Video: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD Celebrates 1st Anniversary at the CAA Ed Mirvish

With only five weeks remaining of the acclaimed all-Canadian production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the CAA Ed Mirvish, it’s time to look at the impact of the show.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child led the reopening of the theatre sector in Toronto, which for many decades has been the third largest theatre community in the English-speaking world, after London’s West End and New York’s Broadway.

Employing a cast of 40 performers, a backstage crew of 77 and theatre staff of over 100, the opening of the show on May 31, 2022 was a resounding signal that large-scale theatre had returned in as massive a way as possible.

And Toronto theatregoers responded in an equally massive way. By the time the show ends on July 2, it will have been seen by more than 600,000, becoming the longest-running professional play in Canadian history.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child also set a Canadian box office record for the week of December 26 to 31, playing to 100 percent capacity and pulling in $1,984,046 in sales – the highest weekly gross for a non-musical play in Canadian theatre history.

It is estimated that the economic spinoff to the city and province of the show’s Toronto engagement is over $750,000,000.

Here are some other fun numbers:

·       17,094 spells

·        285 props

·       1,375 costume pieces

·       41 wigs

·       984 lighting cues

The production has welcomed people from every province and territory in Canada as well as visitors from China, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Mexico and many others to the historic CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, following a $5 million renovation.

Photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann