Broadway's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is shortening its running time once again, with the new version of the play debuting at the Lyric Theatre November 12, alongside a major cast change. The show previously ran 3.5 hours, and the new running time puts it at just under three hours.

The new version is the play's third on Broadway, with earlier press notes promising "all the magical storytelling, emotion, and spectacle currently seen on stage at the Lyric" being retained. The work—written by Jack Thorne from a story created by J.K. Rowling, director John Tiffany, and Thorne—originally opened April 22, 2018, as a two-parter, running over five hours total. Audiences were invited to either see the show over two consecutive evenings or as an all-day matinee-and-evening marathon. A condensed, 3.5-hour production opened following the COVID-19 pandemic December 7, 2021, and has been used ever since. Only London's West End, where the work premiered in 2016, is still presenting the original, two-part version of the play.

The new, further condensed version had its world premiere with the recent launch of the production's U.S. national tour in Chicago. (Since the work's world premiere, a revised and condensed version has also been made available to high schools in the U.S. and U.K. via Broadway Licensing.)

"From the very beginning, we and the creative team have challenged ourselves to find new and innovative ways to bring the extraordinary storytelling and stagecraft of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to life," said producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender in an earlier statement. "This innovative process has continued since the original production first opened in London in 2016, with the show evolving creatively as it has expanded across the globe. We are thrilled that John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, and the entire original creative team were able to reunite over the last few months to revisit and explore the original material, creating this new version of the show, which now runs under three hours, especially for Broadway. We are incredibly excited to announce that it will soon land at the Lyric Theatre. We were delighted by the ecstatic reception of this new version of our spectacular show when we premiered it in Chicago last month, and we can’t wait to see our extraordinary new cast bring it to life on stage in New York starting in November."

The Broadway cast, as of November 12, features Matthew James Thomas as Harry Potter, Sarah Killough as Ginny Potter, and Alex Serino as their son Albus Potter; Daniel Fredrick as Ron Weasley, Rachel Christopher as Hermione Granger, and Ayanna Nicole Thomas as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley; and Aaron Bartz and Erik Christopher Peterson as Draco Malfoy and his son Scorpius Malfoy, respectively. Kristen Martin plays Delphi Diggory.

The company also includes Chadd Alexander, John Alix, Megan Byrne, Maxim Chlumecky, James Cribbins, Ted Deasy, Kira Fath, Gary-Kayi Fletcher, Eleasha Gamble, Logan James Hall, Janae Hammond, Abbi Hawk, Sophie Hearn, Chance Marshaun Hill, Zachary Lindberg, Jay Mack, Bradley Patchett, Alexandra Peter, Kira Player, Dan Plehal, Gabrielle Reid, Isaac Phaman Reynolds, Allie Re, Stephen Spinella, Tom Stephens, Khadija Tariyan, Baylen Thomas, Julius Williams, and Riley Thad Young.

The production also features movement by Steven Hoggett, set by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music and arrangements by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, illusions and magic by Jamie Harrison, and music supervision and arrangements by Martin Lowe. U.S. casting is by Jim Carnahan.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender, and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.

Visit HarryPotterBroadway.com.