Potted Potter 2023

Today we decided decided to brave the artic blast that would make a wampa's cave seem like a tropical vacation and see the Harry Potter themed show at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts located on the DU campus.

Before we go to far, I do just want to do a disclaimer about this post since we normally do not cover Harry Potter related events, movies, or goods. This show is an unauthorized adaption of Harry Potter and that JK Rowling does not get any sort of royalties from this show. Mommy Geek also won these tickets from listening to the radio, so even if JK would have normally gotten profits from the sell of tickets no money changed hands and if anything we were taking up seats that were not sold at a profit.

Mommy Geek won four tickets, so it was the two of us and then a friend of hers from work. We had to lose the 4th ticket because everyone else we would have invited was either busy or would have needed more then just one ticket. When we first got into the lobby we noticed that they had a bar and one of the drinks they had was a butter beer. The menu said it was a mix of cream soda, butter, and rum. It was a very good combination that I will have to remember in the future.

Then when we got inside and sat down, Mommy Geek's friend pointed out something interesting that I had not noticed. He said that most of the people in the audience was white. I looked around and noticed that he was right. while waiting for the show to start besides him I only saw one other woman that looked to be of Asian background. One of the reasons for this could have been the price of the tickets. When I looked online, the nose bleed section was $45.99 (plus $11 in fees) and the section we were in ranged $65.99-$95.99 (plus $11 in fees). This means that low income people and families in the Denver metro area couldn't really afford these tickets. Many times it is these lower income families that would have brought more diversity to the show. If I would have had to pay for the tickets I would have skipped the show. Shows that charge more then $25 for only an hour and a half of a two many show are more then a little crazy. Also taking into account they didn't have a real set, this was way over priced for what the audience got anyway. So based on price I would have to give the show 1 star out of 5 or a F grade.

The show itself was super fast paced. This makes sense since they were trying to fit in all of the main books into a short timeframe. The best way I can explain how fast paced this show was is to compare it to the pace of the song "I Am the Very Model" from the play Pirates of Penzance. If you are familiar with that song, think of the beat and that is as close as you can to understanding how fast this show moved. The only part that slowed down was a section where they included the audience in a weird version of quidditch. The lack of actors, props, and set were even part of the gags for the show. There were also a lot of other pop culture references in the show and some of the jokes could go over the heads of people that do not have a diverse background in other fandoms and cultural references. For example one of the books that one of the actors grabbed was Fifty Shades of Grey instead of one of the Harry Potter books, and there were several references to either Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. The show was more of just stand up comedy then a play.

The show was ok, but not $45 dollars ok. Tickets should have been $10-$25 at max. Yes the show had some funny parts, but it relied way to much on being fast paced. This allowed the actors to skim over a lot of important info and the ending song just felt anticlimactic. I would give the show itself 3 stars out of 5 or a C. This means when you combine the show and cost it would only get 2 stars out of 5 or a D. I would recommend this show if you can see it for cheaper, but how it is being shown at the Newman Center is just not worth the cost.

I took this on the way out of the theater. They only had these four little set pieces (there is a train behind the group of people. These four pieces contained most of the little props that they used and everything they had could have fit into an extra small U-Haul truck.

The below pictures were taken from the digital program. They only had a QR code on the poster with no direct link and I had to have Mommy Geek's friend access the site with his phone since his phone could read QR codes. I'm not sure why people keep thinking that QR codes can be used on any phone by any one. This is the only thing that I would dock them any points on. They really should have a paper program since people have to pay for tickets or to be able to provide a paper one upon request.

 https://viewer.joomag.com/potted-potter-denver-2024-scroll/0408140001704384361

For more info on the show check out: https://www.pottedpotter.com/

As a side note, when we left we tried to take the elevator back up to the main level and we couldn't help but laugh when we saw the button that said 'Trap' on it. "It's a Trap," jumped into my mind. Problem was, it really was a trap. We had no idea which button we needed and even the chart they had on the wall was not much help since it made it seem like we needed the main level when what we actually needed was the button '2'.

Also, sorry I don't have any pictures from the show. They said that pictures and filming was not allowed and I always try to follow the rules.