Review Harry Potter and the cursed child Hamburg (Harry Potter und das verwunschene Kind)
After not seeing the play for two years due to covid and having to rebook my tickets several times it finally happened! I finally got to see cursed child again, this time in germany Hamburg for the first time. That I was very excited is an understatement. I forgot a bit over the long break how much i love this play and now its all back! It was just amazing and I can‘t express how much it means to me to see it again! To have a good memory of my thoughts i thought it would be good idea to write a little review about it as I did for the last three times I saw it in London.
I have to admit the first time they announced cursed child would come to Germany i was a bit sceptical. I am German, but I saw the play in the english version three times now and I read it in english for the first time. I never read the German script and only looked into it a bit after the Hamburg Production was announced. For Musicals here in Germany the translation of songs can feel a bit weird at times and I was afraid I wouldn’t like the translation or that the play would feel very different from the original. I also was quite sceptical of the glimpses I have seen of the German script especially Albus‘ dialouge. They gave him a very modern teenage way of talking that feels different to me how Albus talked in the English production.
But after seeing it now nothing of that bothered me even a bit! Maybe it was the long break because I wasn’t as used to the english text any more or I would have liked it either way, I don’t know. The different text really didn’t bother me! It still felt like the cursed child I know and that was just wonderful.
Some jokes were a bit funnier in the english version, but there wasn’t much that I didn’t like. I also have to admit that it was a bit easier to understand all the lines in German. I am a native German speaker and although my english listening understanding is quite ok it’s of course easier to understand everything in your native language.
Everything else about the production was pretty much the same as in London, so I won’t go into much detail there. The magic, the set and the costumes are still sooo amazing!
I also want to mention how happy I am that the German production is still performed in two parts. Nothing against the shortened new version, I‘m sure they also made some changes for the better ,but nothing can make up for the incredible two part experience. More theater is always better! For me at least haha. I think it’s a much more unique and magical experience in two parts although I know they are reasons for shortening it (ticket prices for example). I‘m still so happy they have the original version here. I don’t have too much hope it will stay that way, but I will hope.
In Hamburg cursed child is performed in the Mehr!-Theater which was as far as I know an old market place. I think from the outside it wasn’t much of a beauty and I think they did a lot more outside decoration on the palace theatre. I didn’t really like the surroundings around the theatre as it was an old market place it didn’t really feel like a traditional theatre and I think the palace theatre does a much better job witch putting you in the mood of being in Hogwarts (from outside). So wasn’t super impressed with that.
But then I walked inside and I must say they really tried everything to make it as magical as possible from the inside.
They had big paintings of patronuses (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, Mcgonagall and others).They were really beautiful and the lights, the carpet and the wallpaper all were quite beautiful. The auditorium itself wasn’t as decorated as I remember from the Palace theatre, but still stunning.
What was new to me was that the theatre was open for the entire break between part 1 and 2. As there isn’t much around the theatre they tried to make it as pleasant as possible to wait in the theatre itself. There were possible meal option you could book from inside the theater, to the food parvillon directly in front of the theater to a buffet in a nearly located restaurant. I booked the food parvillon outside the theater and the food was quite good. It was very crowded but a nice way to eat something and wait for part 2 without having to leave the theatre area and search for a restaurant. It was also nice to see the beautiful theatre from the inside a bit longer and having constant excess to the toilets and the bar for drinks was also a very nice plus.
Warning: This will be a long section and will contain a lot of fangirling:). After seeing other incredible people I was very curious to see the German Ensemble especially as it’s a completely new cast (in London I saw some people twice as they stayed on after cast change) and I was very excited to see how they all fitted together. I think from the perspective of a cast as a whole, they are the first cast I have seen that are on the same level as the original London/Broadway cast. You could feel that they had a long rehearsal period together (and a long break in the covid break) and that they knew each other pretty well and found a way to work together perfectly. There was no one I didn’t like and everyone fitted together perfectly. I may have other individual favorites I like as much from other casts but the German cast really shines together as a company with so much energy and joy finally being able to present the play.
Markus Schöttl-Harry Potter
I think I will repeat myself quite a bit, but I have to say that I absolutely loved his Harry! He is more on the younger side and brings so much energy to Harry, I don’t think it’s necessarily important but I must say he is very handsome as Harry. I loved Jamie Ballard as a new interpretation of Harry, but he wasn’t very book Harry at least not as much as Jamie Parker. I think Markus was a bit more like book Harry and I had no issues seeing him as the character. He effortlessly played Harry’s good and bad sides and he is just an incredible actor! He is a bit less impulsive than Jamie Parker’s Harry, but nonetheless very convincing and he made me fall in love with Harry‘s character again. I have nothing bad to say about him. I would love to see him again. He had amazing chemistry with Hermione/Ron as friends and with Ginny. I think this was the production I saw the friendship between the golden trio the most. Their friendship was just precious.
Markus was just incredible and I was very happy that he was there.
Vincent Lang - Albus Potter
I was very lucky to see some very different interpretations of Albus in the past and Vincent is no exception! His interpretation was so new and fresh and not like any other Albus I have seen before. He is the most excited and expressive Albus I have ever seen! He matches Scorpius energy which means a lot in this production haha and is very emotional. I would say he is the most vulnerable Albus until now. Very impulsive, emotionally driven and very miserable about his dad. If you can’t tell, yes I absolutely loved his Albus! I love when actors do a lot on stage and some people might call it overacting but I loved his energy so much! He is an incredible actor with so much range and such a new and fresh version of this character.
