Fans dress up like the boy wizard on the day of the release of the published version of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play. [Photo/Agencies]

The cast is anchored by the adult trio of Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley. There's also a touching performance from Sam Clemmett as Albus, and an engaging, career-making turn from Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy, the surprising son of Harry's childhood enemy Draco Malfoy.

The actors draw both laughter and tears from audience members. But it's the work of the production crew that elicits gasps, with illusions that appear simultaneously simple and inexplicable.

Characters levitate, transform and disappear, in magic that feels handcrafted rather than high-tech, although a great deal of technical expertise has gone into it.

Buoyed by the work of movement director Steven Hoggett and composer Imogen Heap, the show captures the warm spirit of the world Rowling has created－one that has moved from page to screen to stage with its magic intact.

Rowling－who wore golden winged shoes, reminiscent of the golden snitch she created for the magical game quidditch－said she hoped the show would attract "people who have never been to the theater before."

"I would be so proud to think that kids from my kind of background, who didn't come from particularly theatergoing families, learn what theater is all about through this show," Rowling said. "That would be an incredible thing."

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