On the Red Carpet at Opening Night of CURSED CHILD

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. The West End's biggest hit, Harry Potter and the Curse Child Parts 1 and 2, has come to Broadway, and we're here on the opening day red carpet where we caught up with all the stars

We set out not to do the easy thing. You know, everyone wanted to make a Harry Potter musical, and I kept saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I wanted to do something original. I wanted to, and I always felt if we were going to do another Potter story, it had to be something very different. It had to be new. And we ended up, right

writing a play around the character who always interested me most in that epilogue, which was Albus

this poor boy who had to go off to Wizarding School carrying three legendary names, what a burden

So I'm proud that we did it, and I think we did Albus justice, so I'm really happy

It was always going to be nerve-wracking because it's Potter. I don't mean this in a bad way, but the stakes are kind of high

You're always aware that you might be accused of having trying to wring the very last bit of juice out of it

and I'd said no to everyone for a decade actually. I'd said I didn't want to adapt it for the stage

mainly because everyone kept asking me to do musicals. But then Sonia Friedman came to me with a proposal

I found very intriguing to do an original piece of theatre, straight theatre, dramatic theatre, out and make a new story

and I was really intrigued. And working with John Tiffany and Jack Thorne has been one of the gifts of my professional life

I loved the process from start to finish. So I can honestly say that even if we flop

which I obviously hope we don't. It will have been one of the most joyful experiences I've ever had

I love the robe. Look at this. Yeah, I've had this for a while because I love it

What a great day to wear it. Well, you know, I really had to struggle to decide to put it on

And then I thought, do I care what people think? Hell no. So here I am in my Harry Potter robe and my glasses

And excited to see this. Really excited. to see it. I was here yesterday. You're going to have the best day in this theater. I'm telling you

just an entire day in the theater is just, you know, you have to sort of prepare yourself

so I'm kind of prepared. When did you first fall in love with the books? My God, probably almost 20 years ago

Yeah. Remember the first day you got that first book and cracked the cover of it? It began this journey

I was in London. I bought the book because it looked interested. I loved the cover. And they said

oh yeah this just came in and it was like oh this is great and then you know we said well let's see if we

if it's available now this is how we're doing this is how we're doing this is how we're

I'm so impressed where did you get this I could have had this for a couple of years and when

they put no one of my things from a college right so you could have worn one of your normal robes

today too with some buttons right it's true I know how exciting is just for like you to catch up I mean

there's nothing like a Broadway opening it doesn't happen anymore we've been we have been rolling for the

last couple of last week or so together I saw I saw what be showing Indianapolis and then came back

on the bus with her it was yeah yeah it was my dog and the dog it was great it would be a show to watch

right well it was a very good very sedate but real fun yeah it was really fun I was so impressed

Oh my God, it takes such courage. We were just talking about the books when she first fell in love with them in London

Where did you first fall in love with Harry Potter in the books When my daughter started reading them because she wasn a reader and Harry Potter made her a reader I never seen her read so fast It is the thing that you know J Rowling this is the gift she gave to every parent whose kid doesn want to pick up a book

She created this series and kids, all colors, all genders, fell in love and nothing better than that

So thanks, JK. Not only to read, but to have use their imagination

You know. Yes. Away from a screen. Yes. So probably when I was seven years old, I first got obsessed with Harry Potter

listened to the audiobooks a million times, read the books a million times, saw all the films, have loved every single piece of content

I'm, you know, blessed to be involved in the world of Fantastic Beasts

And I'm just thrilled beyond possible measure or description to see this show today

I was here yesterday. All seven hours of it, I couldn't be more excited. You must be a Harry Potter fan

The real world of fan is fanatic, so that's kind of me

I mean, my wife wouldn't let me bring my wands, but I got to bring my pin wand. So I brought that

I've got my earrings on. I've got my tie. I've even got my socks on. I've got my see-through shoes so my Harry Potter socks could show

So, yeah, I'm a big fan. I was here yesterday. Wait until you take this journey in here today

Listen, you don't understand. I wanted to see it in London. I wasn't able to. I'm so glad I got to see it here at home

I've already read it, but it doesn't. It's not the same as seeing it

So I am so juiced. Everybody, Hamilton is really jealous of me right now because they have a matinee and I'm out here

What was it about the books? That first day you cracked the book cover

and you went on this journey. What was it? I think it was the fact that it was just such an immersive world

and it was just a fun, amazing journey to watch what this kid and his friends went through

I mean, to take certain things from that genre of mythology, mythology and what she did with it is just crazy

And also, there's always holes in stories. And she was able to close up all the holes and bring things back

It was always great. Yeah, and I loved it. So many of your favorite characters are back in this

You know this. Yes, I know. I'm a huge Snape fan, Professor Snape

I'm a huge, serious black fan. Basically all the people I have Wanzov. I have seven of them at my house

And I'm so, Lucius Malfoy, I'm so looking forward to seeing all of my favorites

Did you work with these books with your kids? was cracking the book covers and reading them

Kai read four of them. Sasha tried to read one and couldn't get through it

But it's not because it's just a different style. They like different things

Kai's really into this sort of fantasy stuff. And Sasa's much more of a kind of nonfiction guy

Are you excited about today? Am I excited? I've been waiting for this moment for years

Since I first picked up that book, I was like, when will I be in the same building as her? But yeah, I'm so excited

I'm excited to see the magic. I hear it's like breathtaking. So, yeah

So you cracked open that first. first book, who is your favorite character that you followed through the story with

Dobby. Dobby, yeah, which is a sore subject right now, you know

It's hard. We're all grieving. Cedric was also a very big one

But I'm just a fan in general of the whole world of it. Like, how can somebody think up an entire world like that

