“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will return to Broadway as a singular show.
The original production, written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany, encompassed two parts, running 5 hours and 15 minutes in total. The production did not release details of the new run time, but said it “will be told over a single afternoon or evening.”
The play will return to the Lyric Theatre on Broadway on Nov. 16. It originally opened at the Lyric Theatre on April 22, 2018.
Producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender cited both the difficulty of bringing back the large-scale show, as well as the gradual return of tourism for merging the show into one part.
“Given the challenges of remounting and running a two-part show in the US 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,” the producers said in the press release.
In addition to the Broadway reopening, the production team plans to bring the one-part production to the Curran Theater in San Francisco on Jan. 11, 2022 and to the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto in May 2022.
The production will remain in its original, two-part format in Melbourne, Australia, where it is currently playing, as well as on the West End on Oct. 14 and in Hamburg, Germany on Dec. 1.
The Broadway production, which won six Tony Awards, including Best Play, was well-attended and was reporting grosses of $1 million or more before the Broadway shutdown. However, average ticket prices and its overall gross potential had fallen as the production continued.
The costs related to the two-part production were substantial. The Broadway show was capitalized for up to $35.5 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The initial costs included $11.7 million for the physical production, which included contributions to the renovation of the theater, $3.2 million in production salaries and $7.8 million in general and administrative costs, which included the front-of-house design and signage, according to the filing. The San Francisco production, which opened Dec. 1, 2019, was capitalized for up to $33.3 million, according to SEC documents.
The play is based on an original story by “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling, as well as Thorne and Tiffany, who have been working on merging the two parts during the pandemic.
“We are incredibly excited to be returning to the US with this reimagined ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.’ We’ve been working hard on this new version throughout lockdown and it’s been a joyous process of rediscovery. 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,” Thorne and Tiffany said in the press release.
