Cursed Child Cuts Live Owl Post First Previews

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child makes its first edit after gauging audience reaction during First Previews, and cuts live Owl performance from the show.

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Last night, the second half of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child‘s first previews occurred, as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Part 2 played in front of a live audience for the first time. Unlike Tuesday’s performance there doesn’t seem to be a designated spoiler to announce, unlike the House Sorting of Rose, Albus and Scorpius in Part 1. But the Harry Potter Play Twitter account did release one brand new photo from the show to tantalize us.

And tantalize us it does, because it puts together a very different trio than one might have thought. We are all used to seeing Ron and Harry standing together, ready to fight whatever is coming at them. And standing with them has always been Hermione. But in the photograph from Part 2 that the show released, Hermione is nowhere to be seen. And standing with them is someone we might never thing would be on the same side.

Draco!

What could it mean? We can’t say for now.

But changes are afoot for the production, as they always are when it comes to preview shows. With a new work such as this, next weeks performances will see cues tweaked, costumes editing, effects improved and overall the show get tighter. Most of those edits (unless they’re major script changes, which is currently not sounding likely) will probably not be noticed by most theater goers.

But one cut will be so obvious that everyone will know about it. On Tuesday, one of the big notes from the show was how the live owl that was supposed to do trained tricks “got lose” and failed to return to her handlers, much to the consternation of the crew. Once was apparently enough to convince the director that live animals on stage–especially of the non-dog variety–are a disaster waiting to happen. The BBC reports the bit with the owl will be cut going forward.

Exactly what the show will do to replace it (if anything) is not yet known. Apparently there is a whole lot of merchandise for sale at the theater based on having the live owl in the show doing bits. (This is probably partly why no one came to their senses before this and it was not cut prior to first preview. The fact that it was cut so fast suggests that there were people who had been arguing to cut it, sensing this wouldn’t work once the room was filled with an audience and the bird would become confused and disoriented.)

Next: On The Subject of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Spoilers

Perhaps the effects wizards will come up with a digital image to project across the stage? Video lighting hybrids like the DL.3s can make some pretty incredible magic, even if it’s used more for rock and roll and not the theater….