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While Jamie Parker had a varied and successful history in theatre prior to being cast in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, there’s no denying that the role of Harry Potter is the biggest role of his career so far. In a recent interview with Pottermore, Jamie talked about audience reactions and how Cursed Child differs from other productions he’s been part of.
On playing Harry “nineteen years later,” Jamie says:
“To me it is actually quite interesting to hit roundabout the 40 mark of your life, and consider how things affected you profoundly when you were 11 going on 17, and how that is going to come into play into your life as a dad. That’s where the play gets juicy for me.”
With a smile, Jamie also discusses how audiences have been receiving the play:
“I’ve never worked on a play where I’ve heard audible gasps from audiences. [The audience] is desperately hungry to be told this story. They’ve been nothing but wind in our sails from the very get go. And it’s a joy.”
Hear more from Jamie in this video:
Read the full article on Pottermore.
Two generations of Ginny were present at the Palace Theatre when Bonnie Wright met Poppy Miller.
The two are eerily similar, continuing the theme of excellent casting surrounding the Potter franchise:
Cherrelle Skeete’s (Rose Weasley) robes are looking great in this shot:
Helena Bonham Carter also met the cast in costume – Sam Clemmett as Scorpius definitely looks like a mini-Draco!:
We hope they both enjoyed the performance!
It felt like old times. There were midnight release parties. People dressed in costumes lining up for a new Harry Potter story. Many of us stayed up until the early hours of July 31st reading every line of the eighth Harry Potter story. While we have been gifted this sequel it may be our last Harry story. Since the release J.K. Rowling has said that this will be the end of Harry’s story which the Leaky Cauldron reported on recently. About the new excitement Ellie Berger, President Scholastic Trade stated,
“Eager fans of all ages gathered at midnight parties in bookstores and libraries to get their copies of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, bringing communities together to celebrate the magic of reading and the power of great storytelling.”
According to Entertainment Weekly Harry’s eighth story has sold over 2 million copies in 48 hours. These sales totals are for the United States as well as Canada and were released by Scholastic. Ellie Berger continued to discuss Cursed Child sales.
“It’s an incredible start and all the signs are indicating continued strong sales for this exciting release.”
While some fans are still sorting out their feelings toward this eighth story, one thing is for certain Harry still has the power to captivate his audience. To read more about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sales visit ew.com.
Last weekend, hundreds of fans from a large variety of fandoms (from Starwars, Startrek, Supernatural, Disney, Once Upon a Time, to Gilmore Girls and Parks and Recreation, and many more). This year, GeekyCon took place over the July 31st weekend. An important date in the Harry Potter Universe, particularly this year, with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
GeekyCon and over 800 of Harry Potters biggest fans gathered for Wizard Rock (Wrock) shows–performed by Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, Tonks and the Aurors, Lauren Fairweather, The Womping Willows, and many more!–Harry Potter Puppet Pals live performances, panel discussions, Fandom trivia quizzes and Jeopardy, Quidditch matches, live Pottercasts, costume contests and a fantastical Cursed Child Midnight Release Party!
(A perfectly dressed Hufflepuff, Jay from Raging Storm Cosplay, cosplayed Newt Scamander, almost embodying Eddie Redmayne’s chracter! He also won the Cursed Child Costume Contest)
When fans had downtime between activities, attendees were able to peruse the GeekyCon Market place. Booths and Booths of venders gathered to sell various Harry Potter products. GeekyCon attendees could purchase beautifully hand-carved wands (both unique, Harry Potter character wands, and place custom order wands) from Hungarian Wandshop, as well as tshirts, hand-crafted jewlery, Funko POP!s, and more.
One of the best selling products was Ilvermorny merchandise. Vendors created Ilvermorny crested tshirts, Ilvermorny house necklaces, and much more. All designs were beautifully rendered. Many of the GeekyCon staff sported Ilvermorny shirts throughout the weekend.
(GeekyCon staff gather for an Ilvermorny T-shirt group picture)
GeekyCon attendees had a chance to learn how to play muggle Quidditch, sign up and play in teams during the Cursed Child Midnight Release Party, and watch the annual GeekyCon Staff vs. HPA (Harry Potter Alliance) staff Quidditch match. This year, for the first time in a long time, GeekyCon Staff won the HPA Quidditch match! They beat HPA 140-60, though HPA successfully captured the snitch!
(The GeekyCon Staff take a Quidditch Team picture with the GeekyCon pep band after their win!)
The largest (and possibly best) Harry Potter experience at GeekyCon 2016, was the Cursed Child Midnight Release Party! Hundreds of fans gathered to dance the night away at the Esther Earl ball, that doubled as a raging Cursed Child party. Other activities included team games of Wizard’s Chess, as GeekyCon attendees played a live game of chess, individually taking on the role of a chess piece, and Quidditch. GeekyCon staffers also manned Sorting Hat, Harry Potter Face Painting, Goblet of Fire Cursed Child Predictions, and trivia/games booths for attendees to participate at.
(A GeekyCon Volunteer Cosplays as Professor McGonagall for the Sorting Hat booth!)
GeekyCon attendees also got a chance to parade their cosplay and Harry Potter costumes on stage, as they participated in a Cursed Child Costume Contest. Newt Scamander (pictured above) won the contest.
Then the books came.
GeekyCon staff managed to check out hundreds of people in less than 40 minutes so fans could get back to their hotel rooms as quickly as possible to read!
