New PBS special to honor historic National Theatre and showcase “Potter” actors

This year, you can spend Valentine’s Day with some of your favorite Harry Potter actors! PBS will be airing a very special event: National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage. The event’s website states that

“The National Theatre opened its doors in 1963 with Laurence Olivier as its first director. Eight hundred productions later, the venerable institution celebrates its 50th anniversary with a starry cast of theater legends to applaud the remarkable people and plays that have made the NT one of the most cherished and creative wellspring’s of international theater: from premieres of plays by Tom Stoppard, Peter Shaffer, Harold Pinter, Alan Bennett and David Hare, to outstanding revivals of classic plays and musicals.”

The event will include archival scenes from past performances mixed in with live performances and even musical numbers. The cast of 100 includes Potter actors Ralph Fiennes, Sir Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, and Frances de la Tour as well as other illustrious names like Roger Allam, Simon Russell Beale, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dame Judi Dench, Christopher Eccleston, Derek Jacobi, Rory Kinnear, Adrian Lester, Anna Maxwell Martin, Helen Mirren, Andrew Scott, and Penelope Wilton.

National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage will air on Friday, February 14 at 9 PM EST on PBS (check your local listings). You can check out a preview of the special event above or go to the Monsters & Critics website for more information.

An event like this reminds us of how lucky we were to have such established and distinguished actors inlcuded in the Potter cast. Will you tune in to see these very special performances? Let us know below!