Did someone say Lumos? Because the lights of Broadway are back! And with them, shows are lining up one by one to announce their debuts and reopenings. Harry Potter fans have been long awaiting the return of the Broadway show, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and now, according to Deadline, we finally have some answers about when they can catch the Wizarding World back in action. One big change that fans will either love or hate is that the once two-part live performance will now be cut down into a one-parter.
The original play, which initially took Broadway by storm in 2018 as a two-piece performance, treated audiences to a total of five hours of storyline and forced those that wished to come to both parts to buy separate tickets. Upon the announcement of the slimdown last July, playwright Jack Thorne, and director John Tiffany said they had been hard at work during the pandemic to bring fans one condensed version of the story. Of their experience with the writing during the lockdown, the creative duo said, “It has given us a unique opportunity to look at the play with fresh eyes and we have been inspired by the entire creative team every step of the way.”
The Broadway spin-off of this popular franchise takes place 19 years after the events of J.K. Rowling’s final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The story centers around Harry Potter who is now the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and his son, Albus Severus Potter, who is heading into his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Broadway cast includes the talent’s of James Snyder as Harry Potter, Diane Davis as Ginny Potter, James Romney as Albus Potter, David Abeles as Ron Weasley, Jenny Jules as Hermione Granger, Nadia Brown as Ron and Hermione’s daughter, Rose Granger-Weasley, Aaron Bartz as Draco Malfoy, and Brady Dalton Richards as his son, Scorpius Malfoy. The show is being produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.
The show will open its doors to audiences once again on Tuesday, December 7, at Manhattan’s Lyric Theatre with previews slated to begin on Friday, November 12. If you’re far from the bright lights of New York’s Broadway and want to see the new, shortened play, fear not. Previews will begin at the Curran in San Francisco beginning January 11, 2022, in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on May 31, 2022, and in Tokyo at the TBS Akasaka ACT Theater on July 8, 2022. And if you live in London, Melbourne, or Hamburg and are disappointed that you didn’t get to see the full 5 hour spectacle, you can catch it in both of those cities as well. London has already resumed performances at the Palace Theatre and Melbourne will bring the production back to the Princess Theatre on November 18. Even Hamburg will have the full production available at their Mehr! Theater on December 1.
With this shortened version set to premiere in New York, there is sure to be another huge turnout from fans of Harry Potter.