The next morning, groggy with no sleep but full of new Harry Potter canon from finishing Cursed Child, GeekyCon staff lead panel discussions about different aspects of the new book. The morning began with individual house meet ups between Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff GeekyCon attendees and Staff.
Fans then dispersed gathered into groups to participate in panel discussions covering new characters from Cursed Child, familiar Harry Potter characters grown up, Harry Potter Stagecraft, Potterverse-building, and live Pottercast sessions were held on the main stage to discuss “19 Years Later” (19 years in the Harry Potter fandom) and Cursed Child reactions.
(Hufflepuffs had the largest turn out at the morning House Meet Ups–that loyalty!)
Most importantly, GeekyCon staff and attendees enjoyed a fabulous weekend of love and acceptance. If you missed GeekyCon this year, have no fear! GeekyCon 2017 is in the works. Harry Potter fans still have a chance to buy tickets to LeakyCon 2016 in Los Angeles! Currently LeakyCon has posted a Call Out (here) for programming for the conference, saying:
More information on LeakyCon 2016 and how to volunteer coming soon!
Remember back when J.K. Rowling said that there were always seven books planned, and only seven books, and Harry Potter novels were 100% done…BUT “never say never” on returning to Harry’s story? Welcome back the land of ambiguity of whether or not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the end of the line for the Potter family (not the Potter Universe, of course–we still have Newt Scamander and all his Fantastic Beasts to meet).
In a recent red carpet interview with Reurters and with the BBC’s entertainment correspondent, Lizo Mzimba in a short clip below:
Did you hear that? There seems to have been a plan for a theatrical experience all along…? Even it Sonya Freedman’s idea and inspiration that changed her mind…And though it has been made clear that, though the story’s new content is approved by Jo and she did have a large and important role in collaboration, Cursed Child was written by Jack Thorne (the cover of the novel says “based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne”). However, in the clip above, Jo makes it sound like she had all the information for a new Harry Potter story gift wrapped, and ready to hand over to the Cursed Child crew to create into a play.
But wait, there is more! So many nuggets of information contained with in this short clip point to “Fantastic Beasts” being more “preview-y” than people realize, and a large hesitation from Jo on whether or not Harry’s story is back. Shall we try not to read too much into that, but we are going to anyway.
However, in an interview with Jo at the very same Cursed Child red carpet gala, Reuter’s seems to be telling a different story. Reporting,
‘Asked if the book and play heralded a new phase of stories, Rowling told Reuters: “No, no.”
‘”He goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think we’re done. This is the next generation, you know,” said Rowling, who later appeared on stage during a standing ovation at the end of the show. “So, I’m thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.”‘
Though we love J.K. Rowling, her Wizarding World, and her Cursed Child red carpet gala shoes, we would really like to sit down for tea and ask her what the heck is going on in the Wizarding World.
Mean while. We will digest Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and peruse the following images Getty Images released of the red carpet gala (see more here):
Not only are we celebrating the release of the eighth story, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but today also marks two very special birthdays in the muggle and wizarding worlds: It’s J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter’s birthdays, of course!
Cursed Child celebrations went on through the night, just like old times. Pottermore covered the midnight celebrations from Barnes & Noble in New York:
Waterstones Piccadilly in London also joined in the huge celebrations, showing off Hagrid’s motorbike and sidecar in store, courtesy of Warner Bros, and some amazing wizard shops:
At midnight, the attention turned to the reason we were all celebrating across the world. J.K. Rowling has taken her stories not only across continents, but across a huge variety of medium. Reaching people by page, by screen, through the internet and on stage, she wasn’t exaggerating when she said:
“Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”
It was only fitting, therefore, that she got a birthday cake that matched the beauty of her story – an amazing recreation of King’s Cross, where the journey to Hogwarts for Harry begins, also suggested by Set Designer Christine Jones to have an important part to play in Cursed Child:
‘Few buildings are vast enough to hold the sound of time… there was a superb fitness in the fact that the one which held it better than all others should be a railroad station.’
Few are gifted with such incredible power of expression as J.K. Rowling, so to celebrate her 51st birthday, and Harry’s 36th birthday, IB Times collected 36 quotes from her stories. Entertainment also joined in, collecting photos of Harry Potter stars in their first and final performances.
TIME also explained why 2016 is their biggest birthday yet – thanks to Cursed Child, the power of Harry’s story lives on:
“For some, the date is a pleasant and nostalgic reminder of Harry’s first birthday in the series, when Hagrid brought Harry a cake on the same night he told the boy wizard that he was capable of magic.
For others, though, July 31 is not just a nod back to the beginning of the series but a way to continue celebrating Harry as if he, and his birthday, were real.
‘The Boy Who Lived’ is the first chapter of the Potter series, wherein readers meet Harry as a newborn shortly after surviving a killing curse. Harry survived this, and other battles, despite the odds stacked against him. It seems that this July 31, he’ll simply start doing it again, reminding Potter fans and critics alike why he’ll forever be The Boy Who Lived.”
J.K. Rowling was also named one of 2016’s “Outstanding Women of Scotland” just before her birthday. The Bookseller explains:
“Created in partnership with Glasgow Women’s Library, the “Outstanding Women of Scotland” community aims to recognise and celebrate remarkable Scottish women from all walks of life who have made an outstanding contribution to Scottish society.”
