‘Harry Potter’ Author J.K. Rowling Felt Nervous Before Broadway’s ‘Cursed Child’ Opening

Success doesn’t prevent J.K. Rowling, one of the world’s best-selling authors, from feeling nervous before a new endeavor. The writer revealed that she was definitely feeling a bit tense at the opening night for Broadway’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

“Nervous, as I always do on these occasions,” Rowling told her website Pottermore when asked how she was feeling on the red carpet. “I take nothing for granted. You never know what’s going to happen next.”

While that’s true for most Broadway shows, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is already pretty successful. It has a thriving production on London’s West End, which earned 9 Olivier Awards, and the New York production started breaking records long before opening night on April 22. In the first week of April, the two-part play became the highest grossing play in Broadway history, pulling in $2.1 million during a week of previews. Rowling is proud, to say the least.

“I really feel like we did the best job we could — on the theater, on the play,” she added. “So when you say that, you can’t really say much else, you know? Now it’s just over to everyone else to decide what they think about it.”

The Lyric Theater was completely renovated ahead of the U.S. premiere of “Cursed Child.” The theater now has patronus murals, light fixtures featuring dragons and eagles and wallpaper with H for Hogwarts. It’s pretty clear that the theater expects the Harry Potter play to be running for quite some time.

Rowling told the official “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on Broadway Twitter account that seeing the renovations was delightful. “I was incredibly moved because we knew this was a big job,” she said. “The Lyric was going to be a very big project. Aside from mounting the play here, we actually renovated a theater. And to see it for the first time was very moving, actually. I’m thrilled with what we’ve done.”

However, what really matters is getting the play to new viewers. “I think it means that our collective hard work is reaching a new audience, and that’s really what it’s all about,” she explained. “You want to touch people and move people and hopefully console people. And I think this play does all of these things, and now we’re bringing it to new audiences, which is amazing.”

Rowling has previously stated that she hopes to have “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” in “as many places as it’s feasible to take it.”