I Saw ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1’ and Loved Every Magical Minute

Today at the New York Times I edited both the Asia/Australia Morning Briefing and the U.S. Evening Briefing newsletters, plus a fascinating Catskills story, in addition to the usual suspects (Instagram captions, 2020 campaign updates, video transcripts, crossword columns, etc.).

And then came the moment I’d been waiting for all week: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1”!

Immediate impression: This was soooooo worth it. I still can’t believe the unbelievable seat I had in the second row! If I could choose one Broadway show to have a prime seat for, it would be this one. And look how that worked out!

As for the show, just picture 2 hours and 35 minutes of me giddily grinning at everything (well, subtract 20 minutes for intermission — I’m not a psychopath). The first half hour was some of the most engrossing theater I’ve seen on stage in the past few years. It’s so much better seeing the play live than just reading Jack Thorne’s script. There are countless special effects that made me gasp “How did they do that?!” There was one that happened multiple times that I was still trying to figure out by the end of the show — even as the actors kept repeating it right in front of my face. Not to take anything away from the actors, but this is really a play you could see for the effects and script alone.

Also, the actress who plays McGonagall (Karen Janes Woditsch) has absolutely mastered Maggie Smith everything, from the voice to the skeptical scowl. She IS McGonagall. The other standouts are Nicholas Podany, who plays Harry’s son Albus Severus (and, as a bonus, looks, walks, and talks like Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts films), and Will Carlyon, who is boisterously mischievous in his minor role as Harry’s oldest son, James Potter Jr.

Matt Mueller’s Ron is interesting — his take is more in line with how I envision Fred or George Weasley than an adult Ron. And if you’ve read the script, you know Scorpius, Draco Malfoy’s son, is often comic relief, but this quality comes across as the foremost aspect of his character on stage. The harried Harry’s poor parenting skills also come across much more intensely.

Adult Draco looks like a founding father with his white colonial ponytail, and the feathery quill pen on the desk he’s often standing alongside does not help matters. :)

Also, I definitely want to borrow adult Hermione’s flowy, shiny, silky purple skirt, which just might be the best costume in the play (seen here on Noma Dumezweni, the original West End Hermione).

I get to go back to see Part 2 tomorrow night, and I can’t wait! I did wonder how they’d handle applause and bows for the company considering the two-night format. The answer: Only bows on the second night. (It must be somewhat strange to perform a two-and-a-half-hour show that ends on a cliffhanger with no applause every other night or so.)

However, I can’t imagine seeing both parts on the same day in a nearly six-hour marathon — I’m glad I opted for two evenings rather than doing a weekend Part 1 matinee followed by Part 2 in the evening!

No spoilers here — I’ve got my #KeepTheSecrets pledge to uphold.

Oh, and on a final NYC food note: I wouldn't have predicted Minigrow’s Chicken Jawn noodle bowl would be amazing, but it was. It’s got three-wheat noodles, chicken, sweet-and-sour onions, black truffle, miso corn, chives, and parmesan cheese, plus I added chickpeas and breadcrumbs. It was insanely tasty.