NYCC 2019: 3 cool things we learned from the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child panel
Harry Potter may be over, but the Wizarding World still has a presence at New York Comic-Con. This year, the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child shared how they pull off all the magic onstage.
It’s been years since the Harry Potter series concluded, but the Wizarding World remains a prominent part of the pop culture world. The Fantastic Beasts films have created a whole new generation of fans, and Harry Potter & the Cursed Child has also generated plenty of attention since coming to London’s West End and then Broadway.
And given how much fans still love hearing about the Wizarding World, the cast of Harry Potter & the Cursed Child stopped by New York Comic-Con this year to shed some light on how they bring the magic of J.K. Rowling’s world to the stage. During an hour-long panel at the Hammerstein Ballroom, those involved with the play shared their thoughts on the production and answered some of fans’ burning questions.
The panel was moderated by James Snyder, who plays the Boy Who Lived himself. Among the lineup of panelists were Diane Davis (Ginny Weasley/Potter), Matt Mueller (Ron Weasley), Bubba Weiler (Scorpius Malfoy), James Brown III (Bane the centaur), and resident movement director Benjamin Wheelwright.
Between the panelists’ commentary, the exclusive clips, and the cast’s clear love of the Broadway show, it’s probably safe to say most of the audience left the room wanting to go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. But what did we learn about the play, apart from the fact that its cast is full of Harry Potter fans who love nerding out over the Wizarding World as much as we do?
The cloaks and lighting create many illusions.
All of the Muggles in the audience got a lesson in Cloakography on Thursday afternoon, as the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child demonstrated how they use their costumes to create illusions — and to add and remove props to and from the set. The way the cloaks are lined allow the cast to move them in a way that makes the audience see what they want them to see.
Clips and onstage demonstrations revealed that this method works, too, and adjusting the lighting only enhances the illusions. With the cloaks providing enough of a distraction, cast members can even place something as large as a chair onstage without anyone noticing. Of course, it all depends on the performers remaining true to their counts and moving around enough to make it all work.
The wand moves the wizard!
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably heard all about how “the wand chooses the wizard.” But when it comes to choreography for their onstage performances, the cast of Cursed Child has a different saying: The wand moves the wizard!
Although the play is by no means a musical, there are plenty of musical moments during its run — and that means there’s also plenty of dancing. And the cast members demonstrated how the Hogwarts students use their wands to lead their movements, extending each limb with the wand until they’re pulled off balance. Sure, it sounds clumsy in writing, but the clips of the show don’t lie: This method makes for a captivating dance number.
The Floo system presented a slight challenge.
Traveling by Floo powder isn’t always easy in the Wizarding World, and it’s even more difficult to do so in the Muggle one. Recreating J.K. Rowling’s Floo system presented a challenge when it came to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — but the pyrotechnics department and set design were able to work together to find a solution that allows the cast to pop out of a fireplace through flames.
Of course, there’s also the route of having characters come in from off-stage, claiming that they’ve used the Floo network. That’s what poor Ron has to do after he comes out of the wrong fireplace. (And apparently Mueller was just a little disappointed to be left out of the actual Floo travel.)
Next. NYCC 2019: The 10 biggest television panels to see. dark