Less than a year after its inception, the Harry Potter stageplay Cursed Child in London is swapping out its entire cast.
This time last year we were all reeling from the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child casting announcements.
With the plot of the play under wraps, all we knew was that it would center on an adult Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Draco and their kids Albus, Scorpius and Rose.
Now, Pottermore can reveal that the original actors — including Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Anthony Boyle — are moving on, and a new cast is taking on the iconic roles.
Related: Cursed Child Broadway auditions have begun
Our new Harry, Ron and Hermione will be played by Jamie Glover, Rakie Ayola and Thomas Aldridge, with Helen Aluko as Rose, Theo Ancient as Albus and Samuel Blenkin as Scorpius.
Original cast members James Howard and Emma Lowndes are staying on, playing Draco and Ginny respectively.
If you were hoping to catch the original cast, you’ve better hurry: This change-over is already happening May 24, with the final original cast performance being May 21.
As someone who was lucky enough to see this cast in action, I highly recommend this, though I’m sure the new players will be wonderful (it is also great to see them committing to casting a black actress as Hermione, though we’d of course like to see even more diversity in future main cast groups).
It is of course normal and expected for theater performances to change out their cast, but since Harry Potter is kind of a special case, director John Tiffany offers some comparisons that should help alleviate any worries from fans: “Think of Doctor Who: new generations happen all the time. People like seeing new actors and their different approaches to characters. We like to see different actors and actresses playing Hamlet, for example — or Lady Macbeth or James Bond.”