Motto collected 10 inspirational quotes from J.K. Rowling to remind us all how much wisdom she has to offer – on happiness, failure, courage, depression and many other areas of life where we may struggle, she’s always been there to guide us:
On the future: We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better. (via ‘The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination‘)
Harry Potter’s story continues with Cursed Child, however J.K. Rowling has said that his story has come to a close:
“He goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think we’re done. This is the next generation, you know,” said Rowling, who later appeared on stage during a standing ovation at the end of the show. “So, I’m thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.”
Harry is 36 today: head Auror under Kingsley Shakelbolt, husband to Ginny Weasley and father of James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna, Harry is a true hero of the wizarding world.
He reminds us to keep faith, to fight for goodness no matter the odds, to value friendship, love and loyalty, and to learn from the people you admire and respect.
At GeekyCon this weekend, stories like Harry’s have been bringing people together to celebrate their love for good things, to get excited about a book, to sing The Weapon We Have Is Love together and then cry about how powerful love is, because as Potter fans, we’ve learnt to value love above all else.
At Leavesden Studios, at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, at bookstores, book clubs, museums, running clubs, charities and online forums – it’s stories like Harry’s that rock the world, materialise in beautiful ways and change lives for the better, teaching us to come together in a world that may seem dark, to bring goodness to the people that mean most to us, and to be the best parts of ourselves we can be.
We hope you’ve all enjoyed celebrating Cursed Child, and hope that you all have the energy to throw your own Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling birthday parties after most likely staying up reading all night.
Please join us in saying a very happy birthday to both J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, and share with us how you’ve been celebrating!
With today marking one of (if not the most) important days for Potter fans since the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the world is abuzz with excitement surrounding the impending release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts 1 & 2 script book, as well as the opening night gala performance of the play itself.
After appearances by Sadiq Khan (the Mayor of London), Andrew Scott (Sherlock), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts), and others, J.K. Rowling herself arrived on the red carpet outside the Palace Theatre in London to celebrate the momentous occasion of the play’s opening performance–one she hasn’t experienced the likes of since the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Her first step onto the red carpet (in fabulous gold shoes with butterflies at the heels) is the immediate cause for celebration, as is made obvious by the cheers of the crowd.
Of the occasion, she says:
“‘What we’d really like most of all is to bring people into the theatre who’ve never been to the theatre before. I will be so proud to think that kids from my kind of background, who didn’t come from particularly theatre going families, might learn what theatre’s all about through this show. That would be incredible.”
After the excitement of the red carpet arrivals, Pottermore took us backstage with Sam Clemmett (Albus Potter) to see what went on behind the scenes of the opening performance of Cursed Child.
Check out his video diaries for more:
And a final video, where Sam prepares to meet fans at the stage door:
In celebration of the script book release, Pottermore wrote up a memory-filled look at Potter midnight book releases in the past, recalling nights filled with anticipation as fans lined up dressed as their favorite characters, wand in-hand as they counted down the minutes with their fellow Potter aficionados.
To quote the article:
“Midnight launches belong to the Harry Potter fandom. They’re a beautiful, crazy, sentimental thing and they have been since 31 July 2000, when Goblet of Fire went on sale at 12am in the UK, and then the US.”
For those of us longing for the midnight book release parties of the past, Barnes & Noble stores around the U.S. will be hosting midnight parties, and GeekyCon guests with day passes will be lucky enough to attend a midnight release party with fellow fans in Florida, as well.
Whether you choose to go all-out with your fellow Potter fans at a midnight release party or you grab your copy of Cursed Child in the quiet hours of the morning of the book’s release, we all get our chance to celebrate the next chapter in the story of Harry, his family, and his friends. The magic lives on for all of us today.
Read more from all three stories on Pottermore.
At today’s gala performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, J.K. Rowling took a moment to discuss with an interviewer the creation of the play and its unexpected, overwhelming success.
When asked about her request to fans to “Keep the Secrets”, she said:
“They’ve done me so proud. They’ve done me so proud. And I think our give back is that we really hope to take this play to as many places as it’s feasible to take it. So I hope a lot of them will get to see this play in due course.”
Today is the day. This is not a drill. Today is the first time in nine years that Harry Potter fans get a full Harry Potter story (in the form of a play) about the Trio and the rest of the gang as adults, 19 years later. WHO ISN’T EXCITED?
All the excitement, all the buzz, massive country-wide costume contests, breaking best-selling records (even though it is a play script!), it is happening again! Three turns of a time turner, and we find Harry Potter release parties happening all over the world, tonight. Barnes and Noble is hosting midnight release parties in almost all of its stores, and if you are in the Orlando area, we highly encourage you to join some of the biggest Harry Potter fans at GeekyCon with a day pass.
The GeekyCon party will be hosted by classic Potter podcast MuggleCast and PotterCast, and many others with experience and knowledge of Pottermania. The fun will start at 7 PM with the convention’s traditional Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball. Starting at 10:00 PM, festivities will convert themselves into a huge Harry Potter and the Cursed Child midnight book release . In tried and true Harry Potter Book Midnight Release party fashion, there will be a set of games, activities, and events to take part of–including, but not limited to:
- Costume Contests
- Sorting
- Trivia and other games
- Wizard Chess
- Quidditch
- Wizard Rock performances
- Face painting and other crafts
- Video retrospectives
- Appearances from special guests
- Put your name in the Goblet of Fire! (Submit your predictions, and we’ll go through them together at Sunday’s programming!)
- Share in the Pensieve: Submit memories about Harry Potter and your experiences; we’ll be sharing them throughout the night.
