The Hop: Backstage at Stranger Things: The First Shadow With Burke Swanson, Episode 5: Quintessentially Hawkins
The actor who plays James Hopper Jr. spotlights the crew and stagecraft behind Stranger Things: The First Shadow in his latest Broadway.com vlog
What to Know
- Burke Swanson, who plays James Hopper Jr. in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway, continues his Broadway.com vlog series documenting his final weeks with the original cast
- In the penultimate episode, Swanson highlights the show’s backstage crew including props head Reed Neal, pyro technician Staci Jo Johnston, head carpenter Zachary Feivou, deck carpenter Hunter Keene and house fly carpenter Kevin Keene
- The episode also features Bob Newby’s iconic AV cart and a playlist curated by Netherlands-based DJ Sagid Carter
Burke Swanson plays James Hopper Jr. in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway. (His character grows up to be chief of police Jim Hopper, played by David Harbour in the Netflix series.) No stranger—pun intended!—to shooting behind-the-scenes content, Swanson took Broadway.com on a backstage tour last fall. Now, he's turning the Broadway.com vlog upside down, capturing his final weeks with the full original Broadway cast.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is known for its spellbinding stagecraft, so it's only fitting that Swanson would use his penultimate episode to further highlight the show's backstage crew. The production's head of props Reed Neal shows off Bob Newby's famous AV cart and talks "exploding rat tanks." We also meet pyro technician sub Staci Jo Johnston, head carpenter Zachary Feivou, deck carpenter Hunter Keene and his dad, house fly carpenter Kevin Keene, who helps operate "one of the biggest puppets in Broadway history." As he wraps up, Swanson also shares a playlist curated by Netherlands-based DJ Sagid Carter of Club Carter Radio.
Episodes are released weekly on Tuesdays. You can also catch highlights on The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal.
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