‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 2’ Lives Up to the Hype

Some exciting news today: I got to edit a few stories for the New York Times Magazine! One of the pieces I worked on was an upcoming “At War” column, a section that examines the war experiences of Americans around the world. I can also now share this story I worked on yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/travel/catskills-history.html. I also tackled a fantastic print cover story for the Science section of the Times today, which you'll be able to read soon.

And then it was on to “Cursed Child Part 2!” The first half of Part 2 was the best of the four halves, and I was incredibly sad at intermission when I realized I only had one more hour of Harry Potter play-dom left to enjoy. If you visit New York and are a Harry Potter fan, "Cursed Child" is a must see.

Imogen Heap’s music adds another layer to the experience, and the tracks accentuate the action in each scene (and the themes get stuck in your head). As a bonus, I forgot some significant portions of the plot since reading the screenplay the day it was released three years ago, so I was surprised all over again!

Granted, this is not the classic “Harry Potter.” Much of the play is like a Harry Potter fanfiction playing out on stage with little regard for the rules of the HP universe (You can transfigure people into people? Hmmm … *scratches head*). But if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, the play will suck you right in. Just think of it as Harry Potter playing out in an alternate dimension.

My two favorite actors in Part Two were Karen Janes Woditsch as Professor McGonagall and Stephen Spinella as Severus Snape (and also Lord Voldemort!). Scorpius Malfoy also gets a much bigger role than Albus Severus Potter in Part Two, in a reversal from Part One.

I do have a few quibbles: The fourth and final section has way too much telling, as the maxim goes, and not enough showing. We get lots of “talking-it-out” moments between Harry and his son as they try to work through the issues in their relationship, and the dialogue isn’t always entirely (or remotely) believable. The slowest portions, which are few and far in between, are the conversations between Harry and his son, as well as scenes with Delphi Diggory, who just isn’t that interesting a character.

Something else I did not expect: Pigeons are used as a punch line. Again, the play tries too hard with the jokes, particularly in Scorpius’s case. Draco also gets some cringe-worthy lines, from “We can hug too, if you like,” to “I’m being bossed around by Hermione Granger … and I’m mildly enjoying it” to “It is exceptionally lonely being Draco Malfoy.” We’re back to the whole suspend-your-disbelief thing.

None of these issues could dim my enjoyment of the play, however. It’s by far my favorite Broadway production I’ve seen, and I’d definitely go again if it weren’t so expensive (and, at nearly six hours between the two parts, a pretty significant time investment).

Coming up soon: I’ll start working mainly evening shifts at the Times (hello, editing until midnight!), which means I’ll get to handle more late-breaking news and stories for print. So, look forward to more daytime adventures.