Broadway Review: ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ defies belief with special effects wizardry
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” adapts the Wizarding World for the Broadway stage with astounding special effects and surprising story changes to its pre-pandemic script. Here’s our review.
To borrow a phrase from Ron Weasley, “Bloody hell!” I entered Lyric Theatre in New York City with casual excitement for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the sequel stage production to the seven-book saga (on Broadway, but not a musical).
Within minutes of the play beginning, I realized this was a much bigger deal than I had anticipated. What I expected to be a pleasant afternoon of Broadway theater became an experience I will not soon forget, barring anyone casting the Obliviate memory spell.
A Tour de Force of Special Effects
“Cursed Child” leverages its characters’ magical abilities superbly. A few simple, common stage tricks would’ve checked all the boxes and likely still elicited an awestruck response from the audience. Instead, the charms, spells, and otherwise wizardly quirks of Harry’s wondrous world are integrated into the story with such a level of intentionality and impressiveness that they are the show’s strongest quality.
The production is nothing short of a tour de force of practical theater effects, each defying comprehension more than the last. Particularly with an effect involving the entire set seeming to reverberate and ripple, I could not fathom how what I was seeing was not on a screen, but rather existed materially and gazed upon by my actual eyeballs.
Audience members would be wise to select their seats with the special effects in mind. Multiple sequences take advantage of the show’s permanent residency in Lyric Theatre to involve the full scope of the auditorium, meaning guests too close to the front won’t see everything.
Building Something New for the Stage
While the “Cursed Child” story leans heavily toward nostalgia (more on that in a moment), its stage presentation dares to exist as a new flavor, as it were, of the familiar Wizarding World. This is the magic we know, but in a new medium.
Score composer Imogen Heap could’ve copied and pasted the well-known refrains of John Williams’ soundtracks and no one would’ve questioned the choice. Instead, though, she created entirely new compositions in her own style and the show is better because of it. Much like each character’s wand is unique because of its core, Heap’s “Cursed Child” soundtrack provides an auditory core that changes our lens of the story. The brilliance here is that she’s not mimicking John Williams, nor any other prior “Potter” composer (though they all contributed splendid selections to the series’ soundtracks), but rather that she’s showcasing how the Wizarding World can flourish under the stewardship of a new sound.
Likewise, several story beats pause in the midst of ethereal, ballet-like dance sequences performed by background players. Again, the show’s not a musical and these numbers don’t have lyrics, but they smartly embrace the theatrical medium to introduce something new to the Wizarding World rather than simply reverting to what worked in the films.
Harry Potter and the Convenient Plot Devices
Though the production nerd in me can forgive any faults of “Cursed Child” on the merit of its phenomenal technical prowess, the story occasionally wades absentmindedly in its own lore. Whereas the execution of the actual stage production pushes the boundaries of the Wizarding World into new territory, the story itself often falls into a “greatest hits” rehash of previous “Potter” adventures.
“Cursed Child” takes place 19 years after “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” In continuing the story set into motion by the epilogue of that final book — which involved the children of Harry and friends beginning a new school year at Hogwarts — “Cursed Child” is equal parts fan service (albeit, perhaps rightfully earned) alongside fascinating new dimensions to characters familiar and fresh. Its two new lead characters are remarkable, but the story around them sometimes doesn’t service them well.
In particular, two convenient narrative conceits specific to the Wizarding World (which I’ll refrain from naming here in keeping with the play’s plea to the audience to “protect the secrets”) whisk the plot along with a convenience and frequency they never had in their sparing use within the books and films.
The inverse of this criticism is that if you read the “Cursed Child” script when it was published in 2016, felt underwhelmed, and never saw the play in person (as was the case with me), you really have only a fraction of the perception of the play. When evaluating “Cursed Child” as a whole, the sum of its parts renders most of its story-related squabbles inconsequential and nitpicky in light of the thoroughly impressive theater experience.
Story Change in Abridged “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Format
The original version of “Cursed Child” performed in two parts across completely separate showtimes. I don’t mean two acts separated by an intermission, but rather two entirely different, full-length shows, part one and part two.
Upon emerging from the pandemic, the Broadway production condensed into a singular presentation. This means several narrative threads are not explored in as much detail as they once were. As someone who read the 2016 script when it debuted, but never saw that version of the play in person, I didn’t notice what was different about the new version when I saw it on Broadway — except for one major story change, presented below in invisible text so as to avoid spoilers.
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In 2016’s script, Albus and Scorpius — the sons of Harry and Malfoy, respectively — were inseparable, but playwright Jack Thorne consistently friend-zoned their relationship through anecdotal dialogue that contradicted the characters’ clear attraction to one another.
In the new version of “Cursed Child,” Albus and Scorpius’ friendship becomes something deeper. They’re not quite “Facebook official,” per se, but their affection is decidedly less platonic and easily the most overtly queer any characters have been represented within a Wizarding World story.
While there is much progress still to be made in major franchises reflecting LGBTQIA+ stories, particularly as the subject relates to “Harry Potter” and its author, this inclusive change in “Cursed Child” is welcome and overdue all the same.
The Sorcery of Synergy
This being a “Harry Potter” affair, “Cursed Child” is more of a participatory event than most of its Broadway siblings. That’s not to say the show is interactive (it’s not) or that its characters address the audience (they don’t), but the theater-going experience here repeatedly provides fans with opportunities to indulge in all things Wizarding World.
By all means, come to the show dressed in your Hogwarts robes. Purchase a bottled Butterbeer at concessions. Buy a wand at the theater’s fully-stocked gift shop — or better yet, take home a coffee table book showcasing the show’s development.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Consensus
You’ve read “Harry Potter” as a book. You’ve watched it as a movie. You may have even stepped into it within a theme park. But even if you’ve done all of those, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on Broadway still brings something new to the table that must be seen to be believed.
Learn more and purchase tickets here.
More Wizarding World
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is one of several attractions fans can experience in New York City.
Harry Potter: The Exhibition, located on 34th Street, features museum-like displays of artifacts from the films, Instagrammable photo-ops recreating moments from the series, and a gift shop of its own.
Harry Potter New York, located at 935 Broadway (one address number away from being 9 3/4!), hosts a Butterbeer bar. This venue also formerly offered a VR Quidditch experience, but converted the attraction into more retail space.
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry himself, currently stars in “Merrily We Roll Along,” a Broadway musical performing at the Hudson Theatre.
Beyond the big apple, students of Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla. will perform “Cursed Child” in fall 2024 as part of the play’s inaugural year of licensing the show to school theater departments. Dr. Phillips High School is located immediately across the street from Universal Orlando Resort, specifically adjacent to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, visible to students on campus every day. Read more in the Orlando Sentinel.
Speaking of Universal, the resort is well into construction for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, opening in 2025 as part of the new Universal Epic Universe theme park. Take a look at recent progress in our previous story:
