Good interview with Sonia Freidman -
https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/sonia-friedman-on-taking-mean-girls-to-the-stage-its-women-who-do-things-jk9mzq3v5
On Stranger Things -
““I’ve never done it for the money. If I want to do a piece of work, though, I have to understand the basics. What theatre should it be in? If you put it in the wrong space because money is dictating things, it can go wrong. So I find numbers creative. I do find all of that quite exciting.”
Would that explain, then, why the Netflix spin-off sci-fi spectacular Stranger Things: The First Shadow is playing in the relatively small (970-seat) Phoenix Theatre while Harry Potter is in a 1,400-seater? It’s complicated, she says. The Phoenix was free when they needed a theatre, and it’s in a basement: “We sort of didn’t want a shiny theatre for that piece. But I would probably like 200 more seats.”
It’s tight both to make the numbers work; it’s tight even to fit the set in. “So when we go to New York with it [in 2025] we will work on it. It’s definitely the most difficult thing I’ve ever produced, but on Broadway it’s going to be even more complex.”
Stranger Things is not easy money, then, but it’s still a substantial success. (Reports that there are plans for stage sequels are “nonsense”.)”