London Harry Potter Stage Show Conjures "Unprecedented" First-Day Ticket Sales | Playbill

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News London Harry Potter Stage Show Conjures "Unprecedented" First-Day Ticket Sales Earlier Oct. 28, producers of the upcoming London stage sequel Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II announced that the first three-month block of tickets had sold out within hours, and they put a second block on sale. As of 7 PM London time, they announced that an "unprecedented" 175,000 tickets of a four-month second block for the story of English witches and wizards had also flown out of the box office, as if astride a Nimbus 2000 broom.
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All tickets for the first booking period (June 7-Sept. 19, 2016) were sold before noon at HarryPotterthePlay.com. As a result, producer Sonia Friedman put on sale seats for the second booking period, through Jan. 8, 2017, to those who registered for priority booking.

Friedman's office issued the statement, "At 7 PM this evening over 175,000 tickets had been sold for the play, which is unprecedented for a theatre production. On Friday (30 October 2015), when general booking opens, to ensure customers are given the best possible chance to obtain tickets the producers will be opening up an additional booking period, details of which will be announced in the next 24 hours."

Tickets — if any are left — are scheduled to go on general sale starting Oct. 30, as reported here.

Described as one play being presented in two parts, the show is being sold initially as a pair only, so the investment required from theatregoers will be up to £130 for the two shows — a new record for non-premium prices for a play in the West End.

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Intended to be seen as a complete double bill — with double days on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and each part presented alone on Thursday and Friday evenings — tickets will be released for single-performance sales at a later date.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has a script by Thorne. Previews will begin June 7, 2016, at the Palace Theatre in London's West End. In addition four special preview performances are planned for the end of May 2016. Details of where and how to obtain these tickets will be announced at a later date. The official openings of Part One and Part Two are scheduled for July 30, 2016.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. Production notes describe the plot thus: "It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places."

John Tiffany will direct, with movement by Steven Hoggett, set designs by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, special effects by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Jamie Harrison and musical supervision by Martin Lowe.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is being produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.

 
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