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J.K. Rowling on the Future of Harry Potter Stories on Stage

The “Harry Potter” novels spawned a massively successful film franchise, and now, with the April 22 opening of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the Boy Who Lived has conquered Broadway. Could there be a stage sequel on the way?

Probably not, according to J.K. Rowling, the author and creator of the Potterverse — and the co-creator of “Cursed Child,” along with director John Tiffany and playwright Jack Thorne. “I think we really have now told, in terms of moving the story forward, the story that I, in the back of my mind, wanted to tell,” Rowling said just before the day-long, multi-part opening performance of the “Cursed Child,” which focuses on the relationship between Harry and his son, Albus. “I think it’s quite obvious, in the seventh book, in the epilogue, that Albus is the character I’m moved interested in. And I think we’ve done the story justice. So I think pushing it on to Harry’s grandchildren really would be quite a cynical move, and I’m not interested in doing that.”

Rowling’s visit to “Cursed Child” for the New York opening marked the 16th time she’d seen the show, she said. All-day attendees included Chris Rock, Liev Schreiber, Brooke Shields, Glenn Close and Whoopi Goldberg, who came cloaked in a Hogwarts robe. Close didn’t know what Hogwarts house she was in, but Goldberg knew she was in Gryffindor — and invited Close to join her there. Playwright Thorne, meanwhile, said he was a Ravenclaw, while director Tiffany was Gryffindor with, according to him, a bit of Slytherin deep down. Sonia Friedman, who produces “Cursed Child” with Colin Callender, said she was Hufflepuff, but seemed very sheepish about it.

The next stop for the Potter franchise: The release of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in November. What’s next for Rowling? One of the best ways to keep up with her is to follow her on Twitter. Would Harry tweet regularly, too? “No,” she said, decisively. “He’s far too busy to be on Twitter. I think also it might give quite a lot away about the magical world, and they are supposed to be secret!”

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