- And a lot more!
At midnight, everyone will begin to receive their book copy of the Cursed Child script! You must reserve a copy online (here), and purchase will happen on site. Full, detailed instructions will shortly follow this announcement.
Fans in the Florida area, and maybe those who want to apparate further, can choose to come to just the party (which includes the ball) for $20, to enjoy the night’s festivities.
It isn’t only the script that is released today. The Cursed Child is a play, and it’s official opening night is tonight.
The Pottermore Twitter is being continuously updated by the minute, as the Cursed Child gala unfolds in front of the Palace Theater. J.K. Rowling and the creators of Cursed Child are greeting fans, and introducing opening night to the public.
In addition to covering the gala and the premiere, Pottermore will be following Sam Clemmett, who is playing Albus Severus) the star of the show, possibly the Cursed Child), behind the scenes.
The Harry Potter Play London Twitter will be doing a similar Twitter series, but following Anthony Boyle, who is playing the role of Scorpius Malfoy. Anthony will be showing fans what it is like behind the scenes of Cursed Child with his daily routine.
Pottermore released an article this morning, detailing when Jo Rowling met the Cursed Child cast–watching her Boy Wizard, his friends and family, come to life in their adult form. Everyone gather into a large circle to introduce themselves to the group by giving their names and the roles that they played. Pottermore reports:
When the circle of induction finally reached J.K. Rowling she said, ‘I’m Jo… Well, you know what I did.’
There was a long, sweet, earnest pause as we all stopped to think about exactly what she has done and why we were all here. Excitement unfurled across the party.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story – the story that fans have wished, dreamed and begged to have since Deathly Hallows. It’s an adult life for Harry, Ron and Hermione that, until now, we’ve only been able to imagine for ourselves. They’re really back.
[…]
J.K. Rowling has always enigmatically said ‘never say never’ when asked about the prospect of a new Harry Potter story. ‘…Until these two came to me,’ J.K. Rowling said, with a look of fond incredulity toward producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender.
It was Sonia and Colin, of course, who did the unimaginable: They helped J.K. Rowling to bring her characters back and released them on stage, in a two-part play directed by the brilliant John Tiffany. Together they assembled this group of gifted creatives – starting with writer Jack Thorne.
‘None of this would have been possible without that man,’ J.K. Rowling said, as she pointed across the room to Jack, a very tall man trying to hide behind two much shorter women. He beamed at her with a sweet modesty that belied the gargantuan task he had just completed. Jack is, after all, the only person in the world who has been trusted to write Harry, Ron and Hermione back into life.
To read the article in its entirety, read here.
Jamie Parker recently sat down with The Stage to give an extensive interview on his acting career, including his latest mega-headliner, The Boy Who Lived. Playing the most well known boy wizard is a pretty daunting task, but Parker remarked that he was “under no illusion the role of Harry Potter belongs” to him.
For many fans who are pretty weary of the latest addition to the Harry Potter franchise, the “8th story,” a Harry Potter play (a medium never used in the franchise before), Parker tries his best to put those qualms to rest. Acting is his career, his job, and he recounts this in his description of what it is like to work on Cursed Child.
“We’re still working during the day and performing at night,” he tells me. “But our hours with the creative team are starting to lessen off as we get into a full performance schedule of eight shows a week. The company is feeling really good – Steven [Hoggett, the movement director] has prepped us properly to be in the right physical shape. Working with him, you’ve got to be in shape. And John [Tiffany, the director] has kept up our spirits with his relentless positivity and trust in his company.”
[…]
“I was familiar with the books and read some of them, but I wasn’t a Potterhead. But it’s been great now to immerse myself in it – I’ve gone through all of them several times now, and I’m going to go through them again. I won’t stop making notes, and every day I am finding out exactly how detailed Jack [Thorne, the playwright] and John’s work on it has been with Jo [JK Rowling]. In any decent play there’s an unspoken script going on underneath the actual script – like Woody Allen’s subtitles, whether they’re serious or funny – and that’s absolutely the case here. The play is perfectly clear to anyone who doesn’t know anything about Harry Potter – it’s just a very good play on that level. But for those who are immersed in it, there are Easter eggs hidden in every scene. There’s a lot that goes unspoken, and that’s fertile ground for being able to talk to each other onstage.”
From the moment the show was announced, it has been the subject of intense media interest and speculation. How was he cast to follow in Daniel Radcliffe’s very significant footprints? Was it a long process? “Because of the nature of the beast, not that much,” he recalls. “They couldn’t spread the script around to cast the net especially wide, so they were quite particular about who they had on the list in the first place, though I never saw who else was on it. But they asked themselves before they got in touch with people if they really wanted to have that conversation.”
What about the responsibility, though, of playing such a beloved character and giving flesh and blood to him? “It’s not my responsibility solely. I know I’m only as good as the material I’ve got to work with. I’m not an alchemist, not when it comes to writing or production. You could argue that alchemy is part and parcel of what we do, but that responsibility is shared with the audience, and putting it on in the first place was Jack and John drawing from the wealth of Jo’s back catalogue and the layer upon layer of detail in there to create something that has its own emotional trajectory and its own legs. If I hadn’t thought that was apparent, even in that early draft, I wouldn’t have put myself in the position of taking on the amount of responsibility I do have – that would be a suicide mission.”
