Broadway Licensing Group Acquires Amateur Licensing Rights for School Productions to Global Phenomenon, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadway Licensing Group, Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions are thrilled to announce an exciting partnership to bring Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the award-winning record-breaking hit play, to high school and secondary school theatre programs worldwide starting in 2024.
Producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender said "We are delighted to be working with Broadway Licensing Group so that schools around the world can stage their own productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We're very proud that over half of the play's audiences worldwide have been first time theatregoers. With this schools version, we hope to broaden that audience even further by introducing younger generations to the magic of live theatre. We can't wait to see how students embrace their creativity and bring the magic of the wizarding world to life on their school stages. It's extremely exciting for us all."
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the first Harry Potter story to be presented on stage, has sold over 6 million tickets worldwide and holds a record 60 major honors, with nine Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Play and six Tony® Awards including Best New Play.
Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play by Jack Thorne. When Harry Potter's head-strong son Albus befriends Scorpius, the son of his fiercest rival, Draco Malfoy, it sparks an unbelievable new journey for them all—with the power to change the past and future forever.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has cast its spell worldwide with productions currently running in London, New York, Hamburg, and Tokyo, and has completed runs in Melbourne, Toronto, and San Francisco. The original two-part production in London's West End recently celebrated its 7th anniversary, while the reimagined Broadway production celebrated its 5th anniversary.
A Bespoke Version for Educational Theatre Productions
"Over twenty-five years ago, the Harry Potter book series inspired a generation of new readers," said producer Neil Blair, J.K. Rowling's agent and Founding Partner of The Blair Partnership. "Making Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the eighth story in the Harry Potter series, available for school productions around the world will inspire that same creativity, imagination, play, and storytelling through the medium of theatre, and we couldn't be more thrilled."
Broadway Licensing Group is in development with the show's original creative team, including playwright Jack Thorne, director John Tiffany, producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, and with sign-off by J.K. Rowling, to adapt the script for high school and secondary school theatres, including a new, shorter runtime, as well as new creative techniques to convert the highly technical wizardry of the original production into magic and spells that schools can achieve with no matter their budget sizes and socioeconomic backgrounds.
"When I was developing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with the creative team, one of our founding principles was that the magic, illusions and special effects should have their roots in storytelling techniques that could be achieved when playing at home or in school. This might involve borrowing your teacher's winter coat to act out the effects of taking Polyjuice Potion, or raiding the loft for suitcases to create the Hogwarts Express." said director John Tiffany. He continues "So opening the world of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child up to schools is thrilling and feels like the natural next step in our journey."
Pilot Productions & How Schools Can Stage Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Pilot productions of the school edition will take place in the UK and US in Spring 2024, with worldwide release for schools shortly after. Amateur productions will roll out later. Theatre educators can get more details and express their interest in staging the production by visiting LicenseCursedChild.com.
"We are honored to be the worldwide Amateur licensing home of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and prioritizing the release of the title to the educational theatre market," says Sean Cercone, Founder and CEO of Broadway Licensing Group. "We hope the impact of bringing this beloved world to life on school stages will drive a renewed commitment to nurturing the arts in our schools ensuring every student has the opportunity to experience the transformative power of theatre. Providing students with the once in a lifetime opportunity to not only see characters like Harry and his son Albus, but to be them."
ABOUT WIZARDING WORLD
In the years since Harry Potter was whisked from King's Cross Station onto Platform nine and three quarters, his incredible adventures have left a unique and lasting mark on popular culture. Eight blockbuster films based on the original stories by J.K. Rowling have brought the magical stories to life and today, the Wizarding World is recognized as one of the world's best-loved brands. Representing a vast interconnected universe, it also includes three epic Fantastic Beasts films, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – the multi-award-winning stage-play, state-of-the-art video and mobile games from Portkey Games, innovative consumer products, thrilling live entertainment (including four theme park lands) and insightful exhibitions, as well as a forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
This expanding portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery owned Wizarding World tours and retail also includes the flagship Harry Potter New York, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – the Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo, and the Platform 9 ¾ retail shops.
The Wizarding World continues to evolve to provide Harry Potter fans with fresh and exciting ways to engage. For the worldwide fan community, and for generations to come, it welcomes everyone in to explore and discover the magic for themselves.
WIZARDING WORLD and all related trademarks, characters, names, and indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s23)
ABOUT BROADWAY LICENSING GROUP
Broadway Licensing Group and its family of imprints (Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, and Stage Rights) is the global leader in theatrical licensing and distribution. The iconic works represented epitomize the greatest collection of authors, composers, lyricists, and underlying rights holders across the globe, including Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lynn Nottage, Alan Menken, Stephen King, Elvis, the Bee-Gees, and the Beatles.
The Broadway Licensing Group collection of titles represents an astonishing 38 Tony Awards® and 49 Pulitzer Prize-winning works. The company leverages its team's expertise in licensing, theatrical production, theatre education, and content creation to diversify, strengthen, and rapidly expand its portfolio into new sectors and markets. Founded in 2017, Broadway Licensing Group has quickly scaled, and, as of 2022, the company represents 8 of the Top 10 most produced plays in professional theatres, and 9 of the Top 10 most produced plays in High Schools.
In 2020, Broadway Licensing Group launched the Emmy® Award-nominated streaming platform Broadway On Demand, offering exclusive theatrical content, interactive events, and original programming projected to reach well over 200 million households by 2023. Additionally, Stageworks Productions, the original live stage content creation arm dedicated to the development of innovative, theatrical intellectual properties, has developed several world premiere musicals which have been produced in over 90 countries. In all, the combined force of the Broadway Licensing Group family of imprints continues to grow, with a singular goal to make everyone in the world a theatre person.
MEDIA CONTACT & ASSETS
For Broadway Licensing Group:
Jeffery Keilholtz | SVP Marketing | press@broadwaylicensing.com
For Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:
North America: Heath Schwartz at Boneau/Bryan-Brown | hschwartz@bbbway.com
UK: Esther Beaumont | EstherBeaumont@harrypotteronstage.com
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