After great success in London, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is preparing for its debut on Broadway in 2018. Three other Broadway landlords were actively pursuing the show, but the Lyric Theatre landed the deal. Owners of the Lyric, the Ambassador Theatre Group, plan to spend millions in renovations to prepare for the show’s arrival. The announcement was made on the Pottermore website this week:
“Pottermore are delighted to announce that plans are officially underway for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to open on Broadway, with producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender in detailed talks to open the show in a totally transformed Lyric Theatre in New York in the spring of 2018.”
The Lyric is currently occupied by Cirque du Soleil’s “Paramour”. Once “Paramour” closes in April, renovations will begin at the Lyric. Currently, the theatre seats 1,900 but that will be reduced to 1,500 for “The Cursed Child” to give a more intimate feel. Producer Sonia Friedman said:
“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.”
Although it is the second largest theatre on Broadway, the Lyric has been home to a series of flops over the years. Some shows that did not do so well at the Lyric include “The Pirate Queen”, “Hot Feet”, “Young Frankenstein” and of course “Spiderman: Turn off the Dark”. It is possible that “The Cursed Child” could be a clean slate for the Lyric.
One of the Lyric’s many downfalls is the nearly unrecognizable entrance between 42nd and 43rd Street. The new plans move the entrance to a more central location, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Friedman said the plans to redesign the front of the house was a massive selling point. J.K. Rowling is on board with the plans as well, saying in a statement:
“I’m delighted we’re one step closer in bringing ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ to Broadway and very excited by the proposed plans.”
Featured Image via Flickr/cbroders
