The month ahead: January 2016

Keep an eye on...

Noma Dumezweni

Noma Dumezweni's career is currently soaring from strength to strength. This week she is giving her final performances as the title character in Linda at the Royal Court, a role she took over from Kim Cattrall two weeks before opening night. She is also preparing to make her directorial debut, helming I See You by Mongiwekhaya which begins performances at the Royal Court in February. Later this year she will take on the role of a lifetime, starring as Hermione in J.K. Rowling's play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Dumezweni is certainly one to watch!

Sheila Hancock & Jenna Russell

Later this week (7th Jan) the European première of Grey Gardens opens to press at the Southwark Playhouse. Thom Southerland's production stars Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell, both of whom are Olivier Award winning actresses. In 2007 Hancock won Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for playing Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret whilst Russell won Best Actress in a Musical in 2006 for playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. There's already talk in theatreland about both stars giving performances to remember; Grey Gardens plays until 6th February 2016.

Shows that should be on your radar...

Harry Potter Play: Meet Harry, Hermione & Ron

Last night it was announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will star Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione and Paul Thornley as Ron. Meet the cast below!

Discussing the casting, J.K. Rowling said: “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.”

Jamie Parker

Jamie Parker is currently playing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Savoy Theatre, a role he previously performed at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Parker most recently played Mike in High Society at the Old Vic and famously starred alongside James Corden, Dominic Cooper and Russell Tovey in The History Boys at the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, later reprising his performance for the film.

Parker's extensive theatre credits incliude: Assassins & Proof for the Menier Chocolate Factory, Candida for the Theatre Royal Bath, Drama, Holes in the Skin, Seagulls, The Coffee House, The Commuter and The Gondoliers at Chichester Festival Theatre, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Henry V, Henry IV Parts One and Two, A New World and As You Like It for Shakespeare’s Globe, King James Bible and The Revenger’s Tragedy for the National Theatre, Racing Demon for Sheffield Crucible, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Chichester Festival Theatre, My Zinc Bed for the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Singer for the Tricycle Theatre, At the Exit for Chichester Edge, Between the Crosses for the Jermyn Street Theatre and The Sneeze and After the Dance for Oxford Stage Company. 

BREAKING: First casting revealed for Harry Potter Play

It has been announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will star Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione and Paul Thornley as Ron.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will receive its world premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016.

Rowling said: “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.”

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child extends booking to January 2017

Tickets for the first booking period (7th June – 18th September 2016) for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sold out during priority on sale today (28th October 2015) and, as a result, the Producers have now put on sale seats for the second booking period to 8th January 2017 to those who registered for priority booking.

UPDATE (22.24): Tickets went on sale today at 11am (28th October 2015) for those who had registered for priority booking for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This afternoon the Producers released tickets for the second booking period to 8th January 2017, also to those who registered for priority booking. At 7pm this evening over 175,000 tickets had been sold for the play, which is unprecedented for a theatre production. 

Dates confirmed for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Further information has been announced for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

As previously announced the production is being staged in two parts, both of which will open on 30th July 2016 (previews from 7th June) at the West End's Palace Theatre.

Priority bookings opens at 11am on 28th October 2015 before tickets go on general sale from 11am on 30th October 2015. The production will be based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, who is also directing the production.

BREAKING: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter play to open in the West End next year!

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child will receive its world premiere at the West End's Palace Theatre in summer 2016. 

Rowling has written the play with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child will delve into the lives of Harry’s parents before they were murdered by Lord Voldemort. Tickets will go on sale this autumn, with many predicting that box office records will be smashed.

Writing about the play on Twitter, Rowling said: "I don't want to say too much more, because I don't want to spoil what I know will be a real treat for fans. However, I can say that it is not a prequel! To answer one inevitable (and reasonable!) question - why isn't Cursed Child a new novel? - I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story.

Rupert Grint to make Broadway debut

Rupert Grint is set to make his Broadway debut.

The actor, who is internationally known for playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, will play acclaimed young director Frank Finger in a star-studded production of Terrence McNally's uproarious comedy It's Only A Play.

Grint said: "I'm thrilled to be making my Broadway debut alongside this amazing cast and creative team."

He joins a cast including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, and Micah Stock in the production which will play a limited 17-week engagement at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. The play opens on Thursday 9th October 2014.

GOSSIP: J.K. Rowling approaches John Tiffany & Jack Thorne for Harry Potter play

According to the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye, J.K. Rowling has settled on a director and writer to collaborate with her on a West End play which will explore Harry Potter's early years and the story of his parents.

Bamigboye has claimed John Tiffany is in negotiations to direct the production. Tiffany's current West End shows include Once and Let The Right One In.

Theatre Gossip: J.K. Rowling, Sonia Friedman & Colin Callender to produce stage adaptation of Harry Potter

The Daily Mail has reported that a play based on J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter will open in the West End within two years.

Rowling (pictured right) will not write the stage piece but will co-produce the production and collaborate with a playwright. Rowling’s seven-volume Harry Potter series began with The Philosopher’s Stone, published in 1997.

West End producer Sonia Friedman and Broadway producer Colin Callender are behind the project. The play is said to tell the "previously untold story of Harry Potter’s early years as an orphan and outcast." 

Harry Potter’s theatrical adaptation will seek to "offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard. A seemingly ordinary boy, but one for whom destiny has plans..."