For the past five months a group of young musical theatre lovers have been busily preparing and rehearsing a musical of epic proportions – A Very Potter Musical.

The musical takes a quirky spin on the beloved Happy Potter series by author JK Rowling and combines some of the best bits from the books into a singing showstopper.

The brain child of Billy Axford, Paige Wilkie and Harley Lindley the project includes an onstage cast of 25 and a full ensemble of over 40.

“The show really came about after Billy and Paige were watching A Very Potter Musical on Youtube and offhandedly said we should do that,” Harley – co-director who also plays Professor Dumbledore – said.

“The show was written and performed by StarKid who are a group of kids at university in the United States and it pretty much went viral online.”

The show will be presented at Panthers Port Macquarie over the Australia Day long weekend with nightly performances from January 24-27, at 7pm.

The group are putting on the show to raise money for two charities – Make a Wish Foundation and Accessible Adventures.

Director Billy Axford, who also plays leading man Harry Potter said it has been great to see the cast and crew come together over the last few months.

“We are raising money for two charities who are making a difference to people,” Billy said.

“The show obviously is focused around magic and the Make a Wish Foundation grant wishes to kids who are sick so there is an obvious connection there.

“The second charity is focused around providing adventures to the disabled and we also thought that was something great.”

Musical director Lindsay Kaul said it has been a lot of hard work and rehearsing to get the show off the ground.

“It is a really fun show and for a lot of us growing up with the Harry Potter books means there is something special about being apart of this new twist on the much loved classic books,” Lindsay said.

“Overall the script is based on the first book, set in their second year at Hogwarts but also combines the main plots from all the books.

“Its a bit complicated but audiences can certainly expect to laugh and have a good time watching the show.”

To follow along with the progress of the show head to their Facebook page or to purchase tickets click here.

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