Harry Potter and a Day in The West End
Jeremy and Valerie in front of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child — London, UK.
If you know Jeremy and I, then you know we love a good night at the theater. Broadway shows, specifically musicals, are our favorite, but occasionally we find a play that gets us excited. In this case, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child on London’s West End was just the ticket (pun intended)!
This isn’t the first time we have seen this show. Our first experience with this show was on Broadway in 2018. Let me start off by saying, I had to be talked into seeing this show when we were in New York. While Jeremy is a Harry Potter fan, he has read all the books and seen all the movies, I am not. I have not read the books. I have seen the movies because I don’t live under a rock, but spending a night watching a Harry Potter play in NYC was not at the top of my “yes please!” list.
Also, something to note if you don’t know anything about this show. It isn’t ONE night. It is TWO nights. There are two parts to the show, both with two acts, running about three hours each. When we saw it in New York, we had the option of seeing it over the course of two nights, which is what we did. We saw Part One on the Friday night and Part Two on the Saturday night. If you see it in its original format, it is a commitment. One that you should make.
However, for the London experience, there is no two night option. You see both parts, all six hours, in one day.
Valerie and Jeremy waiting in the entry que.
Note: We have heard if you currently see the show in New York it is a one day/night experience lasting about three hours total. Apparently, a decision was made to cut the show down, for what reason we don’t know. We have our suspicions.
Seeing it the second time, we still had an AMAZING time! While it was a very different experience from seeing it on Broadway, it is still a fantastic play. When we saw it the first time, prior to the show starting, Jeremy and I had a chat about how they would bring the “magic” to a live stage show. No spoilers here, but they do, and I still can’t figure out how they do it! I am in awe of the staging, the music, the choreography, and the “magic”.
The opening staging for Part One. I didn’t take a photo of Part Two because it will give away the plot.
“But, Valerie, did you have to sit in the theater for the entire six hours?” No. Thank goodness! There is a long break between Part One and Part Two. And because Jeremy Hannah is a master at finding great restaurants for us to indulge in, he booked a reservation at Din Tai Fung. If you haven’t been, and you have a location around you (they are a global chain), you HAVE to go! Jeremy dined at one of their original locations while in Shanghai, China on a business trip a number of years ago. When he found their London/West End location, with all the dumplings and the dipping he knew I was convinced I would love it. I didn’t take pictures of the food because a) I am not that person and b) we ate it too fast to even get a shot of it. However, here was the view from our table! What a lovely day in London it was!
View from our table at Din Tai Fung — London, UK.
Takeaways from our day on the West End:
On stage, the British accents weren’t better because we were in London. That is only because when we saw it the first time in NYC, most of the cast was from the original London production, so the accents were authentically British to start.
Even if you aren’t a Harry Potter fan this show is worth the investment. It is a show I will never forget and I am privileged to have seen it twice. Go see it!
If you haven’t been to a Din Tai Fung you need to go. (This is not a paid endorsement. However, I am not against the opportunity.)
A street view of the West End of London, UK.
Valerie had a great day at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London, UK.
