Harry Potter eyes a Spring 2018 Broadway Opening

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

Producers Sonia Friedman, Colin Callender and J.K. Rowling have now revealed they are in exclusive negotiations with the Ambassador Theatre Group to bring the West End smash hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts I & II to Broadway. The play is eyeing a Spring 2018 Broadway bow.

ATG plans a multi-million dollar renovation of Broadway's 1,900-seat Lyric Theatre, removing 400 seats and creating a more intimate space to accommodate director John Tiffany's staging of the play. ATG also plans a renovation of the theatre's lobby and a relocation of the main entrance from 42nd Street to 43rd Street.

Sonia Friedman & Colin Callender released the following statement:

"We are thrilled about ATG's ambitious plans which will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a unique theatre space tailored to the specific needs of the production over the play's two parts. The remodeled Lyric will include a smaller auditorium redesigned to the specifications of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child team, as well as an adapted proscenium and stage that can house designer Christine Jones' glorious set without swamping or compromising director John Tiffany's brilliant staging. The spacious front of house environment will also be transformed to optimize the atmosphere and audience experience. But above all, ATG's plans will provide Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with 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."
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling added:
"I'm delighted we are one step closer in bringing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to Broadway and very excited by the proposed plans."
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series, set 19 years after the last Rowling novel, and the first official stage production of Harry Potter.

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."

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child officially opened at London's Palace Theatre to excellent reviews on 30 July 2016, following previews from 7 June. The play is performed in two parts with the option for audience members to attend either both parts in the same day or on seperate days.

No word yet on casting for the Broadway production or whether the London stars - Jamie Parker (Harry), Noma Dumezweni (Hermione) and Paul Thornley (Ron) - will transfer with the show.

- by Tom Millward

A Scene from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Originally published on

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