Staff Reports
Broadway Licensing Global chose 29 schools, as part of the “Wands at the Ready” contest, to become the first in their U.S. state or territory to perform the new high school edition of the hit Broadway play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Schools were asked to describe why their school or community is the most “magical” place to produce the Olivier- and Tony-winning play. The productions will be considered the play’s first official stagings, though they will follow developmental pilot productions.
The high school version of the hit play has been developed by the work’s original creative team, including playwright Jack Thorne, director John Tiffany, producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, and with sign-off by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The adaptation, announced last year, shortens the piece’s runtime, along with creating solutions that make the professional production’s high-tech wizardry possible regardless of budget size.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. The play takes place 19 years after the source material book series, and follows Harry Potter’s son Albus and his friendship with Scorpius, the son of rival Draco Malfoy, in their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The original West End production premiered in 2016, receiving 11 Olivier Award nominations and winning nine, including Best New Play. The Broadway transfer opened at The Lyric Theatre in 2018, then received 10 Tony Award nominations and won six, including Best Play. For more information about the play, visit BroadwayLicensing.com.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will run November 7-10 at the Collierville High School Draco Playhouse. More information will be released closer to the production date.
