Muggles, rejoice! “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will make its Broadway debut in Spring 2018.
The play, which has been playing to sold-out audiences in London’s West End since June 2016, will open in New York on April 22, 2018. Tickets will go on sale sometime this fall.
#CursedChild will open on Broadway at the redesigned Lyric Theatre! Official Opening will be April 22, 2018 https://t.co/JSGZm2k3Ne pic.twitter.com/Wx7bZ4WN16
— Cursed Child NYC (@HPPlayNYC) May 4, 2017
Though Rowling did not write the play, she did create the story along with “Cursed Child” playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany, and the show is considered an official sequel to her seven novels. At this year’s Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Tony Awards, “Cursed Child” was nominated a record 11 times and won nine Oliviers, a record for a single show.
In case you haven’t read the book of the script, here’s the synopsis: “It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.”
The Broadway home of “Cursed Child” will be the Lyric Theatre on West 42nd Street, which closed this month for a multimillion-dollar renovation to accommodate the show. The auditorium will shrink from 1,900 to 1,500 seats and the shape of the stage will be significantly altered, all to create “a bespoke home that will be intimate enough for a drama, yet big enough for us to deliver on our commitment to provide audiences with access to low-priced tickets throughout the auditorium,” according to the show’s producer, Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.
That will certainly take some magic, given that you’ll need two tickets to see the full show, which is split into Part 1 and Part 2. And despite there being no official new books in the series since 2007, Harry Potter fandom has only grown with side projects like Pottermore, “Cursed Child” and the recent “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” prequel film, which was written by Rowling.
The Lyric Theater’s lobby will also be transformed “to optimize the atmosphere and audience experience,” say the producers. Is that wizarding PR speak for “photo ops”? We’ll find out in 2018. Be the first to know about ticket sales and more Broadway Potter news by signing up for the production’s mailing list.
