Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has finally come to Broadway, but you’ll need a bit of magic of your own to get tickets.
The show officially begins preview performances on March 16, 2018, and will open on April 22 at the Lyric Theater (214 W. 43rd St.), which has undergone a total redesign to make the show as magical as possible.
Alas, getting tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be about as easy as getting into Hamilton. Not only that, you’ll have to spend twice as much: The show is divided into two parts.
Luckily, there is another way.
How does the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ticket lottery work?
Each Friday beginning on March 9, the production will hold a digital ticket lottery through the TodayTix website and app.
The ticket lottery is officially called the Friday Forty, and it’s pretty generous. Fans have a chance at 40 seats to every performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child taking place the following week. The show is performed in full between three and five times each week, so that’s at least 120 and up to 200 chances to win!
Each ticket costs $20, and you can enter to win tickets for one person ($40) or two people ($80).
Unlike ticket lotteries for other shows where your seat might be up in the balcony or the very front row — which sounds great in theory but in reality it’s a bit too close to the action and your neck will probably hurt by the end of the show — the show’s producers promise that Cursed Child’s lottery tickets are for “some of the very best seats in the theater.”
How do I enter the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ticket lottery?
No need to set daily reminders — you enter the lottery once a week on Friday.
Sign onto TodayTix between 12:01 a.m. and 1 p.m. (EST) on Friday to enter the lottery, selecting whether you want tickets for one person or two. Then pet a black cat for good luck (Minerva McGonagall would approve) that you’ll be selected.
Winners are notified between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and you’ll want to keep a close eye on your email the whole afternoon. If you’re one of the chosen ones, you’ll have to purchase your tickets within an hour of being notified, or they’ll be passed on to someone else.
Now that the hard part is done, just pick up your tickets at the box office on the day of your first show!
Note that if your tickets are for the Wednesday matinee and evening shows, you’ll have to beg off work on pretty short notice. Hopefully, your boss will understand that sometimes, there are more important things in life.
How can I get tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway?
To up your chances of seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, sign up for the show’s newsletter to be notified of when new blocks of tickets are released.