It's incredible. It's really cool. How old were you when you started reading the books? I don't remember

I don't really remember not having Harry Potter in my life, like in my immediate, like in my psyche

So it's pretty much a part of, part of, I mean, I named my dog Olivander, you know, so I'm a pretty big fan

What I love about this JK got kids to read That what these books did But from the very first day they were huge books but everybody wanted to read them and live in this world Yeah I mean I still to this day get mad of people who haven read the books

Like the three people I've ever met that haven't read them. I'm like, you have to talk to that

No, I'm like, you have to figure out your life choices and get back to me. So what have you heard about this

I've heard that it's breathtaking. I've heard that it's just like, you're like, how did they do that

So I'm very excited to just be mesmerized and taken into that world. I'm excited. It's very cool

You know, I love anything that conjures up a feeling of magic and other dimensions and of, you know, people living amongst us and more than what it appears to be and all of that

And still, you know, good messaging of friendship and believing in yourself and things like that

How excited are you all to be here today? Really excited. We're big hit. We're huge fans of Harry Potter. We're so excited

Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm a huge Jerry Potter fan. Was it the books for you first, or was it the films

Books? Because I read them, and then I watched the movies, but they're both great, because I just love the story

Yeah, same. What was it like for you having them, like, the best thing about these books is everybody picked up these books to read

It made kids read books? Yes, and multiple times. I don't think I read a book multiple times when I was a kid

Seven times. How many times? Seven times. Some books even more. Some books even more

So to act out the characters? Like, would you act? All right, who are your favorites in the book

Well, it's actually really hard. I like Dumbledore. I can't really choose

Natalie loves Snape. Yeah, I really like Snape. I just found her like a really interesting character

but I also love Dumbledore. Because he so, why? The whole time, like, when we were in London

we were obsessing over, like, we went to the making of Harry Potter, and we were all obsessing about, like, everything Harry Potter

It was really fun. Because you got to get upset. So what is it like for you being here today

I was here yesterday. I spent the whole day and evening here. You're going to have the time of your life

I'm excited. Yeah, I'm really, really excited. This is the biggest Broadway opening ever

Correct? Yes, definitely. You look stunning. This is the way you dress up for an opening day, opening night

of a spectacular Broadway show. You have to have like a day-to-night ratio

and I feel like I played more towards the night, but like, whatever. More is more

How excited are you to be here? I am probably the most excited I've ever been about anything that I've gone to

This Harry Potter, the whole Harry Potter world has been in my life since I was in the fifth grade

I read the first book when I was in the fifth grade and then the year after that is when the movie came out

I turned 11. When Harry turned 11 in the movies, the movies always came out around my birthday because I'm a Thanksgiving baby

So I grew up with them and I feel like these books shaped me into the person that I am today

So for this, I'm so enthralled and thrilled to not just be here, but my dad's in it

and it just kind of comes full circle because when I was a kid, I read them, but my brother was too young

so my dad would read it out loud to my brother, and I would be there for him reading it

and because he's an actor, he would do voices for everybody. So it's amazing that it's come full circle that he's actually in the show on Broadway

I'm here, and it's like I'm 10 years old again listening to him

I'm thrilled to be here representing the production. A dream I had a few years ago and here we are

and it coming to life We done it in London it was a beautiful experience there It still is But Broadway any you know for a Brit coming to Broadway

it's so romantic, the history, the connotations of being a producer in New York

Being producers in New York, there's nowhere like it in the world. We're treated so well, so beautifully by the community

Broadway and the industry have welcomed us so much. And I'm just like crossing my fingers that that's all I have right now

I've got nothing left. But crossing my fingers and hoping that audiences, fans, critics, press, the media

they appreciate the love and the beauty and the craftsmanship and the artistry

that has gone into this piece of storytelling. The starting point for the story, for me, and everybody connects it at different points

The starting point for this story was a complicated relationship with a dad

And I had a complicated relationship with my dad. So when we first embarked on the development of it

it was about the father-son, the father-complicated relationship bringing up children. And my mum died not long ago

My mum died just a few weeks ago. And so now the play for me is less about abandonment

which is what it originally was. for me and it's now about deep grief and loss and love and legacy and inheritance and what your

parents hand down to you. It's been a dream come true hasn't it? You know you you often imagine these

kind of collaborations that you might have to that you might have to kind of you know go through in

your life but you never think that they'd be they'd be as joyful as this do you? I mean we're working

in the greatest greatest, one of the greatest literary minds of all times

and she was prepared to take our phone calls. Do you know what I mean? Like, you know, it's amazing

And text messages. Exactly. Exactly. I have created this incredible world. What were those like collaboration conversations

between the three of you to structure this beautiful story? What were they like? Well, I remember the first time

I'd met Joe a couple of times before that, but when I first took Jack up to meet Joe

in her house in Edinburgh and we were sat around for a whole day

kind of dreaming and talking and imagining And, you know, we had to pinch ourselves on the way back to London

because we were like, did J.K. Rowling really just ask us, what do you think Hermione would be doing

You know. And she did. Didn't she? I hope you recorded those days, like sitting around talking about it

He's a writer and I'm a director. They're well recorded enough. If you could sum up the best part of the experience

I mean, you're this monster hit in London. You've won nine Olivier's

It is opening day, opening night on this glorious day here. What are you enjoying the most gentlemen

The best moment for me was the first moment Joe saw the show in its full form

And we were behind the iron on the stage, and she was just emotional

And it was like the idea that she felt like we might have done her justice

was just the greatest feeling in the world. And also the fans, you know, a lot of whom are here today

And as we were signing text, play scripts and etc. for them

them saying that they're really, really proud of the show and they love it

And they feel like, you know, it honors their love for the franchise, for the canon