Though we do not know for sure how many years after Potter the play finishes at, and Parker says he can’t reveal such information, we do know it begins right where Deathly Hallows left off, with Rose and Albus heading to Hogwarts “19 years later.” Parker continues, “the relationship between Harry and his son Albus is a large part of the meal.”
To read more on Jamie Parker’s extensive career, working with Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornley again, and his opinions on the Hermione controversy, visit the original article here.
The published script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child hits shelves this weekend! The play also officially opens for previews on the West End.
With mere days until the release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts 1 & 2 script book, fans around the world are celebrating in ways we haven’t seen since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
On July 21, hundreds of Potter fans descended on NYC’s SoHo neighborhood to put on a “Muggle Mob” in celebration of the release of the eighth book.
Scholastic shares more:
“More than 300 Harry Potter fans formed a massive flash mob or ‘Muggle Mob’ today, taking over Broadway in front of the Scholastic headquarters building in New York City, just 10 days before the highly anticipated release of the eighth Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two. The fans, all Scholastic employees and their children, flooded onto the street reading from a favorite Harry Potter book and stopping traffic in the busy SoHo area. At the culmination of the estimated two-and-a-half[-]minute event, the fans lowered their books and raised up paddles showing the cover of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two, drawing cheers throughout the neighborhood. As the crowd dispersed, ‘Muggle Mob’ participants handed out their Harry Potter books from the Harry Potter series 1-7 to lucky passersby, sharing the gift of books and reading.”
Watch the video below for a recap of the event!
Cursed Child‘s already staggering sales have made the script book for the new play a bestseller, but according to Amazon and Barnes & Noble‘s reports, the book is also breaking pre-sale records.
According to Barnes & Noble:
“…the latest addition to the Wizarding World is the most pre-ordered book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007.”
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts 1 & 2 will be released internationally on Sunday, July 31.
Thanks to our friends at Mugglenet for the heads-up!
Reviews of Cursed Child have been dominating muggle news, and the Cursed Child Twitter page have not been ignoring the love.
Following our pervious article on the review snippets that the @HPPlayLDN Twitter page has been sharing, we’re covering a few more of the newest reviews and photo releases from the Cursed Child website to get you excited for the Cursed Child official opening and script book release in just a few days time!
24 new photos of the play have been released, and SnitchSeeker have compiled them into an article here. In an effort to ‘keep the secrets’, some have been omitted in this article, so check out Snitchseeker’s gallery here for more.
Unsurprisingly, Time Out describe the play as “intense” and “ritualistic” as a result of Steven Hoggett’s ‘startling movement direction’. Judging from the captivating air of the Harry Potter soundtrack, and the latest Fantastic Beasts trailer, it’s hard to believe that a play – being so involving and close to the audience – would be any less enchanting!
@HPPlayLDN posted this review, with a photo of what appears to be students swooshing their robes, potentially jumping, or perhaps disapparating? Take a look below:
The play’s composer, Imogen Heap, was commended for her ‘light-synths harmonies’ by The Radio Times:
Photo from Pottermore
The Times also praised Christine Jones’ set design, which, judging from previous sneak peaks (which you can view here) is well deserved!
Illusions, costumes and lighting were also commended by The Guardian:
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione do a great job of conjuring audience nostalgia. The New York Times gives a shining review, saying the following of the talent of the cast and crew:
I reread “The Deathly Hallows” on the flight to London from New York, and I was amazed at how naturally what I saw on the stage seemed to flow from the page. Mr. Thorne, Mr. Tiffany and their movement director, Steven Hoggett, and set designer, Christine Jones, collaborated previously on the chilling adolescent vampire play “Let the Right One In,” and they are all expert in mapping the intersection of the uncanny and the everyday.
Along with a team that includes Katrina Lindsay (costumes), Neil Austin (lighting) and Imogen Heap (music), Mr. Tiffany and his cast conjure the self-contained world(s) of Ms. Rowling’s books with imagistic wit, precision and, occasionally, stark terror. A convocation of wizards is evoked through the simultaneous swirling of black capes; an otherworldly, xenophobic and unsettlingly topical-feeling Fascist brigade materializes and multiplies out of yawning darkness; and staircases, bookcases and suitcases assume varied and miraculous lives that propel both themes and story.
Check out more reviews of Cursed Child here!
The first official reviews for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are in, and it’s clear that audiences have been bewitched by the latest installment in the Potter story.
Five-star reviews have been flooding twitter all day–many accompanied by brand new pictures from the play showcasing impeccable set design, costuming, and a closer look at the characters we know and love (as well as a few characters we look forward to getting to know!).
If these rave reviews–and countless others found on J.K Rowling’s twitter and the official Pottermore and Cursed Child twitter accounts–are any indication, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child does indeed live up to the hype and the Potter magic lives on through a new generation.
Time to dust off those wizard robes! In celebration of the release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts One & Two book, the Today Show is holding a Harry Potter costume contest!
To enter, visit the Today Show plaza in New York on Thursday, July 28 dressed as your favorite Potter character. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of the eighth Harry Potter book and a VIP trip for the winner and a guest to Universal Studios Hollywood to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Additionally, the first 250 entrants will receive the first seven Harry Potter books!
This contest is open to U.S. residents 13 years of age and older. Read more (including the full rules and regulations) at today.com.
Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley and Noma Dumezweni are currently portraying Harry, Ron and Hermione on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opens for official performances on July 30th. The outside of Palace Theatre has been slowly growing into a masterpiece, adding more Potter-themed decorations in preparation for preview performances coming to an end. The new trio spoke to The Telegraph about their thoughts on how the process is going so far, and their reactions to being a part of a global phenomenon.
