Acclaimed Huddersfield-born theatre director John Tiffany has been nominated for another Tony award for his work on the smash hit production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
And if he wins the gong it can go alongside his previous award for directing the musical Once in 2012.
It’s been a busy old time of late for the rising star. He was made a Doctor at the University of Glasgow in recognition of his ground-breaking work at the National Theatre of Scotland, won an Olivier Award last year for Harry Potter and was recognised with an OBE in the Queen’s New Year honours list.
John, 46, who was born in Marsden and brought up in Meltham, has been nominated in the category of Best Direction of a Play. His fellow nominees are all fellow big-hitters: Marianne Elliott (Angels in America); Joe Mantello (Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women); Patrick Marber (Travesties); George C. Wolfe (Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh).
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child focuses on Albus Potter, son of the original boy wizard, and is set two decades after JK Rowling’s final novel. A play in two parts by Jack Thorne, it is based on a new original story by Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany.
It is running simultaneously in the West End and on Broadway.
After winning the Olivier Award last year John spoke of his pride and sense of teamwork.
“Awards... you can’t judge yourself by them but it’s lovely to get them. And seeing all the people I work with getting awards for Harry Potter tonight is incredible.
“We’re happy with what we’ve made because we’re so chuffed with it, but to get all of this is wonderful.
“I truly believe in the power of theatre to tell stories in the most amazing kind of communion way. [I thought], ‘If I do that and trust that, we’ve got this’. And it seems to have worked so far.”
When he won the Tony in 2012 he thanked his family “who gave me the gift of music”. He said his Olivier would be given to his mum along with another award that he received for the play Black Watch in 2009, which he kept in a cupboard.
He explained: “I can’t have them out. You can’t be defined by awards.”
The 2018 Tony Award nominations were announced in on Tuesday. There are 26 competitive categories.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two received earned 10 nominations overall including Best Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Jamie Parker), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Anthony Boyle), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Noma Dumezweni), plus Scenic Design, Costumes, Lighting, Sound, and Choreography.
The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 10, 2018, to recognise achievement in Broadway productions during the 2017–18 season.
