Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Review

I actually had never intended to go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway but when Justin presented me with tickets for my 30th birthday I was thrilled. I was also overjoyed to see Tom Felton would be playing Draco Malfoy. Tom Felton is the sexy British actor who played Draco Malfoy in all eight movies. And yes I have a bit of a crush. Anyway, a brief background. The story starts off where the last Harry Potter book leaves off (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) where Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermoine have just brought their respective children to King’s Cross station to get on the train to go to Hogwarts. There is some overlapping dialogue between the book and the play and then the train takes off. 

Dialogue: B. With a couple of good zingers and some lines I won’t forget (‘is that a…..farmer’s market?”) the dialogue was mostly average. The best scenes were scenes of conflict (verbally not physically) like when (spoiler) Harry told Albus he had moments he sometimes wished Albus wasn’t his son. Or the heartfelt moments between Scorpius (Draco’s son) and Albus. But I felt like the scenes went way too fast for any good dialogue to really land with the audience. Everyone was always running around and sets were always moving. It was  hard to appreciate the good lines that were in the play.

Storyline: B+ There were some excellent plot twists in this play (spoilers alert). Voldemort has a child with Bellatrix Lestrange and the child is determined to bring him back. There is a lot of the use of the Time Turners (which, in the actual Harry Potter books, are really only used in the third Harry Potter book and are all smashed in a giant battle at the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book). Albus and Scorpius (both of whom didn’t really seem to fit in at all in Slytherin since they were neither cunning nor ambitious) used the time turner several times, first to go back and save Cedric Diggory (didn’t work), then to unite Ron and Hermoine but that only took Scorpio back to a place where Dolores Umbridge was headmistress and Voldemort had killed Harry Potter and won the Battle of Hogwarts. Because they were trying to cram alot into the storyline (the first act alone was an hour 40 minutes) some of the plot was a little confusing and the quality of the dialogue had to be sacrificed (see above). Plot is always confusing when you add time travel to it.

Acting: A I thought each of the actors did a phenomenal job. I thought Scorpius did a particularly good job as a kindhearted, socially awkward kid who only has one friend (Albus). Albus played the resentful son of a world renowned wizard who saved humanity. I was surprised Ron and Hermoine’s daughter (Albus’s first cousin) was such a bitch throughout most of the story to Scorpius and Albus. But of course my favorite actor of all was Tom Felton. He did a tremendous job as a proud but worried father. Also Draco’s wife died. So maybe someone could write me in as his girlfriend in the next installment.

Special effects: A+ Okay I have no idea how they did all these special effects. Dementors flying out over the audience, spells soaring  back and forth across the stage, people turning into each other via Polyjuice Potion. The play was laden with magic, a new trick at every turn. They pulled it off so well; I had no idea how they did most of it. It kept me on the edge of my seat, immersed in ways the dialogue couldn’t make me feel. And yes I did see Voldemort. I don’t think he saw me though because I survived.

Overall performance: A- Im so glad I got to see this show. Harry Potter has meant alot to me as it has to a lot of children. I remember one time my mom sent me to stay with my grandparents for a few days. This was  before we knew I had anxiety disorders and when I was little I had terrible separation anxiety. I brought the first four Harry Potter books with me. When I  had a hard time I would read them over and over and over like clutching a security blanket. So I was so happy to see this part of Harry Potter to which I had been ignorant so far. It was such a treat to see a celebrity of whose poster had actually hung on my wall. Btw buy the butterbeer. It’s worth it.