Why Harry Potter and the Cursed Child isn’t coming to Perth

All the magic in the world won’t be enough to bring Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to Perth — but there’s a good reason why.

The multi award-winning play will officially end its record-breaking run at The Princess Theatre in Melbourne on July 9, more than four years after its Australian premiere.

This makes it the longest-running play in Australian history, with more than one million tickets sold for 1300-plus performances.

Die-hard Harry Potter fans may be wondering why the famed show has not played in WA.

And indeed many have been waiting in the hope it would pack up and move around the country.

However, it is not that simple.

Cursed Child may be the most technical and detailed theatre production of all time, and there are so many purpose-designed elements that moving the set would prove impossible.

Set designers spent more than six months refurbishing the 169-year-old Princess Theatre to house the play, including custom carpets emblazoned with the letter H, bespoke wallpaper, dragon sconce lights, stained glass and plenty of other references to enchant the most devoted followers of the wizarding world.

The entire basement was reworked to house a temperature-controlled pool that becomes Hogwarts’ Great Lake in one particularly spellbinding scene.

PerthNow was taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of the set and while many of the secrets can’t be revealed, it’s safe to say there is an extreme level of precision that goes into creating the illusions that play out on stage.

Stage manager Rebecca Rees said every second of the show was carefully co-ordinated and the modifications to the theatre allowed for ground-breaking feats of magic.

Gareth Reeves, who has starred as Harry Potter since the play opened, said it was unlike anything he had ever worked on and it would be a bittersweet moment when the final curtain fell in July.

The cast and crew urged those who haven’t yet seen Cursed Child to make the trip to Melbourne to witness the spectacle before it leaves the country for the foreseeable future.

Cursed Child originally opened as a marathon theatre event, performed as two parts over more than five hours.

Last year it was condensed to a single show of 3.5 hours, including interval, after the Broadway version received the same treatment to high praise.

The story welcomes the return of Harry, Ron and Hermione 19 years after their final year at Hogwarts, along with a new generation of students and plenty more surprise appearances.

Globally, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has more than 60 major accolades to its name, including a slew of Olivier and Tony Awards, and has sold 6.5 million-plus tickets since the first production opened in 2016.