Audiences will get a taste of real magic at ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’
Feb 03, 2025 01:44PM ● By Jet Burnham
Riverton High School is one of just a few schools granted permission to perform “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: High School Edition.” (Photo courtesy Clin Eaton)
The magical story of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will have touches of real magic when Riverton High School students perform the show Feb. 20, 21, 22 and 24. Shows begin at 7 p.m. There will also be a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Feb. 22. Tickets are $10/adults, $8/students/seniors and can be purchased online or at the door.
Director Clin Eaton is excited to add some spectacular magical elements to the show which will leave audiences spellbound. Special effects will be conjured with the help of professional magician Paul Draper, and ZFX, a professional theatrical flying effects team out of Las Vegas, will assist with some spellbinding aerial stunts. A touch of enchantment will be created by choreography wizard Geoff Reynolds from BYU.
“Even though it’s not a musical, there is underscoring—music that plays constantly through it because it moves pretty fast—so there’s choreography and movement that is pretty magical,” Eaton said.
Eaton said those who enjoy the Harry Potter books or movies will have a good time at the show, which continues Harry Potter’s adventures through his son Albus, who befriends Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy, Harry’s rival. The story features a new generation of Hogwarts students along with many of the series’ familiar characters.
“It helps if audiences are familiar with Harry Potter, but it is a standalone piece,” Eaton said.
While the show is appropriate for all audiences, the special effects and imagery could be a bit on the scary side for very young children. Eaton is particularly excited about the impact the dementors will make when they drift into close range of the audience.
Fifteen technicians working backstage and in the sound box will create effects to immerse audience members in the magical world of wizarding. The cast of 44 will bring the classic Harry Potter vibe on and off the stage.
Actors will be hosting a Wizard’s Lunch, a preshow magical experience held before the Feb. 22 Saturday matinee. Potter fans will be entertained by magical interactions with cast members while enjoying butter beer and other Potter-themed foods. Tickets for the 12:00 p.m. Wizards Lunch can be purchased in Riverton High School’s main office. The $20 ticket includes lunch and entrance to the matinee performance.
Riverton High School is one of just a few schools to get permission to perform this show, which is still running in New York on Broadway and in London’s West End.
“They limited how many schools get to do it, so it’s cool that they let us do it,” Eaton said.
This is the second limited-rights production show Riverton High School has performed this school year. Their fall production of “Hadestown: Teen Version” was one of only six productions permitted in Utah.
The high school version of “Cursed Child” is shorter than the original show, which premiered in London in 2016, winning nine Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, and premiered on Broadway in 2018, where it won six Tony Awards, including Best Play. The London production is a two-night show, but the Broadway version is consolidated into one night. The high school version is even more abbreviated, with a two-hour run time.λ