The $35.5 million Harry Potter and the Cursed Child moved into Broadway’s renovated Lyric Theatre in 2018 as a two-part play, a costly experiment (for producers and the audience) that was curtailed in 2021 when Broadway reopened after the Covid pandemic shutdown: Cursed Child returned in a slimmed-down, one-part production that continues to draw decent, if not sell-out, crowds. With the closing of Here Lies Love, Broadway’s recent penchant for productions that require extensive and costly venue renovations proves to be a riskier endeavor than was perhaps expected. Salonga, who appeared for about a month last summer, played a character that appears only briefly in the musical, singing the song “Just Ask The Flower”. Although the large all-Filipino cast has featured some performers well-known in New York’s theater circles – namely Arielle Jacobs, who plays Imelda Marcos and Jose Llana, who portrays Ferdinand Marcos – the production initially relied heavily on guest star (and producing team member) Lea Salonga to generate headlines and buzz. The unusual approach likely found a more receptive audience at the downtown Manhattan Public Theater.Įxpectations, though, were high for a Broadway staging, with a top-notch creative team that includes not only Byrne and Fatboy Slim but director Alex Timbers, scenic designer David Korins and costume designer Clint Ramos, among others. Much of the show’s appeal – or intended appeal – is its fun-night-out approach to theater, with a large segment of the orchestra-level audience required to participate in the dance-club goings-on. The transition to Broadway, however, never quite took hold, either critically or among audiences (despite various ticket initiatives). The Off Broadway production was an audience favorite and drew mostly excellent reviews. A West End production debuted at London’s Royal National Theatre in 2014, and a production opened at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2017. A long-gestating production, the musical had its world premiere Off Broadway at The Public Theater in 2013, returning to the venue in 2014-2015.
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