Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Shows That All Future Harry Potter Stories Must Happen on Stage – OnStage Blog
Greg Erhardt, OnStage Blog Editorial Board
Last weekend, I surprised my 11-year-old daughter with tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for her birthday. She’s a huge Harry Potter fan, and we had a great time chasing. If you love Harry Potter and haven’t seen this show yet, especially if you have kids, bring them to this show on Broadway or the West End as soon as possible.
But that is not the purpose of this editorial. The show has been running for several years. Almost all of the reviews are positive (except for Redditors who call it, with some validity, a bad fan fiction, but they’re missing the point of the show, as I’ll get to). The purpose of this editorial is that the show was very moving for me and my daughter and what I thought on the train ride home to Connecticut was:
“Any future Harry Potter story should only take place on stage.”
Now, I know that won’t happen. Max re-adapts the original Harry Potter saga into episodic form, and, As much as Daniel Radcliffe insisted he wanted no part of itbesides JK Rowling (And it would be a shame to do this without Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith), I still believe they will eventually make The Cursed Child into a movie; It fits perfectly into the Hollywood Legacy-quel formula and, ultimately, money talks.
But man, in 2025, the only way to recreate the original magic of the Harry Potter story is to adapt it for the stage.
If you haven’t seen the show and know nothing about the plot, as I did (I’ve deliberately avoided any spoilers for years), know that the reviews are true; The special effects are unparalleled. After every trick they pulled to fake magic on stage, my daughter whispered, “How did they do that?”
And even though I had a pretty good guess for every trick except the phone box (it happened so fast, and so early in the show, I had no idea how to pull it off), I didn’t dare tell her my suspicions. It felt like pure magic in the storytelling format, and you could threaten to break my hand Ace Rothstein style, and I wouldn’t pull back the curtain on it.
In today’s world, it’s so easy to put magic on screen that kids, especially adults, get bored of it. When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit the big screen in 2001, the CGI they used to fake magic was still pretty impressive. Most importantly, the main characters, especially Harry, liked her even through the Goblet of Fire. If the characters are fascinated by it, so are the audiences, especially the children.
As film CGI technology became more popular and the characters aged, the magic used by witches and witches became more common. The story also turned to ending character arcs and completing the “Harry vs. Voldemort” story, which was done very effectively and uniquely. The Harry Potter saga is essentially a fantastic novel in book and movie form.
However, the Harry Potter series lost its way in the “Fantastic Beasts” series for two reasons: 1) the main characters were all adults, and 2) the CGI behind the magic became bland and unimpressive. They could fix #1 but they couldn’t do anything about #2. CGI has become a very good, very regular thing in Hollywood.
But it’s still great to see magic tricks in person, especially on stage at the Lyric Theatre, which has limited resources and space to show “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
Now, actual magic on stage is nothing special when compared to the tricks that Las Vegas magicians perform every day to wow their audiences.
However, to borrow a theme from the movie “The Prestige,” anyone can perform a magic trick. The actual trick is how to sell it.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sells magic tricks in the context of telling a compelling (and yes, preposterous) story.
(Note: My editor made me throw that in there to appease the angry mob that frequents the Harry Potter Reddit boards.)
My daughter and I were on the edge of our seats, watching the developments unfold. Then you see magicians dueling on stage, things going up, and much more that I won’t spoil. The practical magic used makes you feel like you’re at Hogwarts inside the Lyric Theatre.
That’s the point of the Harry Potter story in the books, on screen, or on stage. In 2001, you could show this on screen. In 2025, even with the 3D format, you won’t get that experience anymore.
But you can still be on stage.
The Harry Potter saga is more than just magic, of course. It’s a sweet, slow-burning coming-of-age story filled with positive messages about the importance of friendship, among many other themes.
A story with actual magic but without the messages described above is an ordinary story. A story with messages but no magic is common.
The story with both remains special.
In today’s world, you can only have both on stage.
Shout out to everyone behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; You can still make children believe in magic.
