at availability starting next week, this show seems to have sold almost nothing, which is bizarre."

I sat on buying tickets over a week out because it was mostly unsold when I looked. Two days later, half the stock was unavailable. A day after that, even less; to the point that I had to bite the bullet and purchase online instead of going right to the box office to avoid fees like I wanted. There’s almost no predicting how ticket sales work these days, and they’ve definitely been holding back a lot of stock for TKTS and official third-party sellers as dates get closer.

Updated On: 4/23/25 at 12:35 PM