I had to have my arm severely twisted in order to persuade me to go to this Broadway show. In fact, I accompanied everyone to the door of the Lyric Theater on W 43rd Street, hoping to escape and dive off into some bar in the Times Square area, but on a whim I secured a last minute ticket for USD71 just 3 minutes before curtain up. Now, I have spent years working in theaters and opera houses and I knew at a very early stage that the most expensive tickets are not necessarily the best ones. For this show I hit it just right, with a seat in the upper balcony that gave me a clear overview of the stage and performers.

Now, I am not a crazy fan of Harry Potter but I have read and enjoyed all the books and films. Around the same time Peter Jackson was directing the Lord of the Rings films and I believe that the combination of imaginative creation and good storylines in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings helped to reinvigorate cinema and television in particular. So, without ever testing it, I was convinced that a phenomenon such as Harry Potter could never transfer to the stage and live theater. How wrong I was, as this production proved. For a start, the special effects were state of the art and there was nothing stagey about what I saw. Quite how they had people floating or even flying around without any visible strings, not to mention other characters getting sucked up the chimney, or flushed down the toilet, I just don't know. But serious money was spent on it.

To be honest, most of the cast were a pale imitation of the original Harry Potter crew, but this story was set many years later, when Harry himself was 37 years old and had a child. Indeed, that child was the subject of tonight's play in a story that was, well, quite interesting. But tonight's Harry, Steve Haggard, was no match for Daniel Radcliffe and nor were the characters of Ron Weasley or Ginny, played by Daniel Frederick and Angela Reed respectively. The most convincing character was Moanin Myrtle, totally true to character and appearance (after all, a ghost can't age). Speaking of ghosts, the character of Dumbledore, the deceased wizard headmaster of Hogwarts school of wizarding, made a comeback when his painted portrait came to life and interacted with Harry. This characterisation was excellent and true to form but, as I said, a ghost can't age. It seems that the production team had difficulty in transforming the Harry Potter characters into adults, which is no wonder. I would have thought it was an impossible task because it is much easier to copy and represent existing characters.

The music was prerecorded, rather loud and electronic in nature. Diction in English wasn't always up to standard although these were British English speakers. But these days I am finding it harder and harder to understand English! The play began at 7pm and finished at 10h30pm with one pause exactly in the middle.



One of the many subway exits at Times Square


Interior of the Lyric Theater on West 43rd Street, where the Harry Potter play was given


During the interval everyone congregated in the main atrium where drinks and snacks were sold at high prices


Outside the Lyric Theater in West 43rd Street


After the 3 hour show everyone poured into the streets around Times Square


One of many views of the bright lights of Times Square