How do you talk about a show where everything is supposed to be a secret. I guess that’s a spoiler alert.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was two nights of awkwardly blended magic and mediocrity, like the alchemy of a B/B- Hogwarts student. Some of it is mind-blowing: imagery and special effects I will never forget.
Some of it is really dull: whole scenes that just lie there and go on much longer than necessary. Often those scenes are whenever there are just two characters on stage talking to each other. And that juxtaposition of genius and generic left me unsure how I felt about everything.
The cast is game but fairly unremarkable although I am a Jamie Parker fan and wish he did more work here in the States. Everyone is good but no one gives a performance that can outshine the special effects.
There are many moments that invoke the books or replicate whole scenes and it made me glad this was more than a straight adaptation of the original series.
But man, 400 dollars and five hours is a big investment for something more in the league of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang than the Iceman Cometh. Actually I preferred Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because it had the flying car and Jan Maxwell. (It was also shorter and cheaper).
Although I sound like a muggle, I love the original books and they hold a special place in my heart. And I liked the plot of this new story as a continuation of the wizarding world. But either the script is utterly pedestrian or the director cared more about stagecraft than acting.
But — there is one element that is a true knockout. The renovation of the Lyric is stunning. My new favorite theater. It is worth the price of admission alone and I enjoyed just sitting there, soaking it in and also roaming from one mini shop to the next. And the show makes amazing use of it.
Spending two nights there is a bonus.
Keep the secret - The cursed child may be mediocre but the Lyric is pure magic. |
