Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — Local services in New York

This is a brilliant theater show not a musical, they don’t really sing although there’s some music. This show is quite magical and en par with the Movies & Universal experiences, there even was a magic show elements incorporated. Things fly & turn throughout the show in magical, unexpected ways & acting performance is truly outstanding and quite a workout, with those staircases constantly moving & performers flying up & down & jumping from one staircase to another. The visibility from our seats was excellent & the seats were more comfortable than those we had for Alladdin & Moulin Rouge musicals but the compared sound is a bit low, at the Lyrics theater. With the background noise, however low it was, we wish they would have mics. And we were pretty close to the stage, at orchestra seats N21 & N23. We are not hearing impaired but it was hard to hear at times. The storyline is interesting, they keep you captivated for the whole time. The theater itself is gorgeous and magical, they allow early access to all, and it definitely should be taken advantage of, especially if you are a fan. Last minute we decided that book the VIP access & that allowed us access to a private coat check & bar, 2 drinks (alcohol content optional) charcuterie board (shared for 2 of us) & a very tasty cookie per person. We did purchase additional popcorn to take with us after the intermission. Unlike that at Al Hirschfeld theater, we were not escorted to the VIP room, however the VIP access costing twice as much but status not acknowledged by any of the theater staff until we actually got to the lounge. At the front door we were told to ‘just go’ & find it ourselves there in the basement, and since all other audience, non-VIP was already allowed to enter the theater it kind of felt devalued, especially given the steep cost, 95$ per person. It would also be nice to have a more extensive cocktail list that the bar is specialized on, since there’s limited time, and obviously every bartender has his specials. The Old Fashioned cocktail that bartender suggested was better than margarita that I requested , customer service exceptional at the lounge. The intermission is just half an hour, and I wanted to see the balcony level setting so we made it just in time back to the basement to grab Prosecco as my second drink choice. VIP room was at high occupancy (80% or so) & two bartender were working hard trying to accommodate all guests. Overall great experience, and even with Broadway week special, was at $400 per couple, including...

Took my wife to last night's show and we enjoyed it! The actors did an amazing job for the most part and the special effects were outstanding! For someone like us who experienced theatre for the 1st time, we arrived with not so many expectations. Both of us are huge Harry Potter fans and wanted to see this. We were hungry so we had a couple of tacos right opposite to the theatre at a place called 'Los Tacos' and came here at around 6.20pm for the 7pm show. As predicted, the concession stands were too pricey so we opted to not get anything except a chocolate frog. The staff were polite and guided us well. We had a decent crowd for the show and as we sat, we were taken to a mesmerizing world of Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. Couple of things I would like to point out that could've been done better. 1. Casting Black women for the characters of Hermoine, Ginny and Hermoine's daughter. I understand that the makers wanted to bring in more diversity or maybe they couldn't get other actors to act for these roles well. The reason why I say this is because we watched from a distance (none of the faces were clear) from our balcony seats and having watched all Harry Potter movies multiple times, these major characters (especially Hermione who had a lot more screen time) are already etched in our minds and when we see these people, it takes a while for us to get used to (some people might've been confused throughout). Hopefully the makers make this change soon. However, the casting part for the other characters were done really well especially Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. 2. One narrative I observed is that there is kind of an homosexual thing between Albus and Scorpius which was there throughout the drama and was very much noticeable towards the end especially with the screenplay. We were both kinda disappointed with this element since there's no such thing in the Harry Potter (books, movies, etc) world at all. There are plenty of other dramas where this element could be incorporated and frankly I don't have any objections in showcasing this in general. But they could've avoided for this production.

All in all, we had a wonderful experience and everyone who's read or watched Harry Potter should go and...

Do yourself a favor and save your time and money..... If your care to know why, keep reading. When I went to the show I did not realize it was a shortened version of the original play. I commented to a friend that, "I had no idea why this show was popular because it was sloppy, forced, with little to no story and character development." She informed me that I basically saw the "cliff-notes" version of the original play. The show delivers what you would expect from Broadway with staging and special effects (which is why I gave it two stars and not one), but from there, it is one disappointment after another. For starters, the choppy and sloppy editing job from the longer version of the play made me feel like I was watching a performance in fast forward. With random lines scattered here and there, the actors were left to deal with a weak story-line and weaker characters (the weakest character being the villain, no fault of the actor). Ron Weasley had the best and most natural stage presence, but is only a bit part. The two young actors portraying Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy displayed multiple stage crutches and over-the-top acting throughout the show. I fault neither of these young talented actors because the "expertise" of a Broadway director should have caught these errors, and helped these otherwise very talented young actors course correct. The story awkwardly and very sloppily develops into a love story between the two teenage boys. Their love was not believable on any level and seemed like an afterthought in the script editing, which was on par for the rest of the forced and poorly delivered story. The biggest disappointment for me was the lack of character development to make me love and hate the villain...(again script fault not the actor's)... This shallow, fast-forward "cliff-notes" version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a perfect example of the Broadway bubble where the people in charge no longer care if a show is fantastic because it is in the middle of a tourist trap and will make them money... but hey if you want to see an amazing set, flying dementors, and a phone booth suck people in, by all means catch the show... just know that those items are the only redeeming qualities...