'Stranger Things' Star Ayana Cymone Talks Opening Doors

In the terrifying and deeply nostalgic universe of Stranger Things, the presence of Henry Creel—the troubled boy who eventually becomes the monstrous Vecna—has horrified millions of viewers worldwide. On the stage of the Marquis Theatre, inside Broadway’s Tony-winning production Stranger Things: The First Shadow, something unexpected steals the spotlight: a grounding, fiercely human love story. At the very center of that emotional core is Patty Newby, played by Ayana Cymone, who carries the heart, soul, and terrifying screams of the role eight times a week.

Ayana sat down with MadameNoire in this exclusive conversation to discuss her trajectory, stepping into this pivotal lead role, and what it truly means to occupy space on Broadway.

Cymone’s performance speaks to a change taking place across the theater landscape—a moment where Black women are holding down major spaces across the broader New York theatrical scene. Whether observing the raw, ensemble-driven energy of The Outsiders, the high-octane spectacle of Boop! The Musical, the classic genre reinventions in Little Shop of Horrors, or the multi-generational celebration of Black female agency in The Whoopi Monologues, the standard for what Black artists can lead is expanding rapidly. Cymone’s performance as Patty reflects this growing, necessary standard: Black heroines leading stories where their humanity isn’t reduced to trauma, but elevated as the ultimate emotional force.

Cymone’s journey with the production began as part of the original Broadway cast playing Sue Anderson (the mother of Lucas and Erica Sinclair; portrayed by Tara Wescott in the first season and by Karen Ceesay in the television series), while also understudying Patty during the show’s first year. When the opportunity came to fully step into Patty’s shoes—a character created specifically for the stage play by Kate Trefry as the adopted sister of Bob Newby and the primary love interest to Henry Creel—she leaped at the chance.

“It was always my dream to play a young Black girl where the story doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with her being Black,” Cymone tells MadameNoire. “I do feel like those stories are needed, but a part of me is a little tired of seeing those stories where her whole identity is about her color. Is that a part of it? Absolutely, you can’t excuse it. But I think that there’s something so fresh and interesting about our show that it really doesn’t have much to do about that. I am in love with the fact that I am not the only Black person in that show—that there are many of us. I get emotional every time I think about the fact that I’m being who I wanted to see. I hope that once a night, or once every 18 nights, there’s some young Black girl, specifically a dark-skinned Black girl, seeing what I’m doing on stage and being like, ‘That is possible.’”

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Rewriting the Sci-Fi and Horror Trope

For Black audiences, Cymone’s role disrupts a tired cinematic legacy. In traditional horror and sci-fi genre fiction, Black characters are routinely subjected to a double layer of trauma: they are either written as the sacrificial first victims to die, or their narrative existence in a historical setting is burdened by the heavy weight of period-typical racism.

Set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, a storyline involving an interracial relationship between a Black girl and a white boy would traditionally be framed through relentless racial violence or systemic oppression. The First Shadow takes a different approach. While acknowledging her character’s identity, the narrative allows Patty to be awkward, romantic, curious, and central to saving the boy she loves. Seeing a dark-skinned Black woman centered as the romantic lead and emotional anchor in a 1950s sci-fi epic without being burdened by historical trauma reclaims genre space that Black women have long been denied.

Built for the Spotlight

Originating from Richmond, Virginia, Cymone’s path to Broadway was built on rigorous craft, formal training, and community roots. A proud graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s prestigious BFA acting program, she sharpened her classical skills playing iconic roles, including the titular Cressida in Troilus and Cressida with Santa Cruz Shakespeare. When Stranger Things: The First Shadow made its leap from London’s West End to New York, Cymone was right there at the foundation.

“Even though the show had existed in the West End, we were kind of writing it from the ground up for Broadway and kind of catering the roles to us,” Cymone recalls. “So I think it was super cool and collaborative. Your Broadway debut, that night of, everyone kind of blacks out, so I don’t really remember much of the actual night! But it was a super cool experience overall.”

