Not So Musical Monday: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

If you want a good summary of what happens in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, then I’d suggest looking elsewhere. The play was released worldwide in July 2016 and sold more than 2 million copies in the first two days within United States and Canada. It was the most preordered book of 2016. I write this to say that if you want to know what happens, you can talk to a pretty large degree of people who’ve read the play; however, I will respect the play’s campaign of “#keepthesecrets” and keep the plot and magic under wraps. That being said I want to briefly discuss why this play is actually really worth seeing in all of its two part glory.

I read the first Harry Potter book when Harry and I were both 11. The final book, when Harry was supposed to be in his final year of Hogwarts, came out the summer after my senior year of high school. Every year I would read the newest Harry Potter book with the added magic that Harry, his friends, and I were all roughly the same age. It felt magical and for more than just the spells. I loved living in the world. Unfortunately, a lot of what has happened since the seventh book hasn’t felt nearly as magical.

The movies were very fun, but I didn’t love the decision to make the 7th book two movies. It felt like they wanted to have two blockbusters. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was mostly fun the two times I went—the rides were great—but again there is such a focus on the money making aspect. The latest Fantastic Beasts movie felt like the worst offender yet. It was the first entry into the Harry Potter universe that I really didn’t enjoy. It made money, I guess, but it didn’t feel the same magic. I was really down on the entire universe.

Seeing Cursed Child reminded me of that feeling I had when I was first reading the books. I was on the edge of my seat and seeing something in front of me I’d wanted to see for years. I was 11 years old believing in magic. I give credit to this for the staging, the choreography, the story, and the acting. I’m definitely not the first person to like the show. It won Tony Awards last year for Best Play, Best Direction, Best Lightning Design, Best Costume Design, Best Scenic Design, and Best Sound Design.

For all of the awards it was given, Cursed Child will always be remembered to me as the play that made me feel like I was a kid again. That’s a hell of thing to do.