Prior to auditioning for a role in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Gabrielle Nevaeh had watched the Netflix series multiple times. “Stranger Things is my favorite show,” says the 19-year-old actor, known for her role on Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay. So when she was offered the role of Patty, an entirely new character created for the play, which has already been a huge success in London, it was an “immediate” yes. “The chance to step into a universe that helped shape my love for storytelling felt surreal,” says Nevaeh, who is making her Broadway debut. “There’s something incredibly exciting about having the creative freedom to build a character from the ground up within a world I’ve admired for so long. I can’t wait for audiences to meet her and discover how she fits into this extraordinary universe.”