North Bay, Ont., actor in stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Toronto

Nick Boegel from North Bay, Ont., is making some magic at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto.

The actor is in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the eighth story in J.K Rowling's epic saga and the first to be presented on stage.

The Mirvish Productions website describes the adventure story as a focus on Albus, the son of Harry Potter, who befriends the son of rival Draco Malfoy.

"It's been wild and a roller-coaster of surrealness because I was a huge Harry Potter fan growing up," Boegel said, adding that being part of the stage production has been "a dream come true."

The recent graduate of Sheridan College said he was originally cast in the show three years ago while he was still in theatre school. 

"I was halfway through my third year when I started auditioning for this," he said, adding the pandemic delayed the production.

Boegel said he first saw the production staged in New York City just before the crew began rehearsals in Toronto. 

"I was so blown away. I was so confused as to how any of the magic happened, like I couldn't wrap my head around it."

Along with Toronto, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been staged in London, England, New York, San Francisco; Melbourne, Hamburg and Tokyo.

The play runs 3 hours and 20 minutes.

"Prepare for a mind-blowing race through time, spectacular spells, and an epic battle, all brought to life with the most astonishing theatrical magic ever seen on stage," the Mirvish website description states.

Boegel is on stage every night playing an ensemble part, but he was hired as a swing performer, who must learn multiple chorus parts.

"So that whenever someone is sick or injured [the swing performer] can hop on," he said.

"It's a lot of note-taking so that whenever someone is out of the show, I can hop in for that part."

The challenge of playing multiple roles

Boegel admits one of the hardest parts of being in the production is knowing the lines and roles of multiple characters, and having to switch daily based on what actor he's replacing. 

"I'll go on for one character one night and then the next night I have to be, 'Okay so wait, this is like slightly different cause now this character is standing in this part of the stage rather than stage left,'' he said.

Boegel said filling in has even happened partway through a show due to an injury or illness of another actor.

"Being ready for anything."

He will also be filling in for one of the main roles, Scorpius Malfoy, for several weeks in January.

Growing up in North Bay, Boegel was in a local productions from Dreamcoat Fantasy Theatre and Theatre Out Reach On Stage (TOROS) and Summer Challenge Theatre.

"Luckily North Bay has such an excellent theatre community that is kind of the perfect place for someone to grow up and discover that part of themselves," he said.

He said he's thrilled so many folks from North Bay have been to see the production to show their support for him.

Currently, tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Mirvish Theatre are available until March 2023. 

"But the hope is that the show will run indefinitely," Boegel said. "There's no set end date at this point."

LISTEN | Morning North speaks with North Bay actor Nick Boegel on his roles in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Toronto: