Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is returning to Broadway this fall. There will be a new show format that morphs the original two-part experience into a single-ticket performance. The reimagined show, produced by Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, Colin Callender, and Sonia Friedman Productions, on November 16, 2021, will begin at Broadway’s Lyric Theatre in New York. Starting July 12, 2021, the tickets will go on sale to the general public.
The show’s North American return also includes runs in Toronto, Canada, and San Francisco, which shift to a new one-part format while the currently running. The soon-to-return productions in Hamburg, Germany, London’s West End, and Melbourne, Australia, will continue in the original two-part format.
In a statement, producers Colin Callender and Sonia Friedman called Broadway’s reopening “an unprecedented moment in theatre history.” They also shared that they were delighted to announce the debut of a reimagined show “audiences can see in one afternoon or evening.”
According to Friedman and Callender, “Given the challenges of remounting and running a two-part show in the U.S. on the scale of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the commercial challenges faced by the theatre and tourism industries emerging from the global shutdowns, we are excited to be able to move forward with a new version of the play that allows audiences to enjoy the complete Cursed Child adventure in one sitting eight times a week.”
Since March 2020, Broadway had been shut down due to the pandemic. In May, The Broadway League and the governor announced that theatres could return to total capacity starting September 14. In their statements, the producers shared that the global shutdowns were damaging on many levels. They provide the opportunity to bring back together with their award-winning creative team and work to create a new single-part version of the play.
The producers also described their work reshaping the show, which had been the longest-running two-part play in Broadway history, as a beautiful process of rediscovery. The play is based on an original new story by J.K Rowling.