I was a bit worried with the German script in terms of youth language and yes Albus does use youth language the most (I don’t know how else I should call it), but if there is one Albus it fits to then it’s Vincent. He just has the super angsty teenage energy and he seems like a very modern version of Albus so it was no issue for me. I dont know if I would have had more of an issue with it if Albus was played by someone else but to Vincent it actually fitted quite well.
And I didn’t even start with Scorbus. This was by far the gayest version I have seen of the play in regards of Albus and Scorpius haha. He and Mathias are just a Albus Scorpius match made in heaven. They fit together so incredibly well and match each other’s energy so flawlessly. And the hug was so cute.
Mathias Reiser - Scorpius Malfoy
As I already said his Scorpius has so much energy! He is such a energetic and loud and excited Scorpius, I loved it. He is so precious and geeky and you can just feel how much he loves to play this character. I really wonder how he can keep this up every show! That’s incredible, I think I wouldn’t even last 5 minutes with that much energy, it must be very exhausting. I think he also managed to make his own version of the character but also very positively reminded me a bit of Anthony‘s Scorpius. Anthony was also a very expressive and loud Scorpius. He is so funny especially together with Vincent as Albus. His lake scene was incredibly funny! I loved him so much and I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Vincent again! I can’t really fully express how much I loved them, but take my word for it that I did.
Jilian Anthony - Hermione Granger
I will repeat this a lot but I also loved Jilin‘s Hermione! She has the right amount of authority and warmth to be a brilliant Hermione. I think the first alternate teacher Hermione was one of the best I have ever seen. How she reached after Albus as if she wanted to apologize to him was heartbreaking. I think her rebel Hermione was a little bit too much, but it was still convincing enough.
She had incredibly chemistry with Ron (more about him later), they were so cute together and I loved her friendship with Harry/Markus. I think she was also surprisingly funny which I wasn’t expecting. So can’t really say anything bad about her Hermione, she was great!
Tino was the first understudy from the main characters as Sebastian (first cast Ron) was off. I would really love to see Sebastian as comparison at some point, but I fell in love with Tino as Ron. I think he actually might be my favorite Ron yet although I really love all the Ron’s I have seen. He was the perfect mix between funny and serious and he is such a natural actor with so much warmth. He just fits perfectly to Ron Weasley, he seemed the most book Ron until now. He looks a bit young but as Markus and Jilian also look on the younger side it fitted quite well in this show. His chemistry with Jilian was remarkable, if you didn’t love Ronmione before the show you definetly will after it. Also I think it’s the show I recognized Ron‘s relationship with Ginny the most. The sibling energy was real haha.
Sarah Schütz - Ginny Weasley
Off to the next Weasley! Sarah was a great Ginny! I think she resembled book Ginny very well and her Ginny was definetly very tough but still could be very soft in moments with Harry and Albus. I think at times she could have been a teeny little bit more motherly but that doesn’t really matter. I loved her in the show and she had great chemistry with Markus as Harry and with everyone else. I think she was especially lovely in the church scene comforting Albus, I think it was a very strong and emotional scene.
Alen Hodzovic - Draco Malfoy
I repeat myself again but I also absolutely loved Alen‘s Draco. I don’t know why but from the promo stuff I have seen I was the most sceptical about him, but he 100% convinced me. I think he did an amazing job between being super bratty book Draco (he was quite funny) and showing Draco‘s inner struggles and his pain. His Draco loves Scorpius dearly and he and Mathias were very cute together. He also looked great in costume, the hair looked quite natural on him. I could definetly see him as book Draco grown up. I think he also looks a bit younger, seems to be a theme in the German cast, but as I said before together it all ends up quite well.
Mariyama Ebel - Rose Granger Weasley
The second understudy of the main characters and shocking I know I also loved her! She was a very cute but still bossy Rose and her laugh is just adorable! She is a great actress and although Rose doesn’t have too much to do she really shined on stage.
Kristina was a Great Delphi! She was quite different from the others Delphis I saw, very emotional and a bit less malicious, but also very creepy in her own way. If I wouldn’t have known the twist I really wouldn’t have seen it coming with her Delphi. She was so nice at the beginning, she did an incredible job. Her Delphi wanted to be loved so badly and it felt seemed she even felt a little bit bad about killing Craig. A little bit at least.
There are a lot more characters in the play than the main ones, but I think it would be a bit too much to talk about everyone individually. To sum it up, I think the German ensemble is just wonderful and they all have so much fun. Dumbledore and Snape were pretty good and everyone gave their best. And the energy, so much energy 😊
It was just so wonderful to see this play again and the German production was no disappointment. Would heavily recommend watching the show and would also heavily recommend watching the German cast if you have a chance to get to Hamburg! Hamburg is also great if you love theatre in general. It’s not the west end or broadway, but for Germany it has a lot of theatres in one place. I can also heavily recommend giving the other musicals a shot (Frozen, Wicked and Lion King). All these Musicals were absoltely great! Also Hamilton will soon come to Hamburg, which also might interest some theatre fans! Also Hamburg is a beautiful city!
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