About the show:
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a British two-part stage play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany. Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London on 7 June 2016, and it premiered on 30 July 2016.
The play opened on Broadway on 22 April 2018 at the Lyric Theatre, with previews starting on 16 March 2018. Its cast is similar to that of the first year on West End, with returning actors Anthony Boyle, Sam Clemmett, Noma Dumezweni, Poppy Miller, Jamie Parker, Alex Price, and Paul Thornley.
The story begins nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his younger son Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
At the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards, the London production received a record-breaking eleven nominations and won an again record-breaking nine awards, including Best New Play, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Director. At the 2018 Tony Awards, the Broadway production won six awards, including Best Play. The play also set the record for highest all-time weekly ticket sales of any play after grossing over $2.5 million at the Lyric Theater for the week ending on December 30, 2018.
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Cursed_Child
My opinion:
I've wanted to see this play ever since it came out! In the beginning it was hard to get tickets and you really had to plan ahead. After going to London in February and passing the Palace Theatre several times, I just looked at tickets for April (my next holidays). When I saw there were tickets available, I started planning a whole Harry Potter inspired trip and booked tickets.
FINALLY!!!!! I was so excited!
Wednesday, April 17 was the day. Before going into the theatre, I took a few pictures outside and then headed for the line to get in, you have to wait a bit, but the line is constantly moving. When you get in the first thing you see is the "gift shop". They have lots of merchandise and souvenirs, which is great. I took some time to look at them, but didn't buy anything yet. They have house related things, Cursed Child related, Hogwarts things and much more (no spoilers). I bought a program, looked at in the bar area and then took my seat. I almost started crying then already. The curtain was lifted already and there was the stage, ready for scene 1.
When it actually started with the scene we all know (19 years later), I had some tears in my eyes. It was such a special moment and I think I just couldn't believe actually being in the theatre and seeing the play. I have read the play twice, so I was very familiar with the story. The great thing though, is that I always discover new details and now I also had live pictures with actual actors. It made it so much more real, lively and exciting. I really liked what they did with all the scene changes (there were so many). The actors moved things around, but they always swinged their cloaks first and some were just moving. When they lifed something they kind of did it slow motion and things appeared to be flying in the air. They used stairs and moved them around and omg the time turing! The time turner was flying, the clocks turned backwards and then they had this special effect of everything getting blurry and wavey (like being underwater) and with the sound, it was awesome!!! There were also scenes, which were added by music and choreography, that added a more magical touch to it and now let me talk about all these special effects and the magic on stage. It's incredible!!! I don't know how they did all these things, but it was really impressive. There were sparks, floating objects, flames, sometimes people vanished or transformed, it's amazing!!!!
FINALLY!!!!! I was so excited!
Wednesday, April 17 was the day. Before going into the theatre, I took a few pictures outside and then headed for the line to get in, you have to wait a bit, but the line is constantly moving. When you get in the first thing you see is the "gift shop". They have lots of merchandise and souvenirs, which is great. I took some time to look at them, but didn't buy anything yet. They have house related things, Cursed Child related, Hogwarts things and much more (no spoilers). I bought a program, looked at in the bar area and then took my seat. I almost started crying then already. The curtain was lifted already and there was the stage, ready for scene 1.
When it actually started with the scene we all know (19 years later), I had some tears in my eyes. It was such a special moment and I think I just couldn't believe actually being in the theatre and seeing the play. I have read the play twice, so I was very familiar with the story. The great thing though, is that I always discover new details and now I also had live pictures with actual actors. It made it so much more real, lively and exciting. I really liked what they did with all the scene changes (there were so many). The actors moved things around, but they always swinged their cloaks first and some were just moving. When they lifed something they kind of did it slow motion and things appeared to be flying in the air. They used stairs and moved them around and omg the time turing! The time turner was flying, the clocks turned backwards and then they had this special effect of everything getting blurry and wavey (like being underwater) and with the sound, it was awesome!!! There were also scenes, which were added by music and choreography, that added a more magical touch to it and now let me talk about all these special effects and the magic on stage. It's incredible!!! I don't know how they did all these things, but it was really impressive. There were sparks, floating objects, flames, sometimes people vanished or transformed, it's amazing!!!!
The acting was spot in as well. I think the roles were reall well cast, especially Ron, Harry and Albus Potter, but also Snape, McGonagall, Draco Malfoy, Hermione, Ginny, Delphi Diggory and Moaning Myrtle. You might realise that I haven't mentioned one important character yet: Scorpius Malfoy. It may be that his role is supposed to be that way (then he did a great job), but for me it was a bit too much and overacted. I kind of had a different picture of his character, so that was a bit confusing to me. There were so many funny scenes and LOL moments, as well as emotional and touching scenes. The feelings came across really well. Some actors played several roles, which is very impressive too.
The first part ended with a big wow and just made me more excited for part two. It never felt boring or long, because the storyline just moved along wonderfully.
Before the second part started I bought some souvenir and merchandise, I had time to think in the break, what to actually get. A must for me was the music, it's beautiful, a great mixture and the individual tracks fitted the scenes perfectly. I can't wait to listen to them again.
I feel like there is so much more to say about the play, but I'm still overwhelmed. I can't pick a favourite part or scenes, there were so many memorable ones. I had tears in my eyes several times, but the scene, where Harry and all the other characters have to watch his parents die, is heart-breaking.
The announcements before each part and after the intervalls were very creative and magical. Each time a character was talking, including the way they speak and their personality, especially Umbridge was great, they also included words like muggles, just fab!
A must see for all Harry Potter fans, I really want this to become a movie as well and maybe hear about Albus' and Scorpius' future.
The first part ended with a big wow and just made me more excited for part two. It never felt boring or long, because the storyline just moved along wonderfully.
Before the second part started I bought some souvenir and merchandise, I had time to think in the break, what to actually get. A must for me was the music, it's beautiful, a great mixture and the individual tracks fitted the scenes perfectly. I can't wait to listen to them again.
I feel like there is so much more to say about the play, but I'm still overwhelmed. I can't pick a favourite part or scenes, there were so many memorable ones. I had tears in my eyes several times, but the scene, where Harry and all the other characters have to watch his parents die, is heart-breaking.
The announcements before each part and after the intervalls were very creative and magical. Each time a character was talking, including the way they speak and their personality, especially Umbridge was great, they also included words like muggles, just fab!
A must see for all Harry Potter fans, I really want this to become a movie as well and maybe hear about Albus' and Scorpius' future.
