‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Returns to London’s West End – Global Bulletin
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RESUMPTION
The producers of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, have confirmed that the two-part multi award-winning production will resume performances at the Palace Theatre in London from Oct. 14.
After over a year and a half of shutdown due to the pandemic, rehearsals for the West End production will begin in August. On Monday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that U.K. theaters will return to full capacity from July 19.
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Jamie Ballard is returning to the title role of Harry Potter. The cast also includes Susie Trayling as Ginny Potter and Dominic Short who plays their son Albus Potter. Thomas Aldridge returns as Ron Weasley with Michelle Gayle as Hermione Granger and Phoenix Edwards as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley. Also returning to play Draco Malfoy is James Howard with Luke Sumner as his son Scorpius Malfoy.
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is a play by Jack Thorne, directed by John Tiffany with music and arrangements by Imogen Heap.
It is currently playing at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne. Performances plan to resume in Nov. 2021 at the Lyric Theater, New York followed by productions at the Curran Theater, San Francisco in Jan. 2022, the Mehr! Theatre, Hamburg in December 2021, the Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto in the summer of 2022 and the TBS Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo in the summer of 2022.
Pictured (L-R): Michelle Gayle (Hermione Granger), Thomas Aldridge (Ron Weasley) and Jamie Ballard (Harry Potter)
Keshet International
ACQUISITION
Keshet International has picked up Glassriver’s Icelandic road trip comedy drama “Journey” (Vegferd). Keshet will officially launch the six-part series at this August’s Series Mania, where it will receive its international premiere as part of the Forum Exclusives. Other Keshet titles selected by Series Mania for this year’s event in Lille include “Furia” and “Pørni,” which have been shortlisted for its International and Panorama competitions respectively.
“Journey,” written by Vikingur Kristjansson and directed by Baldvin Z (“Case”), stars Olafur Darri Ólafsson (“Eurovision Song Contest: The Fire Saga”) and Víkingur Kristjáns (“Trapped”).
APPOINTMENTS
Steven Davenport, Screen Ireland’s lead on inward international production, will relocate to Los Angeles to establish the agency’s U.S. office. Davenport will work to support the Irish creative screen sector and strengthen U.S.-Ireland relationships between the Irish screen industry and the U.S. entertainment industry as Screen Ireland’s head of U.S. production and partnerships.
With over 25 years of experience as a line producer and location manager, Davenport has headed up the inward production department at Screen Ireland since 2016 and has built strong relationships with the U.S. studios and other U.S. production partners.
Screen Ireland
Meanwhile, Curious Films has bolstered its senior management team with two new hires: Mark Raeburn joins as finance and commercial officer and Becky Kent joins as head of development. They will work closely with Curious Films founder Dov Freedman.
Raeburn joins from Minnow Films and Renowned Films. He previously spent eight years at Channel 4 as program finance head. Kent joins from Voltage TV where she was co-head of development and worked on shows including “What Are We Feeding Our Kids?” (BBC1) and “The British Tribe Next Door” (Channel 4).
Recent commissions for Curious Films include “Reclaiming Amy” (BBC 2) and “Caroline Flack: Her Life & Death” (Channel 4). – K.J. Yossman.
DISTRIBUTION
Fremantle has acquired global distribution rights to primetime format, “Make Up Your Mind,” originally produced by Herriemakers for Dutch broadcaster RTL.
“Make Up Your Mind” is a show in which celebrity contestants undergo a visual transformation into sequinned drag queens and try to impress viewers with their new skills.
Other celebrities must guess who each of the personalities are, whilst their performances, dance moves and lip-synching skills are judged by a jury of drag queen professionals who make the overall decision on who deserves the catwalk crown.
The show was one of RTL4’s biggest launches of the year.
RTL/Fremantle
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