Potted Potter

This week we decided to take in another show.  Chizz had heard of a play involving the works of Harry Potter.  When we were in London we saw a show called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.  The company (2 actors) performed the entire works of William Shakespeare in 2 hours.  As you might imagine, it is not a serious endeavor.  It was very funny and both Kiki & Snake enjoyed it quite a bit (especially once they realized that it was a farce).  So this Harry Potter thing Chizz had heard about was pretty much the same thing.  All 7 Harry Potter Books in 70 minutes.  As I am all about checking out different kinds of entertainment in preparation to make recommendations to our friends and family when they come visit (that and the tickets were not that expensive),  we decided to go.

Potted Potter is an off Broadway production.  You may be interested to know that the term "off Broadway" is not connected with the location of the theatre.  In fact there are some "off Broadway" shows that are in the Broadway area (ie Times Square).  Actually the term refers to the size of the theatre, not its location.  Theatres with a seating capacity ranging 100-499 are considered "off Broadway" no matter where they are located.  If it is "off-off-Broadway, the seating capacity is less than 100.  If the seating capacity is 6 or less, it is your living room and you need to get out more.  Just a little New York knowledge I am laying down on you!  You're welcome.

So we arrived at the theatre and there were quite a few kids, which wasn't really surprising upon reflection.  Although lots of adults read these books, they were really marketed toward kids.  So you could kind of feel the buzz in the audience. It is not like a lot of shows I have seen, there is some crowd participation and it isn't very quiet.  It is something the kids would definitely enjoy.  Along with the Playbill, each audience member gets a pair of paper Harry Potter glasses.    I saw quite a few adults  wearing them. 

It was interesting getting a look at the audience.  As expected quite a few young people.  But there were some other folks there that I am guessing were Harry Potter aficionados of some kind.    I am fairly certainly the men sitting next to us had no idea what they wandered into.  I really think they were teamsters and they thought this might be some kind of plumbing repair demonstration.  Both in their late 60s, a bit overweight, wearing shorts, tennis shoes and black socks.  You can visualize that can't you?  One was extremely angry someone sat in front of him.  In his seat.  Where he had every right to be.  But this guy spouted off something about people (the term he used was "fathead) coming in late (he wasn't) and sitting down in front of someone blocking their view (again, in the seat the person paid for).  And he wasn't saying this quietly.  He kind of sputtered it, his face got really red and he was outraged.  He also got fairly animated during the Quidditch demonstration.  He was upset people weren't taking it seriously.  Seriously, the game wizards play flying on brooms at a fictional wizard school.  He was angry no one tried to score.   Pretty strange.  I really wonder what show he thought he was coming to see. 

If you have kids and have read the books, it is fun and cute.  If  you don't have kid or haven't read the books,  I don't know that I would recommend this over another show in town at the time.  3 thumbs up from Wendy & Chizz.