shadowkat | (no subject)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - so co-worker saw the play and raved about it. Said it was like watching actual magic happen on stage. They did things that she still couldn't figure out how they'd managed it. (I know something about stagecraft, so have an idea.) She's a true Harry Potter fanatic.

Anyhow, I found out that the play is eight hours long. It's in two parts. So you get two tickets.
Part one is about 3 and 1/2 hours with a 15 minute intermission. Started at 2PM ended at 5PM. Second part starts at 7PM and ended around 10:30PM or thereabouts. So, 3 and 1/2 hours for part two with an intermission. The theater is amazing and she felt they had plenty of room, but they also had great tickets, a booth of sorts, with drink options and food options.

The tickets? They cost between $413-$1000 for each ticket. Dress Circle is $536 per ticket. Orchestra is over $1000 per ticket. Balcony is over $400 per ticket. She got a good deal and it was given to her as a gift.

So, Broadway has become insanely inaccessible, and the Harry Potter play is almost impossible to take on tour -- it would be ridiculously expensive.

Sigh. On that depressing note...I'd rather pay for Hamilton, it's only 3 hours, and more interesting to me. (I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic. I read the books, enjoyed them, watched the films, enjoyed them, then promptly forgot it all. JK Rowling reminds me of Ronald Dahl light. But I'm not enough of a fan to read her other books or re-read the Potter books, or spend a fortune to see the play.)

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I think all Harry Potter fans' patience has been tested. Fantastic Beasts wasn't that good. I balked at reading the two plays of the Cursed Child and considering what I've heard I don't think I missed much. They are making a movie of the Cursed Child. If it turns out to be two movies I doubt I'd bother seeing it.

I agree. I don't see any future for the plays on tour. I don't think they are worth sitting though seven hours for most of us, especially not in one day. If other people want to go to NYC and see it all there at premium prices, it's fine with me.

From what she said -- it's the special effects and magic show that was amazing. (She didn't say anything about the story.) Also she's a "FAN" of it. Went to the Universal Tour and even has a coffee mug.)

I'm not really -- haven't read the plays. Glanced at them in the book store, read the plot synopsis, and had no real interest one way or another.

I did like the film -- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (it was fun), but not enough to watch again. And I'm looking forward to the next film in that series --- because Jude Law as Dumbledore is an interesting casting choice.

I have a feeling they're gearing up to do films of the plays eventually -- which may explain the length, because two films, instead of one. But as my mother said, it's hard to tour those plays, or have them done frequently, due to length. Angels in America has the same problem...and it's only 5 and half hours long.

I rather wonder if these increasingly long performances aren't a way to justify the skyrocketing prices. After all, the costs for mounting a production are close to the same whether the show runs 2 hours or 6 but the difference between $200 and $400 per person is quite a lot over a week.

Except according to the prices and co-worker - the tickets cost $416 for night one and $416 for night two = with a ground total of $832 for two nights (that's the cheapest tickets).

To put this into perspective? I got tickets for SpongeBob Square Pants for $51. And for Carousel for $51.

But I do think you are right -- the prices are to off-set production cost. Hamilton and Harry Potter are expensive shows to put on. HP has a pool of water on stage, wire work, and expensive special effects. Hamilton has a large cast, and a lot of special effects, set pieces and stage-craft. Makes both shows pricey. Also wages of everyone involved.