Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (#KeeptheSecrets)

This blog post will be spoiler free out of respect for JK Rowling and, more than that, out of pure human decency--I mean come on, who spoils things for people on purpose??

Eight months ago, when JK Rowling first announced that there would be a Harry Potter stage play, I--new to London though I was--immediately went online and signed up for the special pre-booking. On Halloween (the night Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort, btdubs), I was sent a very special link. Since I was, at that very moment, sleeping out on the street trying to get theatre tickets to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet (Is this revealing a theme?), mama took my place in the online queue. She hit the link at exactly 11 am London time--5 am for her, don't you wish she was your mom--and she was STILL 13,000th in the queue. So she waited. and waited. And waited. And finally procured two tickets to see HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD on June 16th and 17th, 2016. Grand Circle, F16 and F17. At that time, those dates felt like some kind of unreachable goal. It would never be June. I would never submit my dissertation and arrive at that fabled date.

But I did. Yesterday.

Who was my partner in crime? The one and only Kristin Brisbois. When she expressed an interest in going, I very bossily informed her that she would only be allowed to accompany me if she'd read all the Harry Potter books by then. So what did she do? She read all seven in five weeks. That's commitment.

Back in March, during Alex's visit, we happened to see the theatre begin to take shape. The title had appeared on the front of the Palace Theatre! And inside, things were beginning to take shape...

And then June hit, and we were all a flurry of dissertation-writing and stress. Yet still, the dates of the 16th and 17th hung on my calendar like an unreachable mirage. The theatre started emailing me reminders, and Kristin got us Gryffindor bows to wear (we are both true Gryffindors). As the dissertations were submitted, excitement began to build once again. Cast photos were released, and previews began very quietly. JK began her #KeeptheSecrets campaign, which meant the previews opened softly (as softly as a packed two-night theatre event can be).

And then, just like that ... the day for pt 1 arrived!!

Now the tickets we got are for the preview weeks. The actual big opening of the play isn't for some time. This means that they are still working out the kinks, and we got the see the play during its organic creation period. Picking up our tickets from the box office was an ordeal in itself, and they warned us to arrive an hour early for a reason. We had to wait in a stunning queue and then our tickets had been misplaced so we were given duplicates and instructed to return to the box office for our pt 2 tickets the following evening.

We went around to the other queue to get in the theatre, had our bags checked, and then went in to check out the merch--it is limited, but only available on site. Kristin and I both got t-shirts to wear the second night.

Our seats in the Grand circle were PERFECT--we could see everything, and there are some benefits to sitting high for this show. The story is told over two nights (or, if you're crazy, you can watch all five hours in one afternoon. Do not recommend this.), each 2 and a half hours with a twenty minute intermission. We left the first evening in a state of sheer amazement. I had to have a glass of wine to settle down enough to sleep. We went early again the second night, got our duplicate tickets from the box office and returned to our old reliable seats wearing our new t-shirts!

Part 2! 

What can I say about the show? Well I won't say much for fear of ruining one of the many amazing surprises in store. The magic and effects were baffling, eliciting gasps of wonder from an audience that was comprised of loyal Potter-fans. The performances, particularly those of Anthony Boyle and Jamie Parker, were heartfelt and poignant. The show felt like reading one of the books--it didn't have the Hollywood gloss of the films (which for much of the franchise didn't quite connect with me the way the books did I must admit, though I still love them and have re-watched them often). The director, John Tiffany, also directed Once, and Cursed Child retained that show's intimacy and austerity. Somehow, the stage play evoked the same wonder and excitement in me that reading the books for the first time did. After so many years, feeling that again was such a gift. One thing to expect: This play is in no way affiliated with Warner Bros. That means that the music is different, the uniforms and Hogwarts banners are different. You have been warned. That being said, the music was excellent and the design crew has done really awe-inspiring work. For not being a musical, the play featured some really gorgeous choreography (think about the cloaks, people).

So ... My mom's determination in getting us the tickets make her the true hero of the hour. Thank you Cursed Child for a night of true imagination and love! Sharing another two evenings with Harry Potter was about as good as it gets.