Published May 13. 2026 02:06AM<\/p>\n
The television series \u201cStranger Things\u201d is a phenomenon, spawning a second series, a podcast, a documentary, a series of books, many comic books and even a parody musical.<\/p>\n
\u201cStranger Sings! The Parody Musical\u201d continues through May 17, Civic Theatre of Allentown.<\/p>\n
The opening night May 8 performance was seen for this theater review.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to know anything about the original series to enjoy this over-the-top chronicle of happenings in Hawkins, Ind.<\/p>\n
The musical\u2019s book by Jonathan Hogue, who also wrote the music for the show, satirizes season one of the TV show, using the same names as the original characters even though Will, for some reason, is a puppet, manipulated in the Civic production by Brooke Harrsch.<\/p>\n
The plot line involves secret paranormal experiments by mad scientists and a disappearance into an alternate dimension, along with some teenage angst and romance. The original Netflix series, \u201cStranger Things\u201d (2016 to 2025), was famous for its 1980s\u2019 setting and nostalgia, and so the musical makes references to things like New Coke.<\/p>\n
Where Civic Theatre found so many talented performers is as big a mystery as the show\u2019s mysteries presented onstage. This is particularly seen in the big production numbers like \u201cGetting Closer,\u201d arranged by musical director Amanda Haag. Everyone in the cast of 15 fills more than one role.<\/p>\n
Angelina Dries as Eleven and Mariel Letourneau have outstanding voices.<\/p>\n
Mackenzie Lewis takes over the stage in a\u2006rousing musical turn as Barb, as does Harrsch as Joyce.<\/p>\n
Jayden McFaddin, who plays Lucas, does unbelievable acrobatics, including a back flip.<\/p>\n
The stage is dominated by a large screen backdrop with changing monochrome colors. Only a few movable props are used. The sides of the stage have a couch and a few other pieces of furniture.<\/p>\n
The four-piece band of keyboards, percussion, guitar and bass can be seen at the sides of the stage. Their excellent playing gives a stable base to the outlandish proceedings they support.\u2006<\/p>\n
The playbook is online at https:\/\/tlhshows.com and the original cast recording for 2021 is available on streaming services.<\/p>\n
If you peruse them, just remember that the presentation at Civic Theater, directed by Civic Theatre of Allentown Artistic Director William Sanders, makes \u201cStranger Sings!\u201d far more fun and entertaining than reading or hearing it online.<\/p>\n
\u201cStranger Sings! The Parody Musical,\u201d 7:30 p.m. May 8, 9, 14, 15; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. May 16; 3 p.m. May 17; Civic Theatre of Allentown, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown. 610-433-8903, https:\/\/civictheatre.com\/<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY BILL BASTA\u201cStranger Sings! The Parody Musical,\u201d Civic Theatre of Allentown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published May 13. 2026 02:06AM The television series \u201cStranger Things\u201d is a phenomenon, spawning a second series, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-190944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}