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Three young people with backpacks look startled under dramatic blue stage lights. One holds a sword, another holds up a metal object defensively, and the third reaches out as if to protect against something offstage.

Laugh Yourself Upside Down with Stranger Sings!

A group of people in retro costumes pose dramatically on a stage with colorful lights and vintage lamps, resembling characters from the TV show Stranger Things.
The cast of Stranger Sings! (left to right): Jamir Brown, Jeffrey Laughrun, Jeremiah Garcia, Caroline Huerta, SLee, Garrett Poladian, Harley Seger, and Shawn W. Smith.

Song, dance, and humor with the occasional Barb. The hit musical parody, directed by Corcoran’s Nick Flatto, draws the curtain on May 7.

It’s your last chance (for now) to find out what really happened in the Upside Down with Stranger Sings!, the musical parody of Netflix hit Stranger Things. Created by Jonathan Hogue and directed by Corcoran West Side agent Nick Flatto, the play wraps its latest run on May 7, 2023, after nine months — and two extensions — at Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s.

Two people sit side by side on a bench. One wears a Hawkins Middle School A.V. Club sweatshirt and jeans, the other a patterned short-sleeve shirt and black pants. Colorful string lights glow behind them.
Nick Flatto (right) with the show’s writer/producer Jonathan Hogue.

As you might have guessed, Stranger Sings! reimagines the first season of Stranger Things through jokes and melodies. The story, like in the streaming series, follows three middle school friends as they search for their friend Will, who mysteriously vanishes into the night in 1980s Hawkins, Indiana.

“The musical is a love letter to our favorite TV show, and we also give fans what you didn’t get in the show,” explained Flatto, a member of the Scott Stewart NYC Team. “Everyone was like, ‘What happened to Barb?’ [the best friend of show protagonist Nancy Wheeler, who is also captured by the monsters of the Upside Down], and we made Barb the star of the show. She gets to come back and sing the 11:00 number, and it’s the thing the show didn’t give you and that really excites us.”

For every fan demanding justice for Barb, Stranger Sings! is here for you, featuring a show-stopping song-and-dance number for Barb, including an amazing dance between Barb and the Demogorgon. There’s plenty of meta-jokes as well, and a song acknowledging the iconic status of Stranger Things actress Winona Ryder, with cameos by Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and one of the Heathers.

A person with short red hair, glasses, and a plaid shirt smiles while sitting on a table. Behind them is a creature with an open, petal-like mouth and dark limbs, under dramatic stage lighting.
Barb (SLee) and the Demogorgon (Jamir Brown) have their own dance number.

The show has done amazingly well, winning seven 2021 Broadway World Off-Broadway Awards, including ‘Best New Musical,’ after its original run at The Players Theater in summer 2021, which Flatto also directed.

In true Corcoran family spirit, many of Nick’s colleagues have come out to support the show — the entire West Side office made a field trip — all leaving rave reviews.

“The show was so much fun, ” said Etie Khan of The Bass Team at Corcoran. “It provided many belly laughs and was total entertainment throughout.”

“Corcoran is a very supportive community, and it really meant the world to me that my colleagues came and enjoyed it,” Flatto added. “We all support one another.”

Tickets are available online.

Six people stand together under vibrant pink and purple lights, looking up at a geometric light display above them. One person reaches upwards, while the others watch in awe. The scene has a futuristic, energetic atmosphere.
Photography by Evan Zimmerman