On April 27, 2019, I passed by Lyric Theatre for the first time since Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened, saw the amazing marquee outside, and promised myself to watch the play eventually.
On November 3, 2019, through a combination of budgeting and timely discounts, I watched the play! (Broadway prices are no joke, let me tell ya.)
Today, I finally blow the dust off my photos and share my spoiler-free review. Here we go!
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place 19 years after the last book, and is broken up into two parts. It’s a grand total of 5 hours and 15 minutes, not including the intermissions. Translation: it’s a LONG show. Fuel up on Harry-Potter-love and snacks because you’re going to be here a while, especially if you’re crazy enough to watch the entire play in one day, like I was.
“I’ve sorted high, I’ve sorted low,
I’ve done the job through thick and thin,
so put me on and you will know
which House you should be in…”
— Sorting Hat
Waiting on the line presented the first of four photo ops, complete with new sorting hat song and new House banners.
The other three photo ops are inside and include a backdrop of the words Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, holding your new House banner, and The Patronus Room.
The Patronus Room was my favorite photo op—look at how beautiful they are and complete with quotes!
The entire theatre is decked out top to bottom with mesmerizing aesthetics and Harry Potter details. Look, Hogwarts carpet! I may or may not want one for my future house.
Okay, now about the play…
It was absolutely worth it. The storyline was meh and flawed, BUT the execution was phenomenal. All the perfectly timed illusions and lighting, all the creative sound effects, all the love and talent the actors and crew gave to this world, it all worked perfectly to recreate the magic of Harry Potter.
This is one of those rare exceptions where the production value is SO FREAKING AMAZING that you could be watching Harry Potter recite a phone book and it would still be transcendent.
(No, I didn’t actually sit through 5 hours of Harry Potter reciting a phone book with pretty visual effects. I don’t love Harry Potter that much…*twitches*)
Some of the details that made me go “WOW”:
- A real fire (of different colors)
- A real water tank
- The coolest time turner wavy illusion thing
- Magical bookshelf (seriously, magical)
- For the love of Harry Potter, the dementors. The dementors freaked me out. I can’t even tell you how or why because it’ll spoil the magic.
Part 2! 
Intermission
I cried in about 5 different places watching this play. Did the storyline make sense? Absolutely not, but you know what? For 5 glorious hours, I took a train back to this magical world I love so much and this play delivered with heart and soul. At the end of the day, it’s all about how something makes you feel, right?
P.S. I couldn’t very well show up to a Harry-Potter-anything without representing my House. Ravenclaw Pride!
It’s good to know that the play was way better than the book. The book sorely disappointed me.
The storyline is really messed up, in my opinion, but the play really was amazing to watch.
That’s good to know, the amount they are charging for it, it should be a good watch.
Oh dear! Definitely felt your rollercoaster of emotions through your words!! happy for you!
Haha, thank you!! It was a rollercoaster of a day, but mostly highs 🙂
that’s great!
Sounds like an awesome day, and I bet you were getting pressure sores after sitting for so long! 😮 I went to a HP convention last year and had a similar experience – some parts amazing, other parts meh. It was full of annoying children, for a start. Those things should be banned! I haven’t read the book but it sounds like you had an amazing experience, and that’s more important than a story making perfect sense IMO.
The two parts are not back to back, thank goodness. There was a break that lasted a couple hours so I got to stretch my legs and grab some dinner, but yeah, it was still a pretty exhausting day. Sorry to hear the annoying children diminished your HP event experience 🙁
Oh, nice! Food and theatre – what more could you ask for? 😀
a 5 hour play!!!!???? the seats better be real real comfortable! lol
i did like your review and it showed it was worth it.
The two parts are not back to back, so I did have a couple hours in between to stretch my legs, but yes, it was a long day!
Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂
I love ‘The Cursed Child’ script, and I’m currently waiting for the play to come to Toronto. Should be here next year. I would have loved to see it with the original cast, but I’m still wayyy excited. Five hours? It seems worth it.
Oh my gosh, I’m excited for you for when the play arrives at Toronto!! And yes, 5 hours in total, but the two parts are not back to back so you can opt to see them on two separate days, or there will be a couple-hours-break if you watch them in one day (at least, that’s how it was here in NYC). I hope you enjoy the play as much as I did when you get the chance to see it!