Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Is Headed To Broadway

Earlier this summer, Harry Potter made a widely publicized comeback when the franchise’s very first stage play debuted. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child acted as a long-awaited sequel to JK Rowling’s seventh book. Set years after Harry Potter closed, the eighth installment followed the boy wizard and his loved ones when a new threat brought itself to Hogwarts. The play premiered in London’s West End to rave reviews and sold-out shows.

Now, it looks like the critically acclaimed play will be coming stateside.

According to Pottermore, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is expected to make its U.S. debut on Broadway. Show producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender are in talks to open the play at the Lyric Theater in New York. If all goes as planned, the Harry Potter play will begin running in spring 2018.

At the moment, producers are finalizing plans with Ambassador Theatre Group to prepare multi-million dollar transformation of the Lyric Theater to suit the show. The locale will be reconfigured from its 1,900 seating arrangement to a more cozy 1,500 to better suit the show’s aesthetic. Speaking with the site, Friedman talked a bit about the stunning news and of the expectations fans had to see the play move to America.

“The moment we opened in the West End, the inevitable question was ‘when are you going to Broadway?” the producer said. “So we brought the creative team to New York in September this year to look at many of the beautiful theatres in New York city.”

Friedman also explained why the team behind the play felt that the Lyric Theatre was the right venue for Harry Potter. “When the redesigned Lyric was presented to us as an idea and what the possibilities could be, we re-thought the whole thing and totally fell in love with the notion of a theatre being created especially for the Cursed Child, overseen by designer Christine and our director John Tiffany.”

If you are wondering how JK Rowling feels about the move, then you’ll be happy to hear she is elated along with the play’s writer and director.

“They are very, very happy,” Friedman said. “John is going to be crucial and very, very involved with Christine and the rest of the design team on the look, feel, aesthetic and overall feel of the theatre. Jack can’t wait to see it, and Jo is fully, fully supportive of the whole venture. Our three Js are as great as ever.”

With the Harry Potter play set to hit Broadway, it looks like Hamilton will have some competition. The latter has been the scene’s hottest ticket, but Harry Potter managed to beat its selling record. The play sold more than 250,000 tickets alone when they became available, beating out Hamilton‘s record sales.

So, what do you think? Will you be planning a trip to New York City to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child when the play hits Broadway?

[H/T] Pottermore