“It was absolute craziness, people were so pumped up” Paul Thornley said, on seeing people wait outside the theatre prior to the first preview performance.. Noma simply stated: “This is quite big.”
Jamie Parker later says:
“That benign attention and pressure has been the wind at our backs,” he says. “The audience [mostly aged 25 to 35] have encouraged us and willed us to succeed the whole way. Generally in the theatre you spend some portion of the performance convincing people they have done the right thing in buying the ticket; that this is the play they want to watch. Never in our lives have we been able to hit the ground at full sprint like this.”
Paul Thornley is just happy it’s a solid job:
“It’s extraordinary to be in a new show in the West End and know you’re not going to close,” says Thornley. “That’s nice.”
This interview actually took part in the very room where Thornley, Parker and Dumezweni discovered that they had made the bill – the basement bar of the Palace Theatre. According to The Telegraph, being a part of the Potter stories instantly had an impact on the three actors’ lives:
“All three actors are discovering the transformative powers of Potter even before the show officially opens next Thursday. “My children finally think I’m doing something worthwhile,” says Thornley, who has two daughters, Katy-Ann, 16, and Florence, eight. “That’s glorious. I could be playing Hamlet at the RSC and they wouldn’t give a monkey’s, but Ron Weasley… it’s got currency in the playground. Suddenly I’m worth talking to.”
The actors were sworn to keep their wizardly identities secret until the cast was announced, but Thornley mistook the release date and told Florence a week in advance. “By which time she had told most of her class, her teacher and anyone else who wanted to know that her dad was Ron Weasley. So keeping the secret starts at home for me. I learnt a big lesson. She’s gorgeous but she’ll make a terrible spy.””
On J.K. Rowling asking preview audiences to #KeeptheSecrets:
“The hashtag KeeptheSecrets is a beautiful thing,” says Dumezweni, whose nine-year-old daughter, Qeiva, took her insider responsibility so seriously that she asked: “Can I tell them it’s in two parts?”
“J K Rowling is not a King John,” says Parker. “She doesn’t assume disloyalty. She assumes the fan base want to protect the secret. Spoilers are inevitable. If you’re looking for them, you’re going to find them. But it’s still overwhelmingly easy to turn up to the theatre knowing nothing about it.”
Noma then sums up the feeling of 2016 in a few beautiful sentences – we’re getting Fantastic Beasts and Cursed Child all in one year, and we know that this play won’t let fans down:
“There’s a communion,” says Dumezweni. “When the lights go down we’re all in there together and that’s what the keeping of secrets is. These people in their gut and their soul have travelled with Harry and Ron and Hermione and the other characters for years.”
Paul Thornley has been in Les Miserables, but we’re glad to hear that he believes “Being a wizard is the best job ever”. The trio tell The Telegraph that the audience are often audibly in awe of the performances, Parker calling the sounds ‘a goldmine':
“All you want is a story that people want to be told. Of course we’ve got lots of toys and bells and whistles but it is not merely spectacle. What people care about is the internal life of these characters, the development of relationships and all the pressures and crises they experience. If we’d thought it was a big, cynical toys-only production, I’m pretty sure we’d have had nothing to do with it.”
The actors then discuss the plot of the play (don’t worry – no spoilers!):
“As soon as you bring a child into the world, you feel guilty,” says Thornley. “Am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong? It continues. There are different problems all the way through. That comes across hugely in the play. It’s clever and it’s complex and it’s troubling sometimes because you empathise with these problems.”
Dumezweni and Thornley in particular faced backlash when their casting was announced, entirely based on their appearances (Rowling herself, their co-workers and other Potter alumni have since backed their performance as actors, giving them their full support). The Telegraph documented their reactions:
The actress [Dumezweni], who collected an Olivier award for her role in A Raisin in0 the Sun, and recently excelled in the title role in Linda at the Royal Court Theatre when Kim Cattrall had to pull out, treats the fuss with disdain. “You are looking at me. This is the skin colour I have. You choose to use the word ‘black’. I am just an actress playing Hermione.” She is pleased that mothers regard her as a beacon for their mixed-race daughters.
To quislings who don’t think Thornley is red-headed enough to be Ron Weasley, the actor replies: “I am ginger in my soul.”
Cursed Child will be opening officially next Thursday (30th July). Read more over at The Telegraph here!
Harry Potter’s enduring feud with classmate Draco Malfoy has left many fans curious about the relationships between the rivals’ children at Hogwarts. Anthony Boyle–Draco’s son Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child–opens up about Scorpius’ childhood and a surprising friendship in a new interview.
“He’s grown up in isolation in the Malfoy Manor and hasn’t really spoken to anyone in his peer group. He’s just been alone with his books reading about Harry Potter and Albus and all of these different people.”
Anthony reveals that in Cursed Child, Scorpius does something quite uncharacteristic of the Malfoy clan by befriending a Potter.
“Suddenly, Albus comes into the [Hogwarts Express] carriage. Rose Granger-Weasley doesn’t take too kindly to him. She thinks he’s a bit odd, because he is! But Albus [Potter] quite likes him, and the friendship sort of begins there.”
Hear more from Anthony in the video below:
Read the full interview on Pottermore.
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on 7/21/2016
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Nine years ago Harry Potter fans across the globe were reading the final book of Harry’s epic journey, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We had invested our lives in these books and we were finally getting answers. The global phenomenon that is and was Harry Potter culminated in an amazing tale of horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows.
This book revealed the appalling lengths that Voldemort would go to just to preserve his life. It also showed the lengths the trio would go to save the wizarding world. We learned things were not always black and white especially in regards to Dumbledore and Snape. We were also left with an epilogue that allowed for closure.
Here we are nine years later. Now we are eagerly anticipating the release of Rowling’s new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and her film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The wizarding world has also been expanded greatly via Pottermore.
Yet many of us return again and again to those original seven books. As we celebrate the ninth anniversary of The Deathly Hallows many of us can’t believe the impact those books have had on us and continue to have.
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on 7/20/2016
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Yesterday, Evanna Lynch attended the Giffoni Film Festival held in Salerno (Italy), after starring in My Name is Emily, which featured in the Generator +16 competition at the event. Of course, many Potter fans attended the festival to ask questions, but Evanna also had some wisdom of her own to share.
Evanna was part of the Potter community long before she was cast as Luna at 14 years old, so it makes sense that she’d have ideas about where she would have liked the plot to go. The bonus of being cast was that J.K. Rowling was right there, available to speak to about ideas, and maybe get a few hints at the story along the way. Evanna did not waste this opportunity, telling Rowling a very interesting idea she’d had for the development of Luna’s character:
“I’ve always had so many ideas about the narrative developments that one day I went to the writer to propose her a love story between Luna and the Headmaster … I told her I didn’t mind the difference of age between them, instead, I thought they would be a nice couple. She replied: ‘It’s not about the age. In any case, the relationship would be impossible because he is gay’. That’s how I found out about one of the greatest revelations of J.K. Rowling”
When asked about the decision to cast Noma Dumezweni in Cursed Child (which opens officially on July 30th), Evanna gave sensitive, thoughtful reasoning behind her answer:
“I consider it to be the right decision. Hermione is a libertarian in spirit, she fights for those in difficulty, it makes total sense to imagine her as part of a minority. One of the most beautiful things about J.K Rowling, which for me is a point of reference, is the way in which she uses her characters to send a message”.
She later reaffirmed this answer:
“Hermione’s feature is her desire to help the defenceless, like house-elves, thus it makes perfectly sense her being part of a minority. Such a choice proves that J.K. Rowling wished to give a strong social message through her work. As far as I’m concerned, it’s talent that counts, not skin colour”.
She also had a few words to say about Luna’s sense of social justice:
“Luna doesn’t give a darn about people’s prejudices, she is a free spirit and she also helped me fighting my insecurities, just like she’s doing with million people in the world. This is the reason why I decided to embrace important causes in my following projects. For example, I acted a wicked girl who hates homosexuals in G.B.F. Because I felt awkward whilst giving life to her pettiness, I understood that my character would have succeeded in proving the premises of the film true.”
Evanna is an aspirational young actress, who likes to take on challenging roles – her troubled character in My Name is Emily illustrates her desire to portray complex characters who tell a story. However, she also sets herself personal challenges in her career:
“I always look for new challenges and I’ve got a long list of actors I’d like to play with. First of all is Benedict Cumberbatch because I’m a fan of his TV Sherlock”
Of course, as a Potter fan herself, Evanna would never give up another chance to play Luna:
“I am not ready to abandon the character entirely and I think I would be jealous if it were assigned to someone else”.
Later she also said of Cursed Child:
“ Should anyone make a film based on the stage play I would whip into it. The truth is that I can’t say goodbye to my character, and I hope to play it again, maybe in an older version”.
We all know that Evanna loves her cat – her Instagram is almost exclusively photos/videos of Puff, so when a fan awkwardly proposed to her at the event, her reply was believable:
“We’ll talk about it again in ten years’ time, now I’m giving all my time over my kitties, indeed, I wish to open a cattery very soon to welcome them all and spend all my money on their safeguard”
Lynch also advised young aspiring actors to “read a lot and broadly, stay pure and be yourselves; this will help you in a world that is not always easy”.
She also gave advice to younger fans in the audience:
“Be sympathetic to your parents, explain them your dreams and help them understanding the reasons why you want to experience new things. Sometimes, they might forbid you to dye your hair or wear some clothes but they do it in good faith to protect you. My mother, who is here with me in the hall at Giffoni, gave me strict rules but she also left me free to find my way, so I realised that my adolescence rebellion was not a pique but instead a desire to understand who I was”
Read more over at the Giffoni Film Festival website and ANSA, and see photos of Evanna at the event below!
Like most Potter fans, we’re counting down the days until the release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book so we can all experience the latest installment in Harry’s story for ourselves. The only thing that could possibly be better than an eighth Harry Potter book? A signed eighth Harry Potter book.
Waterstones has just announced–in what is their grandest contest to date–the chance to be one of seven winners to receive a copy of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book signed by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne.
This free prize draw is open to residents of the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and Belgium age 18 and over. The contest ends at 11:59pm on July 30, 2016.
Enter for your chance to win here. Good luck!
There has been quite a lot of speculation in regards to J.K. Rowling’s new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child becoming a film. This new flurry of rumors is because Warner Brothers has recently filed for a copyright regarding the play. However, according to The Telegraph the copyright is for much more than a film.
The request lists a range of goods and services including “motion picture films featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation, and motion picture films for broadcast on television featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation”.
While it would be exciting to see this play on the big screen, Rowling has stated publicly that Cursed Child will remain a play and Fantastic Beasts will be three movies.
