Broadway Inbound’s Marketing Communications Manager Chanelle Cotton talks to Steve Haggard and James Romney about their experiences playing Harry Potter and Albus Potter in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The performers share thoughts about their characters and the show's magic and explain why it is a fantastic experience for every theatergoer. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a Broadway play based on the Harry Potter series, set 19 years after the last book's events, that follows Harry's youngest son, Albus, as he struggles with his father's legacy. Broadway Inbound offers group tickets to the play, making it easy to get your group together for a magical night out at the theater.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Hi everyone. My name is Chanel Cotton. I'm the Marketing Communications Manager. I am your hostess with the sometimes mostess, and like Allison said today, we are talking about fan favorites on Broadway. And so, what does that even mean? Fan favorites are shows that have this incredible staying power. Some shows don't get a long run. These are shows that have long runs and dedicated fans. And so I want to give the fans a little moment to shine right now. As we said before, we are joined by members from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. And so I would love to ask you all, do you have any stories from your fans that you could share with us over the years, even if just a letter that they've sent, if it's a stage door moment. I'll just open up the floor to whoever would love to share.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Oh, yeah, I'll go. Hi everybody. I'm Steve Haggard, and I play Harry Potter in Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, and there's a lot of magic in the show intertwined through the story, at the theater.
And so often the audience… you'll hear people in the audience exclaim when they can't tell how something happened, how an illusion happened. And one of my favorite things that happened outside the stage door was these two kids. They were brothers, and they accosted me as soon as I came out of the stage door. And one was obsessed with how everything was done. He was like, how did you do this? How did you do this? And how did that happen? And while that was happening, the other brother was really into Voldemort and wanted to know everything about Voldemort. And it made me laugh because I couldn't tell them anything. I couldn't tell them.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
And also, I feel like you usually don't get a lot of questions about Voldemort.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Uh, yeah. It depends. I mean, the Slytherins and Voldemort have quite a cult following. There are a lot of people that identify as Slytherins that come to see the show.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
I am one of them. Slytherin represent. So I understand. I get it. Thanks, Steve.
And next up, we are diving into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We've got Harry Potter and The Cursed Child coming up next, so check out this video.
*Parts of the Show are Playing*
- Harry.
- Time-turner.
- You're my best friend, Albus.
- He'll be alright, won't he?
- Of course, he will.
- I never fought alone, you see. And I never will.
- Harry Potter.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
And with me, I have Steve and James, Harry and Albus Potters themselves. Thank you so much both for joining me. And as we've already established, I am a Slytherin fan. I have been a Slytherin fan since a wee child. I won't tell you how old I am, but you can just know that it's a few decades. But anyway…
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Noted. Noted.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
I'm someone who comes from the World of Harry Potter. And what would you say to those who perhaps don't come from that world? Like why is this show also for them?
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
The thing I'd say is, first of all, the show is so much fun if you do know the world of Harry Potter. But the thing that's incredible about how they put it together is that you really don't have to know Harry Potter to enjoy this. I think it's so immersive. It's so enjoyable because you're seeing the world through the eyes of new characters, as well as older versions of the characters you already knew. You can take the journey - if you're new to the world - with the newer characters, and I think that's really cool.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I think yeah, totally. And one of the things that I love about it, too, is that from the time you step into the theater, you enter a world in which magic is real. It's a part of the inner workings of everything that goes on in that theater. So from the time you're getting your seats and tickets and throughout the show. Like I said before, magic is sort of interwoven through the story, so there are times in every show where... It's a fun experience to go through with an audience because they get to the point where they really can't… they're like, I don't know how that just happened. And you feel this energy where they accept that now they're in a different place where magic is real, and I think that's a really exciting place to live with the audience for a short amount of time. And I think that's a cool experience for people to walk into, whether or not you know the characters from the stories.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
And now Steve, you play Harry. Is there any pressure? From playing such a well-known character. James, I'm not saying you don't have pressure. You do have pressure. You are the son of Harry. But Steve, do you feel a pressure of playing such a well-known character? How do you struggle - do you struggle at all - with making it your own or remaining loyal to the source?
