Code Red: How do you prepare for starring in the Broadway adaptation of a hit Netflix series? For the cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, it involved going straight to the source.

Some of the stars of the Tony Award–winning play — who play younger versions of Joyce Maldonado, Jim Hopper, Dr. Martin Brenner, and Henry Creel — turned to key Stranger Things episodes to get to the heart of their characters. 

In celebration of the fifth and final season of the juggernaut show, The First Shadow cast members Alex Breaux, Alison Jaye, Louis McCartney, and Burke Swanson hit rewind and shared the major moments that helped shape their performances. From a revealing confession in the Hawkins National Laboratory to a tender Jopper scene, they tell Tudum about the episodes that most inspired them.

Alex Breaux (Dr. Brenner)

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven and Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner in Stranger Things Season 4

“This episode was instrumental in climbing inside the backstory that links our play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, with the TV series. It is in El’s confrontation with Dr. Brenner that we learn of Dr. Brenner’s aims and motivations for his experiments at the Hawkins National Laboratory. We are witness to Brenner's blend of compassion and cool detachment — reiterating his love for the children (even Henry), taking accountability for mistakes he’s made, and simultaneously gaslighting El [by] blaming her for unleashing Vecna onto Hawkins. 

Alex Breaux as Dr. Brenner and Louis McCartney as Henry Creel in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway

PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

“I love the complexity of Millie [Bobby Brown]’s and Matthew [Modine]’s performances — grounded, manipulative, emotional, wanting — which I used as touchstones in my portrayal of a younger Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

Alison Jaye (Joyce Maldonado)

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things Season 2

“When I joined the workshop with the Netflix team in 2022 to bring Joyce to life as a teenager in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959, I knew I had big shoes to fill, with Winona Ryder’s iconic performance leading the way. … Her dedication to Joyce, her fiery spirit, and the way she fuels her with such humanity in this series is a gift to us all, and I needed to make sure that, through extensive research and gestation, I was paying proper homage to just that. 

“There are so many facets to Joyce and many different colors of her personality and [Ryder’s] performance to grab from to help link my performance of her as a teenager to the beloved Joyce in the series. A great anchor point for me is Season 2, Episode 6, ‘The Spy.’ This episode captures a special side of Joyce’s vulnerability, seen in intimate moments with Bob and Hopper as you watch them become a family of sorts, as they support her in trying to save Will. People often see Joyce as a frantic, frenetic character, but this episode [shows] pure strength, and I love remembering her that way. 

“We see Joyce fight harder than ever. She is single-minded, protective, and forward-thinking. This episode opens with such a fiery Joyce and then quickly transitions into deep vulnerability. We see her belligerent and adamant cry for help when trying to get answers about what happened to Will while he is under observation in the Hawkins Lab. What I find particularly special about this episode is that the audience begins to see the relationship and intimacies building between Joyce, Bob, and Hopper.  

Alison Jaye as Joyce Maldonado (center) in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway

PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

“What makes this episode unique is the characters’ tenderness and vulnerability — they are without their masks and without their snark. You watch Joyce let her guard down with Bob and watch her let him in, a rare moment of surrender. You watch Hopper hold Joyce in the hospital. That image has always stuck with me, as if they are parents together. And more than just the three of them, you watch all the kids, the whole community, stand up for Will and fight for answers about him. 

“The type of ‘teamwork’ exemplified in this episode, and this season in full, feels like a big echo of all the digging and searching the trio (Joyce, Hopper, and Bob) does in our show. In one of the play’s final scenes, where I am alone with Henry, a scene we call ‘dimmer room,’ I constantly think about Joyce’s fight in the TV episode and how she goes to the most extreme lengths for her son to get answers. Every night on stage, I try to echo that motherly devotion and sincerity in my scene with Louis [McCartney] when I look at him as Henry and tell him that it’s all going to be OK and that I see the real him inside, that I am fighting for him. 

