Erin and I saw Harry Potter and Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway last weekend. I did not anticipate the depth and detail of any component of that experience, and I left more fully appreciating what can make high-end theater so incredible.
First, there’s the environment. While I theoretically knew that a show would take over a single theater for the duration of its run, I did not play that out to its conclusion. Everything about the Lyric—the lobby decor, concessions, how people dressed, how they talked to you, the merchandise—was created knowing that they had a Harry Potter show. No corner was left untouched by this knowledge, and in hindsight, that’s obvious. I bought Butterbeer, and our in-seat delivery order during intermission included a complimentary chocolate frog. All of that was a significant first step towards immersion.
Second, the effects were literally magical. I could anticipate some stagecraft and see the crew dressed in all black sneaking around, sure. It’s a stage play; that’s tier one set movement and visuals. At tier 2, we have on-stage costume changes, disappearances, and magical spells that I don’t know the precise mechanism for, but could hazard a few guesses. They were explicable. Then, there are those rare tier 3 effects that blew me away. They warped what I could see on stage during the Time Turner transitions. I still have no clue how they did it. I was spellbound.
Finally, there is something about the best available actors, their stage presence and ability to manipulate an audience, which makes everything feel real and believable within the fiction of the play. I’ve seen amateur shows that accomplished this at a small scale—difficult, sensitive two-person plays, for example—but such an enormous cast rendering what amounts to a wild bit of fan fiction entirely committed to their roles was magnificent.
These aren’t groundbreaking revelations, but even a single show helped me understand what’s available in this art form I don’t often think about. I’m excited to see a different show, likely a musical, and continue to be amazed by humanity’s talent.