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Sure. I mean, yes. There's a bit of pressure. Playing such an iconic character. It's rare that, as an actor, you get such an extensive and specific amount of source material. Especially one that so many people are familiar with. And I was a Harry Potter fan before I was cast in the show. It was funny when I started… I was coming in with…
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Oh, no, Steve, it seems like we're having little technical difficulties. No, you're back. You were frozen for a second, but you're back.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Oh, was I? Sometimes I do that. It's just a thing I do.
As a fan, I was super nervous because I know how much those books mean to me. And so I assume, and I know that those stories and these characters… People are walking into the building with a relationship with these characters already. So I have to say, it was an interesting experience to go through because I had to divorce myself from that. I had to be like, okay, here's all of this idea of Harry Potter, and how do I come at this character as a human? Because essentially, he is just a really flawed guy who went through some pretty traumatic stuff as a kid. And now he's trying to figure out how to be a better dad, how to be a better husband, how to manage work. And also deal with all of this trauma and stuff that's bubbling up inside of him. And so I had to take off… it took a while to take off that big idea of Harry Potter and just start dissecting it as I would any other script and trying to find the essential human stuff in this guy. Because I think that's what's so powerful about the stories that people connect to. He isn't a perfect guy. He's not a hero in that sense. In some of those books, he behaved pretty terribly. But he worked - you get to see somebody work through it.
For me… I've had a few people come up to me and talk to me after the show and talk about their personal experiences. And addressing their own trauma and their own struggles, and how cathartic it was to see somebody move through that. These characters that they know and that they love move through some of the same space as they were moving through. That's really powerful. So every day when I go, I try to remember that every day, as I'm coming back to the story and the script, there's always someplace deeper to go. There's always some place more human to go. And that was my way into it. Because he's a flawed guy who just happens to be the most famous wizard in the world.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
So actually, you mentioned the human aspect, or maybe, for the purposes of the show, we mean the most muggle aspect. There's all the magic, yes, but at the heart of it, it's a father and son story. And while it takes place in a world that we're not accustomed to living day to day, what do you think it is about this story that makes it so universal to people?
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I think the setting happens to be magical, the events are magical and fantastical, but of course, the core of it is a human story, a muggle story, as it were, right? It's about this relationship. It's about emotions. As Steve said, it's about trauma and working through it. I think the most important thing that people can take away from it - if there's any sort of lesson - is just to extend compassion, always. So much of the conflict that arises between characters is because they can't see things from another character's point of view. Or, in a moment of anger or reaction, they forget to walk and live with compassion for the other characters around, and that's how mistakes are made, and things are said that shouldn't be said. So the story itself is human. It's absolutely human. It just happens surrounded by magic.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
And one of the things that I love about it - and some other people touched on this today - at the heart of these stories is… it's a sort of meditation on what it means to be a friend and what it means to have friendship in your life and be able to depend on someone or not be able to depend on them. And that need and power of friendship and being able to trust somebody is great, and it's a wonderful bit of the story that I'm so happy that we get to do every night. To remember that when you walk into the theater, you get to spend time with people that you - these characters that you've come to love.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
For a show about wizards and magic, it's a very human show. And it sounds like a story that we could all use a little bit of right now, the lessons that are from the story.
Now, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child used to be two parts. It's now one part. How did the show make sure that by condensing it, they didn't lose any of that magic? And I don't just mean the magic in the effects; I also mean the magic and the feelings in the story.
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I think a lot of hard work went into condensing it. And a lot of that work was done in the opportunity that presented itself with quarantine and lockdown. So the creatives were able to think about it a lot, and a lot of what was done in terms of the story - keeping the magic around - was refining things. A scene that made an important point might not need to take as long to make that same point. So there was almost a sharpening of certain aspects of the storytelling. And then, of course, with the magic itself, they wanted to make sure that the things that were awe-inspiring about the effects were also sticking around. And so it was done. And they did a workshop during last summer, and when we were in rehearsal, we went through a lot of iterations of changing things, adding lines. Every night it was slightly different during our previews. So it was a lot of hard work by a lot of people. It was a very collaborative atmosphere, which was really cool. A lot of us got to contribute significant pieces to the DNA of the one-part version. So it was teamwork. Teamwork and dedication to the ideals of the story, that really was able to tell the same thing in a shorter amount of time.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Yeah, it was really cool to be a part of. It was really cool because we were pulling things out, and then running, and putting it back in, and seeing and having these conversations. Did that work? Could you follow the through line? And what ended up happening is that we do keep all the magic, we did keep all the story. And the people from the wizarding world, the wizards, some cameos from the wizarding world. It just concentrated and focused in this form that is really exciting. It's a really exciting journey to go on with an audience every night. And we get to do it all completely in one night from start to finish, and that is a lot of fun to be able to do.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Growing up part of the magic for me was reading the books with my friends. Like I had this very specific group of friends. We would have sleepovers and read the books together. And that was part of the magic for me. And I had never reread the books growing up because I couldn't duplicate that magic. Because we had grown up and just naturally grown apart and stuff, and so I didn't want to try and force it. And then this show came out and I was like, I don't know, am I trying to force getting that feeling back? And let me tell you, I was almost in tears, because I had not had that feeling since I was about 13 years old. And so thank you. So all of you who work on this show, for helping to bring some real-life magic where it is needed in the world. That's wonderful.
Thank you.
If you could play any other character besides your own…
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I think about this all the time.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Who would it be, and why?
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Draco 1000%.
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I knew it.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Oh, I love Draco. Draco is such a great character. And in our play Draco, he just gets to come in, and drop bombs and leave. That's my favorite thing about him. He's just gets to come in, and mess up… Because he's grown up, and you get to see his kid too. So it's all in like trying to…
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Oh, no, you froze again Steve.
Okay, you're back. I think you're back. You're back.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
It's the thing. Sorry, but yeah, Draco… Draco's the best. Dropping bombs. And he's got a sweet ponytail. So yes, why would you not want that?
He followed in his father's footsteps with a ponytail.
Those Malfoys love a ponytail.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
And James, why do you want to be Draco… is it for the same reasons or no?
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
No, I was just… yes, I suspected his answer was gonna be Draco. My answer is Scorpius. Because when I was auditioning for this, years and years ago, I was kind of auditioning for both Albus and Scorpius, and I didn't know which way they would want me to go. So I have strong opinions about the character Scorpius, and I've seen other people play the characters Scorpius. And I love Albus so much, but there's a whole different thing I would get to do with style and acting and enjoyment of this. Also, Scorpius is a lot funnier than Albus, and that's really fun to make people laugh. Albus is not a very funny character. Albus is a pretty serious and put-upon character. So it'd be more fun to be more of the comic relief as well.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
James, does Steve ever try and give you fatherly advice?
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
No. Not really.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Would you like some, I've been saving it up?
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
I'm not sure I'd trust you to give me fatherly advice there, buddy. Good advice. I don't know about fatherly. Steve and I are close, and we get along super well, but you know… I think we're closer to 10 years apart than like any sort of father-son distance. And so I think we're more friends than we're any father-son dynamic. I don't know.
Steve Haggard (Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Well, now I'm just gonna try that, gonna drop dad jokes.
James Romney (Albus Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child)
Stop parenting me, dad! Look what I've started.
Chanelle Cotton (Broadway Inbound)
Steve, just drop a bunch of dad jokes next time you're together. There you go. All right. Thank you so much both for joining us. And again, everybody, www.broadwayinbound.com. Get your tickets to see Harry Potter and The Curse Child.