“This episode has such a deep human heartbeat to it, and it is one that beats in me every night as I enter the play at the Marquis Theatre. To keep expanding and digging into this story every night is [the] honor of a lifetime, and to have source material to pull from like the work of the great Winona Ryder is one of the biggest gifts an artist could ever ask for.”    

Louis McCartney (Henry Creel) 

Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel in Stranger Things Season 4

“There is one scene in this episode where Henry is telling his story to Eleven: how he is the son of Victor Creel, how he killed his family, and how he is 001. Aside from all the cool plot points, this scene feels [like] the accumulation of all his fear, sadness, and heartbreak compiled into a three-minute monologue. A few lines stick out to me, such as, ‘Like me, they are solitary creatures and deeply misunderstood.’ (Talking about spiders.) Another line reading: ‘A cruel, oppressive world, dictated by made-up rules.’ (Talking about how he’s restrained by social expectations.) How cool is that?! It’s everything he stands for, with hints of what he has lost in the past and what he has had to get over.

Louis McCartney as Henry Creel in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway

PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

“I used this scene a lot while researching Henry and watched it maybe 50–60 times. I think it’s amazing. Jamie Campbell Bower absolutely smashes it, and it’s just such a good representation of Henry’s moral compass and ideology.

“This scene is the pinnacle of what Stranger Things: The First Shadow is building toward. How Henry gets to this point in Season 4 is such a big question, and we tackle it on stage every night. He is so broken and fearful and angry. You’ll leave the theater feeling for him, just like I do. Maybe he was a nice kid? Come find out.”

Burke Swanson (James Hopper Jr.)

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, and David Harbour as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things Season 1

PHOTO BY CURTIS BAKER

“When I got cast, I immediately dove back into the series to begin actively building a teenage James Hopper Jr. My sincere hope when playing such a beloved character, and particularly me and my sister’s favorite character, is to simultaneously pay homage to the incredible, layered work that David Harbour has already done while also excavating and celebrating who Hopper is at his core. Our directors for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, and our playwright, Kate Trefry, were adamant about doing more than just imitations of the TV show. We wanted to expand upon what we already knew. Therefore, my first job was making sure that I knew everything I could from the series.

“As we near the end of Season 1, all of our characters find themselves together on the case in the Hawkins High gymnasium. Floating in a science-proof, Dustin-approved pool of salt, El has just found Will Byers scared and alone in the Upside Down, confirming that he is not only alive but [also] that there’s only a little time left before it’s all too late. Hopper, in classic fashion, jumps into action, attempting to leave everyone behind and ‘keep them safe’ while he sprints off to potentially sacrifice himself in order to save the boy. He will not fail this time. He can’t.

Alison Jaye as Joyce Maldonado, Juan Carlos as Bob Newby, and Burke Swanson as James Hopper Jr. in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway

PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

“Joyce and Jonathan are hot on his trail and, before he can get into his truck, Joyce confronts him. They go back and forth, and ultimately, in Joyce fashion, she puts Hop in his place. She will save her boy. She will not fail this time. She can’t. … She promptly turns to Jonathan and does precisely what Hopper just failed to do with her: ‘Stay here, protect the kids, be safe, I’ve got this.’

“Everything clicked for me when rewatching this scene. Though it is such a brief moment in the grand scheme of things, it so efficiently showcases all the dynamics at play in Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The way Jopper fight with and for each other, the way they listen without admitting it, the way that humor can come out of even the most serious transitions, the way they constantly sacrifice themselves for those around them, and the way that they take care of their community and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. From the way Hopper says ‘Joyce’ in this scene to the way he looks at her when skidding into reverse — it’s love, it’s frustration, it’s respect.

“And we’re off.”

The first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 will be released on Nov. 26, followed by three episodes
on Christmas, and the finale
on New Year’s Eve. Find out when new episodes arrive in your part of the world here.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is playing at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway in New York City. Get your tickets here.