The Toronto run of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will play its final performance July 2 at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, closing out a run of 13 months and more than 425 performances. As of closing, the production will be the longest-running play in Canadian history.
"We are delighted with all that this production has achieved,” says producer David Mirvish in a statement. "Single-handedly it helped us relaunch large-scale theatre in Toronto after the devastation the COVID-19 pandemic wrought.
"After being shuttered for two years we wanted to play an important role in reviving Toronto’s theatre and downtown—its restaurants, hotels, shops, and service industries. The big question was: would audiences return? It was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that definitively answered this question.
“The artistry, spectacle, scale, and broad appeal of the production brought not just traditional theatregoers back, but it also attracted scores of new audiences.
“I am truly privileged to have had three partners who believed in us. Without Sonia Friedman, Colin Callender, and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, the play’s originating producers, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would not have been produced here. To them, I, the hundreds of people who have worked on the production in Toronto, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who attended, owe a large debt of gratitude.”
Inspired by J.K. Rowling's seven-part book series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child brings the boy wizard to the stage in a new story taking place two decades after the events of the books. Penned by Jack Thorne, the work is based on an original story by Rowling, Thorne, and John Tiffany, who directs the production.
The Toronto cast currently features Trevor White as Harry Potter, Trish Lindstrom as Ginny Potter, Luke Kimball as Albus Potter, Gregory Prest as Ron Weasley, Antoinette Robinson as Hermione Granger, Hailey Lewis as Rose Granger-Weasley, Brad Hodder as Draco Malfoy, Thomas Mitchell Barnet as Scorpius Malfoy, Sara Farb as Delphi Diggory, Fiona Reid as Professor McGonagall, and Steven Sutcliffe as Severus Snape.
The company also includes Kaleb Alexander, Nick Boegel, Kevin Bundy, Michael Chiem, Mark Crawford, Raquel Duffy, Bryce Fletch, Simon Gagnon, Raylene Harewood, Wychita Henricks, Asha James, Mandy Keating, Lucas Meeuse, Miranda Meijer, Kyle Orzech, Andy Pogson, Katie Ryerson, Yemie Sonuga, Jennifer Thiessen, Brendan Wall, David D’Lancy Wilson, Kyle Wong, Shawn Wright, and Synthia Yusuf. Casting is by Dayton Walters Casting in consultation with Jim Carnahan and Alexandre Bleau.
The play premiered in London's West End in 2016, winning nine Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, and made the jump to Broadway in 2018, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Play. The work was originally designed as two full-length two-act plays, though the Broadway and Toronto productions have since been streamlined into a single two-act play. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has also opened productions in Melbourne and Tokyo. The work premiered in Toronto following a COVID-19 delay beginning May 31, 2022, officially opening June 19.
The production features movement by Steven Hoggett, scenic design by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music and arrangements by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, illusions and magic by Jamie Harrison, and music supervision and arrangements by Martin Lowe.
