Entertainment

Broadway spell for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child starts in April 2018

US-based fans will be able to watch the acclaimed shows in the Big Apple next year.
US-based fans will be able to watch the acclaimed shows in the Big Apple next year. US-based fans will be able to watch the acclaimed shows in the Big Apple next year.

JK Rowling’s popular West End production Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Parts One and Two will debut on Broadway in April 2018.

The two-part play, which stretches over five hours and is known as the eighth Harry Potter story, tells the tale of the wizard 19 years after the events in the final book of Rowling’s original series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.

It is based on an original story by Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, with Tiffany as director and Thorne as scriptwriter.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child
JK Rowling (centre) with writer of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Jack Thorne (2nd left), director John Tiffany (2nd right), co-producers Colin Callender and Sonia Friedman (Yui Mok/PA)

At the 2017 Olivier Awards, the play won nine out of the 11 awards for which it was nominated, breaking the record to become the most-awarded production in the history of the event.

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’s move to the New York theatre district was confirmed by its producers Sonia Friedman, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, who revealed it will premiere at the newly renovated Lyric Theatre.

The venue, based in New York’s Times Square, has undergone a complete redesign and transformation to prepare for the US premiere of the play, which will have its official opening on April 22 next year.

The plays originally opened at London’s Palace Theatre in July 2016 after nearly eight weeks of previews.Casting details will be revealed later in the year.Fans of the wizarding franchise who wish to attend the New York productions will be able to purchase tickets when they go on sale in the autumn.