T.R. Knight Joins the Cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway

T.R. Knight’s return to Broadway is sure going to be strange, alright!

The actor — an Emmy nominee for his work on Grey’s Anatomy — will return to the boards this spring in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the highly anticipated, Olivier Award-winning prequel play based on the hit Netflix series.

In the show, Knight, 51, will will take on the role of Victor Creel. The character is father to Henry Creel, who Stranger Things viewers know as the guy who later becomes the show’s ultimate villain, Vecna (as a reminder, he was introduced in season 4 and played on screen by Jamie Campbell Bower).

Joining Knight as his son Henry will be Louis McCartney, who originated the role on stage when Stranger Things: The First Shadow debuted in London’s West End. Broadway veteran Rosie Benton (Patriots, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time) will complete the trio as Virginia Creel, Henry’s mother.

Performances for the production begins on Friday, March 28, 2025 at the Marquis Theatre in New York City, ahead of an official opening of Tuesday, April 22.

The show takes audiences back to Hawkins, Indiana, decades before the ’80s-set series began. Instead, it’s 1959 and Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado (later Joyce Byers) and Bob Newby — originated by David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Sean Astin, respectively — are students themselves and are facing a series of everyday challenges.

Their lives soon get turned, well, Upside Down, when new student Henry arrives. And audiences can expect plenty of twists and turns from there. The play received much acclaim in London for its captivating visuals and theatrical tricks, many of which are on display in a preview video for the production released back in May.

Other cast members announced for Broadway include Burke Swanson (as James Hopper), Shameless alum Alison Jaye (as Joyce Maldonado) and Nicky Eldridge (Bob Newby). Andrew Hovelson (Lucky Guy) will play Principal Newby, and Emmy nominee Gabrielle Nevaeh (Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay) will play as Patty Newby.

Flushing out the cast is Alex Breaux as Dr. Brenner, the character Matthew Modine made famous on TV. Breaux was recently announced as an addition to the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, which is filming now. It’s unknown who he’ll be playing on screen, though fans will surely speculate he’ll portray a younger Dr. Brenner.

Further casting for Stranger Things: The First Shadow will be announced in January 2025.

Edlridge, Nevaeh and McCartney are making their Broadway debuts with the play. Knight was last on Broadway in 2014’s It’s Only a Play. He made his Broadway debut in 2001’s revival of Noise’s Off, and has graced the New York City stages many times since, including the recent Off-Broadway revival of The Merchant of Venice.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is an original story by Stranger Things creators, directors, and executive producers Duffer Brothers as well as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child scribe Jack Thorne and Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry. Trefry penned the show’s book.

Prolific film and theater director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Crown, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) will direct the production. Justin Martin co-directs.

The Duffer Brothers are credited as creative producers, while Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen (both executive producers on Stranger Things, for 21 Laps) are listed as associate producers.

Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions are also among those on the production team.

Tickets to Stranger Things: The First Shadow are now on sale. Stranger Things can be streamed on Netflix.