Theatrical Magic Returns: “Cursed Child” Australia Set to Reopen in November
It’s been an incredibly tumultuous period of uncertainty for the Melbourne, Australia, production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. In 2020, performances of Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre were postponed for nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mercifully, in February, the cast and crew returned to the stage to dazzle audiences, and it seemed like things would finally return to normal. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. After just three months of theatrical magic, due to growing concerns regarding the new rampant COVID-19 variants, performances of Cursed Child in Melbourne were suspended until June.
On June 26, it was announced that the production was allowed to resume. However, the audience was cut to 50% capacity. For two weeks, the cast and crew were permitted to perform to half an audience until July 9, when restrictions were eased and theater capacity returned to normal. Sadly, not long after, Australia went into lockdown once more, and all performances of Cursed Child in Melbourne were canceled from July 21 to July 25. Each subsequent update thereafter continually canceled production through September 5.
Following those cancellations, it was announced that showings in September and October would be rescheduled rather than canceled, suggesting hope for the near future. Finally, we received some great news earlier this week. While performances through the first half of November will be postponed, the production of Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre is anticipated to reopen on November 18. While it could be purely coincidental, it’s in line with the 20th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That gives Potter fans in Australia two huge reasons to celebrate in November.
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While this is phenomenal news for Aussie Potter fans, it doesn’t quite mean that we’re out of the woods yet. Attendance to enjoy Cursed Child in Melbourne will likely be contingent upon providing proof of vaccination. So if you have tickets to the Princess Theatre in the coming weeks and you haven’t been vaccinated yet, the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child urges you to get vaccinated.
For those of you in Australia, are you excited that the Cursed Child production could be reopening? Will you be comfortable returning to the theater? Let us know in the comments.