“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” an action-packed stage prequel to the Netflix fantasy series “Stranger Things” that recently premiered in London, will open on Broadway next season, beginning previews on March 28 at the Marquis Theatre. The premise is reminiscent of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the stage sequel to the “Harry Potter” series, which opened in 2018 and continues to run on Broadway.
As in the Netflix series, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is set in Hawkins, Indiana, but back in 1959, when Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers (played on the series by David Harbour and Winona Ryder, respectively) were teenagers, and a 12-year-old Henry Creel (who eventually becomes a major villain) just moved to town. The production is directed by Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliot,” “The Inheritance”). The Duffer Brothers, the creators of “Stranger Things,” are credited with the show’s story along with Kate Trefry (who wrote the script) and Jack Thorne (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”). The fifth season of “Stranger Things” is currently in production and is expected to be released in 2025.
‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ returning with Bob Odenkirk and Kieran Culkin
It is not too difficult to collect a bunch of famous male actors to do a Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of a ruthless, unscrupulous, and altogether desperate pack of Chicago real estate salesmen, even after Mamet’s regretful transformation into a clownish, rambling political ideologue.
The 1984 play first returned to Broadway in 2005 with Alan Alda as the struggling veteran salesman Shelly Levene and Liev Schreiber as the hotshot shark Richard Roma. In 2012, it was revived again with Al Pacino as Levene and Bobby Cannavale as Roma. Schreiber and Cannavale both won Tony Awards for their performances as Roma.
Now comes word that “Glengarry” will return to Broadway next spring with “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk as Levene and “Succession” star Kieran Culkin as Roma. Also in the cast will be comic Bill Burr (“Old Dads”). Its producer, Jeffrey Richards, was also behind the 2005 and 2012 productions. However, its director, Patrick Marber, did not stage the prior revivals.
Whoopi Goldberg to lead ‘Annie’ during the holidays.
The national tour of “Annie” will play a month-long run at the vast Theater at Madison Square Garden beginning Dec. 4, with Whoopi Goldberg joining the cast as the villainous Miss Hannigan beginning Dec. 11. “Annie,” while already a perennial family-friendly musical, is particularly well-suited to the holidays since it concludes on a merry Christmas morning. Eighteen years ago, a tour of “Annie” played the same venue during the holidays with Kathie Lee Gifford as Miss Hannigan. In recent years, Martin Charnin (who wrote the lyrics of “Annie” and directed the original Broadway production and many of its revivals) and Thomas Meehan (who wrote its book) have died, while composer Charles Strouse is now 96 years old – and long overdue for a Kennedy Center Honor.
