Wilton High gets first crack at ‘Harry Potter’ play
WILTON — Wilton High School is among the “chosen ones” to be the first high schools in the country to “bring the magic” of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” to the stage.
Wilton High School, along with 28 other schools in different states and Puerto Rico, was selected following a nationwide “Wands at the Ready” competition to debut the high school edition of the 2018 Best Play Tony Winner. Wilton High School is the only Connecticut winner.
“With over 70 submissions from across the United States, the campaign aimed to empower theatre teachers to showcase why their drama programs were ‘magical’ enough to be the first schools in their state to produce the official school version of the global phenomenon,” said Broadway Licensing Global in a statement.
WHS’s Theater Department announced the news in an Instagram post Wednesday, stating “the WHS Theatre lineup for 2024 just got more exciting.”
To earn the license, schools submitted video auditions showcasing how much “magic” their drama department has, as well as their passion for the arts.
“Shoutout to Nicole Allers, Will DeBernardis, Kate Rusin, Finn Ryder and Nick Somma for the awesome video,” the WHS_theater post said.
Broadway Licensing Global collaborated with the Cursed Child’s original creative team, “including playwright Jack Thorne, director John Tiffany, producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, and with the approval of J.K. Rowling,” the statement said.
“This adaptation includes a shorter runtime and creative techniques that cater to schools with large or small budgets,” Broadway Licensing Global said.
With production approved in only 29 schools, Wilton High School will provide one of the only productions in the Northeast, with Massachusetts’s Westford Academy and New York’s Cornwall Central High School also being selected. All productions are required to be next fall from Oct 15 to Nov 20, 2024. Wilton High School theater said it would perform the play in November.
The “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” script was published as a book in 2016. Beginning 19 years after the events of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the play follows Harry’s middle child, Albus Severus Potter, through his journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A focus of the play is their father-son relationship, as well as Albus’ friendship with Scorpius, the son of rival Draco Malfoy.
After premiering in London’s West End Palace Theater in June 2016, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" made its way to Broadway’s Lyric Theater in March 2018, where it still runs today.