Transitioning from ensemble work to carrying the narrative weight of a lead character eight times a week required both mental and physical recalibration. Patty Newby is thrust directly into the show’s legendary special effects and illusion sequences.

“I did get to go on quite a bit for Patty during year one…so I feel like I was able to dip my toe into what it would be like,” Cymone explains. “But you never know what eight shows a week is going to feel like on your body with any role, so I think that was a big adjustment. I’m a hopeless romantic myself, so I’m super excited to be playing the love interest! It’s so exciting for me, and I feel like a role like Patty has always come really easily to me—just something that I immediately connect to. The fact that she’s awkward, and weird and a little bit of a loner in the beginning, and then it’s her finding Henry that makes everything click for her. I resonate a lot with that with how I was in middle school and high school.”

Sci-Fi, Illusion, and the Demands of the Stage

Co-created by the Duffer Brothers, written by Kate Trefry, and directed by Stephen Daldry, Stranger Things: The First Shadow was the most Tony Award-winning play of 2025, taking home four awards including a Special Tony Award for Illusions and Technical Effects. It recently announced its final extension on Broadway through January 3, 2027, having already drawn nearly 1.6 million theatergoers across London and New York. The show continues to expand the reach of live theater, with 65% of audience members reporting that the production is their very first time attending a theater show.

Working alongside world-class illusionists Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher—who previously designed the magic for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—feels to Cymone like stepping into a living, breathing magic trick every night.

“It’s literally a magic show happening before your eyes,” Cymone says. “Every department helps make those effects happen. I am on stage for what I think is one of the scariest moments in the show, because it’s a shift that happens literally mid-scene—literally [in the middle of] my line. You literally hear the audience go, ‘Oh… oh no!’ And you see them kind of catching on to what we’re doing. From someone who actually hates horror—I don’t love horror movies, I would be terrified even seeing the show—being in it is so much fun. I love scaring people.”

Sustaining those horror screams alongside deep emotional intimacy requires immense vocal discipline, Cymone explains.

“Preparation-wise, something I tell myself before every show is just: start at the beginning,” she shares. “For Patty, this is all a new experience. She’s never gone through this before. Obviously Ayana has, like 500 times, but Patty hasn’t! So I just tell myself to start at the beginning, listen and respond, and buckle up and go on the ride. I do a lot of screaming in the show. True horror screams, so that was something that I had to really prep and prepare for through trial and error, and figure out how can I sustain this for eight shows a week, keep it scary, but healthy for me [without] ruining my voice.”

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Taking Up Space

The ultimate power of Cymone’s trajectory is a directive for an entire generation of Black women artists. In spaces that frequently socialize Black women to shrink, moderate their tone, or apologize for their presence, Cymone’s journey insists on ownership of one’s room.

Supported by weekly calls with her family back home in Virginia and grounded by a strong network of peers, she finds strength in the sisterhood of Black artists actively reshaping American theater.

“I’ve been to the Black Women on Broadway event for the past two years, and even just going to events like that and being surrounded by literally hundreds of Black women from both on and off stage is a dream,” Cymone shares. “My community has just been there for me, period. They’ve taught me to stay humble, stay grateful, and stay open to new experiences.”

When asked what wisdom she would pass down to young Black girls watching her from the audience, Cymone’s advice is deeply empowering.

“Your journey is not anyone else’s,” Cymone says. “Comparison is the thief of joy. You have to take up space, because no one else is going to do it for you. You have to open those doors and make those connections, because again, no one is going to do it for you. It’s so hard, because I think we as Black women are conditioned to be quiet, don’t do too much, don’t come across angry, don’t do this, don’t do that. But no—f*** that. Do everything. Step into your power, step into your beauty. Surround yourself with other Black women, because those are the people that I always truly find myself leaning on. Everything happens for a reason, and your time will come when it’s meant to come.”

As Stranger Things: The First Shadow continues its historic run at the Marquis Theatre through early 2027, Ayana Cymone shows us that taking up space on Broadway is about holding the door wide open for everyone waiting in the wings for their turn.

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