Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was coming to NYC, and when tickets initially went on sale to the general public, I started somewhere around 63,000th in line within the virtual waiting room. Several hours later, when I was finally admitted into the ticket dispensary, the only tickets that remained were the super premium tickets that cost somewhere around $400 per part. My goal was to take my mom as a Mother’s day, birthday, or Christmas present (the occasion dependent on when I was actually able to acquire tickets), but buying two tickets for two parts equated to a small fortune so unfortunately I had to pass.
I continued to check the ticket website, hoping I could find a show where seats I could afford were available, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen any time soon. Around this time I found out about the Friday Forty - forty tickets sold at $20 per part for each show, offered up lottery style each week. That seemed like my best odds for securing reasonably priced tickets, so I added a weekly reminder to my calendar, and every week on Friday at 9am I would enter the Friday Forty, and every week around 1pm I would receive an email regretting to inform me that I wasn’t a winner. I knew the initial demand would be high and figured my chances of winning may get better in a year or two, but you can’t win something you don’t enter, so I continued in my quest. Then, one Friday in August, I checked my email around 1:30pm, expecting to see those familiar words “you didn’t win” and was shocked to see something else. “You have been selected” WHAT!? Me? My heart started racing as I continued to read the email. I had one hour to claim the tickets. I quickly contacted my mom, told her she needed to inform her boss that she would be taking wednesday off, and claimed my two tickets. Five days later we were riding the subway to the theater. One of the nice things about winning the Friday Forty is that once you've found out you won, you're only waiting days rather than months to see the play.
I walked up to the box office to claim my tickets 1 hour before the show as specified in the email. I was handed an envelop, which I quickly secured in my bag and we proceeded to try to find the end of the line into the building. Once in line, I peeked at the tickets to see what seat we had. I had heard that the Friday Forty were the best seats in the house, and after a few internet searches, found some people were seated in the loge, while others were seated in the middle of the orchestra section. When I opened the envelope I saw the words “Orchestra Row A” and like that day when I got the email saying I won, I was again dumbfounded. Row A typically means the first row. We somehow payed $20 for first row tickets. I felt like I was being scammed..or that I was doing the scamming.
We weren't in line long before we arrived at security and then let inside. The doors had not yet opened to the theater, so the crowd steadily grew larger and larger in the lobby. The Lyric Theater was completely renovated for the show, so the building helped to set the tone the moment you walked in. The lobby had bright red carpet with an intricate design, the ceiling - painted dark with stars, and a patronus mural adorned the walls of a small area off the main lobby. Phoenix sconces provided light around the theater, as the audience, often dressed in wizard robes, filtered through the lobby. A small section near the doors showed a variety of souvenirs available, but they were sold in a larger shop on the other side of the theater. My mom and I waited by the door they directed us towards when our tickets were scanned and waited for the exciting moment when we would finally be let it.
I think we may have waited 15-20 minutes before the doors to the theater finally opened. The excited crowd quickly surged towards all available entrances. We moved with the crowd, received our show bill and walked down a side hallway towards the front of the theater. Ushers guided us to our seats, and when we finally sat down, we were shocked. The stage was literally within arms distance. Train sounds screeched and bellowed from beneath the stage. A hat hung suspended in the air over some luggage on stage, bathed in a beam of light. My mom and I kept looking at each other in disbelief. A week ago, we would never have thought that we would be spending this Wednesday afternoon in the front row of the Lyric Theater. I will say, the one disadvantage of our seats was the surface of the stage was well above eye level, so we couldn't see anything happening around the actors' feet - and things do happen in that area. But to be clear, I have no complaints! I would have been happy if the friday forty tickets were standing room in the back of the balcony.
Then, not too long after we sat down, the lights dimmed and the play started. I had not read the screenplay, made no attempts to find out any spoilers, and barely looked at my play bill. I had no idea what to expect and I think that was the best way I could have gone into it. Now, as much as I want to go into detail about everything, I'm going to #keepthesecrets. Just know the secrets are incredible. There were things that happened that I can't explain. There were things that happened that were unexpected. When the first part ended about two and a half hours after it started, I was so happy to know that there was another part to see and it wasn't over yet.
**TIP**When exiting the theater for both parts, there are ushers towards the middle handing out #keepthesecrets buttons. Try to stay more central in the crowd for easy access.
After stopping for a quick dinner in Times Square, we returned for part two. Again, I think there were several times my jaw dropped from amazement/surprise/shock. There were parts that were legitimately terrifying and had I been a small child, I probably would have freaked out (note to parents: part two is darker than part one). When part two ended, I was sad. I wasn't ready for the magic to end.
And that brings us to the problem with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Say you're going to a concert of your favorite band. Typically, you go to the show, have a good time, then leave feeling happy and satisfied. Not too often do you leave thinking "wow, I wish I had a time machine so I could go back in time to relive that concert again because I need more right now." Well, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child does not follow that progression. It's so incredibly amazing that after you see it for the first time, none of your original desires to see it seem to be satisfied. I left part two saying, "I need to go see it again-now!" There are a number of unexpected things that happen throughout the show that I want the opportunity to see again. That way I can expect them and then fully take them in...but in order to see it again, I need to acquire tickets, and that task proves to be difficult (see paragraph one).
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