To read what else the WB’s copyright encompasses read more at The Telegraph. Remember though while The Cursed Child may not be coming to the cinema the book release is quickly approaching.
More than simply being one of Harry Potter’s best friends, Ron Weasley is an iconic character in his own right. In a recent interview with the Pottermore correspondent, Paul Thornley–Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child–took the time to share a little about what it’s like.
“It’s massive. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever been involved in, probably for all of us. I don’t know if I was aware of the enormity of the world of Harry Potter.”
He also talks about Ron’s relationship with Hermione nineteen years later, and how their differences play a part in their marriage’s success:
“Their marriage is pretty strong. I think she despairs of his rather scattergun approach to life, and he doesn’t really worry about anything. It’s a good balance between the two of them, between someone who’s slightly more focused and someone who’s more relaxed.”
Being that the Cursed Child story centers around Albus Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley, and their generation, it’s a given that there are a few new faces to see. Of the newcomers, Paul says:
“The old guard still knock about. But it’s a beautiful mixture of following your old mates but then also falling in love with a few new characters.”
Even as a cast member, Paul still strives to keep the secrets to keep the magic alive for first-time viewers of the play–to his children’s dismay!
“I’ve read [the Harry Potter books] with both my children. I’ve got an older one who’s read all of them and an eight-year-old who’s beginning to get into it. It’s so exciting for both me and the children, but I don’t want to tell them anything about [the play] because I want them to experience it when they see the show. I keep being peppered with questions when I come home from work!”
Hear more from Paul in the video below:
The more we hear about the story, cast, and production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the more excited we get to experience this chapter of the story ourselves! Read the full article on Pottermore.
Pottermore are going behind the scenes of Harry Potter in the Cursed Child in the coming weeks, to learn more about how the unique set design of the play was constructed.
Tony Award-winning set designer Christine Jones (Close to You, Spring Awakening and Let the Right One In) introduces the Pottermore series by talking about bringing the set together in an exclusive video.
Pottermore reports:
‘I was overwhelmed,’ Christine told us. ‘I didn’t expect to get as emotional as I did. But I think we all have been working on this for over a year and just have so much invested in it.’
‘There’s just this feeling that we’re working with people we love, on something we love, for people we love. And there’s a lot of emotions that have become buried within the fabric on the making of this.’
This video of the props and sets involved in the Cursed Child production is slow moving and close-up, showing the intricate craftsmanship behind the immaculate set.
Be sure to take a look at the short preview (below), as it makes one appreciate just how many people are needed to make such a beautiful play come to life!
Read more over at Pottermore here, and read more from Christine Jones on set design here!
On Wednesday, two Hermiones were in the same place at the same time and not a single Time-Turner was involved.
Emma Watson attended a performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and her reaction has us feeling a little emotional.
Emma shared her thoughts on the play–and her thoughts on meeting her “older self”, Noma Dumezweni–on her Facebook page. Of the experience, she said:
“Having seen it I felt more connected to Hermione and the stories than I have since Deathly Hallows came out, which was such a gift. Meeting Noma and seeing her on stage was like meeting my older self and have her tell me everything was going to be alright, which as you can imagine was immensely comforting (and emotional)!”
Noma shared the love in a few tweets of her own.
Emma also met Sam Clemmett (Albus Potter), Anthony Boyle (Scorpius Malfoy), producers, and others involved in the making of Cursed Child.
Harry Potter past has met the present, and it couldn’t be more magical.
The Harry Potter fandom has longed for more information on Harry Potter’s world ever since The Deathly Hallows was published almost 9 years ago. So it is no surprise that the pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have been staggering. According to Digital Journal
The company states that the new book has sold more copies at its initial release than any other in the series to date.
While many will not be able to attend the stage production in London in the coming months they will be able to read the much anticipated new story from Rowling. The Cursed Child has also seen the revival of the midnight release party. From Geeky Con to Barnes & Noble to local bookstores the excitement is palpable. The book is also a top seller on Amazon.com.
Once again Harry Potter fans will get to experience a new book together. This will only add to the already close knit community of Potter fans. The book will be released on July 31 of this year. Convenient as that is both Harry’s and Rowling’s birthday. As we all read this new story together it will deepen our knowledge and love of the Wizarding World that Rowling has created.
Being the son of The Boy Who Lived isn’t always easy according to Sam Clemmett, the actor portraying Albus Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Clemmett goes as far as to describe the relationship between Harry and his middle child as “fractious”, and being that Harry Potter is as famous in the Wizarding World as he is in ours, it’s not hard to see why.
Of the father-son relationship, Clemmett says:
“There are issues. It’s like having a massive celebrity figure as a dad. People react to you in different ways whether you want that attention or not. Whether you are able to live up to that person or not, it affects your self-esteem.”
Clemmett also joins a number of other Potter alumni in defending the casting of Noma Dumezweni as Hermione in Cursed Child–a decision that has been the topic of much discussion as of late.
“The films have painted a picture of the Harry Potter world and it is hard to put that aside. But JK Rowling never specified ethnicity in the books. Noma is a brilliant Hermione and does a wonderful job and tells the story beautifully — and that is all that matters.”
Sam Clemmett and the rest of the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continue to charm audiences at the Palace Theatre. For those of you who have seen the play, we ask that you please remember to #KeeptheSecrets in the comments!
Read more from the interview at Digital Spy and Standard.
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