Evan Alexander Smith Enters the Upside Down in Broadway’s Stranger Things: The First Shadow Tonight
The Back to the Future alum takes over as Dr. Brenner for the play’s final 14 weeks on Broadway
(Photo: c/o Polk & Co.)
What to Know
- Evan Alexander Smith joins Broadway’s Stranger Things: The First Shadow as Dr. Brenner
- Smith succeeds John Zdrojeski, with Taylor Sage Evans, Neil McCaffrey, Drew Redington and Kala Ross also joining the cast
- The production plays its final 14 weeks before closing January 3, 2027
Evan Alexander Smith joins the Broadway cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow as Dr. Brenner tonight, September 29. He will play the role for the production’s final 14 weeks on Broadway. As previously announced, the production closes at the Marquis Theatre on January 3, 2027. Smith succeeds John Zdrojeski, who joins the cast of A Few Good Men on Broadway.
Smith’s previous Broadway credits include Back to the Future, Merrily We Roll Along and Amazing Grace. He appeared in Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway and The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway as well as on tour. Smith's screen credits include Elsbeth, Law & Order: SVU, Sub/liminal and A Newport Christmas.
Also beginning performances tonight are Taylor Sage Evans as Karen Childress and ensemble members Neil McCaffrey, Drew Redington and Kala Ross. They join cast members Ben Ashcraft as Alan Munson, Rosie Benton as Virginia Creel, Ta’Rea Campbell as Patty’s Mom, Juan Carlos as Bob Newby, Lia Christina as Alice Creel, Ayana Cymone as Patty Newby, John Patrick Collins as Lonnie Byers, Robert T. Cunningham as Charles Sinclair, Shea Grant as Joyce Maldonado, Andrew Hovelson as Principal Newby, Thatcher Jacobs as Walter Henderson, Ted Koch as Chief Hopper, Quinn Nehr as Ted Wheeler, Nick Rehberger as Victor Creel, Victor de Paula Rocha as Henry Creel, Zoe Sage as Sue Anderson, Afra Sophia Tully as Claudia Yount, Matthew Erick White as James Hopper Jr. and Francesca Yhlen as Alice Creel.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a stand-alone adventure written by Kate Trefry, a staff writer on the Netflix show, from an original story by Trefry, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer and Jack Thorne. Directed by Stephen Daldry, the show is set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana—24 years before the events of the first season of Stranger Things. The play centers on the Creel family and their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past.
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