Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was undeniably the star attraction at the event, stopping to sign autographs. “And then I will be reading the book to the kids starting from tomorrow night”, she said.
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“It’s mostly about Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy – which is odd because Harry and Draco were enemies”.
Rowling has long insisted there will be no new Harry Potter novels, so excitement about the new stage story is stratospherically high.
“(It) chimed perfectly with the material I had about the next generation and I could see it would work perfectly.
Cursed Child is directed by John Tiffany and features a new crop of actors playing Rowling’s characters, including Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni, and Paul Thornley as Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
Release parties are happening at bookstores across the country, including at Portland area Powell’s and Barnes and Noble locations.
The play picks up where Rowling’s story ended – 19 years after Harry Potter defeats Lord Voldemort.
The readable fun for fans won’t end tonight, either-in November, Scholastic also plans to publish the script for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and this one Rowling has written herself.
Rowling has established an nearly weekly tradition of engagement with fans, offering revisions, apologies or explanations about characters to her Harry Potter fantasy series that she finished nine years ago.
Part one of the play premiered at the Palace Theatre on this afternoon, with part two due to follow on this evening.
Dozens gathered at a downtown bookstore in Hong Kong to get the new title and try on Harry Potter costumes provided by the store.
“People have grown up with Harry Potter – this is the eighth story – people out there have just loved the earlier books and want to see what Harry Potter is doing”.
She said: “What we would really like most of all is to bring people in who have never been to the theatre before”.
Harry and his wife Ginny Weasley wave their youngest son Albus Severus, named after former Hogwarts headmaster Professors Dumbledore and Potions guru Professor Snape, off to their old wizarding school. The timing is fitting – it’s Potter’s birthday and Rowling’s.
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Fans eager to get their hands on the hardbound copy of the script for the stage play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, thronged to the Union Square Barnes & Noble.
