{"id":210357,"date":"2024-04-02T14:51:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T18:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/?p=210357"},"modified":"2024-04-02T14:51:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T18:51:36","slug":"nj-school-is-1st-in-the-united-states-to-stage-harry-potter-broadway-sensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2024\/04\/02\/nj-school-is-1st-in-the-united-states-to-stage-harry-potter-broadway-sensation\/","title":{"rendered":"NJ School is 1st in the United States to Stage ‘Harry Potter’ Broadway Sensation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published by The Star Ledger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The epic Broadway hit \u201cHarry Potter and the Cursed Child\u201d has been transformed into a high school production, and Hoboken High School has been chosen to mount its North American premiere.<\/p>\n

Being selected to do so was not unlike receiving a magical letter in Harry Potter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought it would be so fun to be a pilot and get to be able to have a say and help mold and shape what the production is like,\u201d said Danielle Miller<\/a>, supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts for Hoboken Public Schools. \u201cThese pilots are helping them figure out what works and doesn\u2019t work on stage so they can create the best final version that then can actually be licensed for everybody. It\u2019s kind of cool because we\u2019ll be the first people to figure out how to do some of the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller, who grew up in Washington Township (Warren County), is an alumna of 精品成人福利在线 University and the force behind the district\u2019s robust theater program. She works with students from kindergarten through high school and is an adjunct at 精品成人福利在线 University.<\/p>\n

Hoboken\u2019s premiere is scheduled for May and will be directed by Derek Kinnear, a high school teacher in the theater department. Some 300 students auditioned, and one-third of those will have stage time.<\/p>\n

Anyone who saw the original production on Broadway, which garnered six Tony Awards and left audiences thrilled, might wonder how this lengthy, two-part spectacular could translate to a school stage.<\/p>\n

After all, the initial Broadway version ran roughly six hours. Theatergoers often saw one segment, broke for dinner, and returned that evening for the second installment.<\/p>\n

Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, and written by Thorne, the play was condensed when Broadway went dark during the pandemic. The current version at The Lyric Theatre runs three-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry Potter and the Cursed Child High School Edition\u201d is estimated to run just over two hours. Set 19 years after the last book, the plot has Harry\u2019s son Albus \u2014 named after the grand wizard Dumbledore \u2014 befriend Scorpius, son of Harry\u2019s nemesis Draco Malfoy, at Hogwarts.<\/p>\n

While Hoboken is the first school in North America to stage it, a school in London was also chosen by Broadway Licensing Global. The group picked Hoboken for a few reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is the proximity to our headquarters in New York is very helpful for us,\u201d says Jeffery Keilholtz, senior vice president of marketing at the licensing company. \u201cAnd we wanted something more of a traditional experience for a traditional school. Hoboken has a vibrant arts community, and we knew there would be grassroots support for the kids in the school to put on the production.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company was \u201cquite selective,\u201d Keilholtz adds. \u201cNo schools actually applied. We reached out.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Miller\u2019s students work on the play, Broadway licensing reps can attend rehearsals or advise when questions arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been tasked with figuring out all magic\/ special effects on our own,\u201d Miller says. \u201cIn a sense, that is the fun part of this project. Perhaps a reason we were chosen is because we think outside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school is working with Broadway Media to create original projection ideas and ZFX Flying Effects for a few special features, Miller adds.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Keilholtz and Miller express the same hope for this play \u2013 and theater in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hope is to spark the love of live theater in every student,\u201d he says. \u201cOur massive transformative purpose is to make everyone a theater person. If we can increase sensitivities, and increase their imagination and empathy just a bit, maybe we are doing something right in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s how it happened<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":210358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","category-190_theatre-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210359,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210357\/revisions\/210359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}