Originally published on 4/11/25

Calling all members of the Hellfire Club! It’s time for our monthly club meeting, and this time, it’s at a very exciting location: Broadway! That’s right, we’re finally leaving Hawkins, Indiana, and heading to The Big Apple! To celebrate this, we’ve invited a very special guest to tell us all about it. Ladies, gentlemen or however else you identify, meet Alison Jaye, the actress tasked with bringing Joyce Byers to life in the play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Keep scrolling to learn more about the stage show, including details on the plot and how it will connect to season 5 of Stranger Things! 

What is the ‘Stranger Things’ play about?

Sadly, there will be “no singing Demogorgons” in the play, according to Jaye, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a thrilling ride. Taking place in 1959, Hawkins, Indiana, the show is expected to follow a young Joyce Byers —surname Maldonado—(Jaye) and Jim Hopper (Burke Swanson) as they deal with growing up. Elsewhere, the Creel family—whom viewers were introduced to in season 4 of Stranger Things—deals with their son Henry (Louis McCartney) after he joins the school play despite all of the darkness growing inside of him. 

“Our first preview, I have never heard a more interactive, excited audience in my life,” Jaye said. “It was 1600 people cheering you on the whole time, like when I walked on stage and they introduced my character and said, ‘Meet Joyce,’ and 1600 people started roaring.” 

Alison Jaye shares how she became Joyce Byers 

In Netflix’s Stranger Things, Winona Ryder plays Joyce Byers. While Jaye might not have been able to meet the actress in real life, she did spend three years working on becoming her between workshops and preproduction. 

“I have not spoken to Winonna yet. I hope that’s a yet. I hope there’s a time coming in the future,” Jaye said. “But our brilliant writer, Kate Trefry, has been writing Stranger Things since season 2, so she’s written and grown these characters pretty much from the beginning.” 

“During the audition process, we didn’t know what the project was,” she continued. “It has code names, and we would get fake scripts and now it makes perfect sense.” 

Along with the television show’s writer, the Stranger Things co-creators–Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer—have attended the show, with the actress saying, “Ross was, like, ‘Alison, from the moment we found you, you’ve been the only choice.’ It’s pretty phenomenal.” 

How does the ‘Stranger Things’ play connect to the TV show? 

The Stranger Things TV show takes place in the 1980s and follows Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) as they try to get their friend Will Byers (Noah Schnapp)—Joyce’s son—back after he goes missing. 

“An amazing aspect of the show is that you can see it without having any idea what Stranger Things is,” Jaye shared. “If you have seen it, though, you gain a lot of new information. You may be, like, ‘Was that just a reveal?’ depending on how closely you’re listening.” 

The actress also told First for Women that “there are a lot of things planted in the show that culminate in season 5. Obviously, I cannot say which, but there are many, many moments.” 

Along with Joyce, Hopper and The Creels, several other TV show characters are expected to appear on the show, including Dr. Brenner (Alex Breaux), Luca’s dad Charles Sinclair (Robert T. Cunningham), Karen Wheeler (Dora Doplhin)—surname Childress—Lonnie Byers (Logan Gould), Ted Wheeler (Jamie Martin Mann) and Bob Newby, Superhero (Juan Carlos). 

“One of my favorite characters is Bob,” Jaye shared. “He didn’t have a long enough journey on the show, but I feel like there is such genuine softness, earnestness and groundedness in his and Sean Astin’s performance, that it was so elevated. Also, next to Winona and her antics and everything that she’s going through, there was just such a beautiful dichotomy going on there that they could be with each other, and that is seen in Juan Carlos in our production as well.” 

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is currently being performed at the Marquis Theatre in Manhattan, New York. There is no current end date, and you can buy tickets here.

Link to original: https://www.firstforwomen.com/entertainment/celebrities/how-the-stranger-things-musical-connects-to-the-show-the-cast-shares