Harry Potter play to open with a bang in New York in Spring 2018

NEW YORK - "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," the smash-hit and award-winning London play showcasing the fictional boy wizard as a grown father of three, is all set to hit the big stage in New York in the Spring of 2018.

The show will make its official Broadway debut on April 22 at the Lyric Theatre, with preview performances and casting to be announced in the coming months. According to producers of the London show, tickets for the New York production will be arranged to go on sale in the fall.

The play first opened in London in July 2016, and won a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards this year. These awards honor the best of the city's West End.

English screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne wrote the two-part production based on an original story co-written by Harry Potter's very own creator J.K. Rowling and the play's director John Tiffany.

Following Rowling's seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows," and set 19 years after Harry's story left off, the play features Potter working at the Ministry of Magic.

Harry has now grown up, like most of his fans all over, and is a father to three children that he has with his wife Ginny Weasley, his best friend Ron's sister.

He still wears his signature round-rimmed glasses and walks around with a scar on his head, which has always been a permanent reminder of his nemesis Lord Voldemort. In this day and age, he must now help his youngest son Albus confront and come to terms with the family's dark past.

The seven Harry Potter novels have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, the first book hitting bookstores in 1997. Harry's adventures have been translated into 79 languages and eight films.