The Show

In the spring of 2010, I studied abroad for a semester in Edinburgh, Scotland. I had my laptop for schoolwork and keeping in touch with friends and family, in addition to checking a website every day that I believe was called Wizard Life. This webpage was a lot like other “FML” type sites, except that it was made for wizards and witches. After confusedly reading a lot of posts mentioning Pigfarts, I finally gave in and decided to Google what all that nonsense was about. It was then that I was revealed the magical world of StarKidPotter (now known as Team StarKid) and their creation, A Very Potter Musical.

I watched the musical for the first time out of what would eventually become dozens of times. These theatre kids from the University of Michigan put on a show that would change my life – once I downloaded the music, I listened to it almost nonstop during my time in Scotland, and it motivated me to seek out other Potter-related events and communities. That is how I learned about LeakyCon 2011, which is where I learned about wizard rock, and ten years later, here I am with my own wizard rock band that has produced three full-length albums and three EPs as of writing this article.

The musical itself can be viewed as a YouTube playlist with two acts – Act 1 with 14 parts and Act 2 with 9 parts. I have seen this musical so many times that I can almost recite the whole thing line for line. Let’s get started.

Spoiler Alert!!! If you have not seen AVPM, this review has a TON of spoilers for it, so keep that in mind before you read!

Act 1

Parts 1 and 2

The iconic opening of the show starts by fading in on a Gryffindor-clad Darren Criss, playing Harry, while an electric bass plays a repeating rendition of John Williams’ Prologue. He sings the show’s first song, Get Back to Hogwarts. I still get chills when I hear these lyrics:

Back to witches and wizards and magical beasts
To goblins and ghosts, it’s a magical feast
It’s all that I love and it’s all that I need
At Hogwarts, Hogwarts, I think I’m going back

This whole scene really is “totally awesome” introducing all of our favorite characters, starting with Ron, played by Joey Richter. In the show, Ron is Harry’s snack-eating best friend and side-kick who usually enters with a Seinfeld-like bass riff. (No bass riff is heard in his introductory scene, as it takes place mid-song.) He is followed shortly by Hermione, portrayed as a frumpy (but secretly badass) nerd, played by Bonnie Gruesen. When she starts singing, you can see Darren mouthing the words along to her part, as he helped write the music for the show.

As we segue into part 2, we are introduced to Ginny, played by Jaime Lyn Beatty. Ron introduces her to Harry, with whom she is immediately awe-struck. This part makes me laugh every time with the seldom-remembered bit of trivia about what Ginny’s full name is:

Ginny: You’re Harry Potter! You’re the boy who lived!
Harry: Yeah, and you’re Ginny.
Ginny: It’s Ginevra.
Harry: Cool. Ginny’s fine.

The background vamp changes to an Oriental riff as we are introduced to who we are supposed to assume is Cho Chang. Ginny learns the hard way that Lavender Brown, played by Sango Tajima, is indeed not Cho Chang. Cho, who is played by Devin Lytle, has a southern accent and a sweet disposition. Tyler Brunsman appears as our favorite Hufflepuff Cedric, and sings about his love for Cho with his beautiful tenor voice.

Lauren Lopez plays Draco in this musical. Accompanied by Crabbe (Julia Albain) and Goyle (Jim Povolo), Draco uses whatever flourishing techniques he can to try and impress Harry. He has a lofty goal of being transferred to Pigfarts (finally, some answers!), which is a magical school on Mars.

The song continues as the company comes together on the Hogwarts Express and sings:

We’re back to learn everything that we can
It’s great to come back to where we began

For so many of us, the Potter books is where we began our journeys to find ourselves, meet new friends, get involved with the community, and try to make the world a better place.

Dumbledore arrives to welcome the students to Hogwarts. He is unapologetically gay, loves Zac Efron, and is played by Dylan Saunders. His introduction to the audience is impressive, as the first thing he does is hold out a note as long as he can before continuing as normal.

The song finishes off part 2 of the first act, and as Get Back to Hogwarts ends, I can really feel the energy in the room, from the audience to the actors to the musicians. I’d like to take this opportunity to give huge props to the band who played live for the show: AJ Holmes, who wrote the music along with Darren Criss, plays the keyboard; Carlos Valdez plays the bass; Joe Carroll is on drum set. One of my overall favorite things about the musical is that you can see AJ in the background and all of his facial expressions during the show.

Parts 3 and 4

Dumbledore starts the new scene by telling everyone how sorting works, since the Sorting Hat and the Scarf of Sexual Preference won’t be back from their honeymoon until next year. (If you’ve never seen the show before, yes, you read that right.) Dumbledore says that he has “just been putting anyone that looks like a good guy into Gryffindor, anybody that looks like a bad guy into Slytherin, and the other two can just go wherever the hell they want, I don’t really care.” He is then followed by two iconic lines back-to-back:

Cedric: Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders.
Dumbledore: What the hell is a Hufflepuff?

The one and only Professor Snape (Joe Moses) appears in a completely black outfit, wig, and a hilarious voice, not to mention his facial expressions. He asks the students about portkeys and foreshadowing, breaking the fourth wall by letting the audience know this is important information we need to know. He then introduces the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell (Brian Rosenthal), who is clearly attached to someone else under his costume (who could it possibly be?).

The humor in this whole scene is top notch. We have teachers giving and taking away House points for totally inappropriate reasons. We have Ron stuffing his face with takeout food. We have Quirrell clearly hiding Voldemort on the back of his head. We have Harry going “ow ow ow” and touching his scar whenever Quirrell gets near him. We have a cardboard cutout of the House Cup. We have Draco rolling around on the floor. We have Neville incorrectly assuming he is the one Snape has a grudge against.

Part 4 begins with the Golden Trio talking about the upcoming House Cup challenges. The cardboard cutout shenanigans continue when Snape walks in holding a dynamite sandwich for Dumbledore. Joe Carroll taps out a ticking beat on the rim of the drums before the sandwich blows up. Draco enters and begins telling the trio what Pigfarts is like, ending with what is probably my favorite monologue of the show:

Now you’re just being cute. I can’t go to Pigfarts. It’s on Mars. You need a rocket ship. Do you have a rocket ship, Potter? I bet you do. Not all of us inherited enough money to buy out NASA when our parents died. Look at this! Rocket ship Potter! Starkid Potter, moon shoes Potter! Traversing the galaxy with intergalactic travels to Pigfarts.

I continue to be impressed that there is segue music between each scene. The thought and time that these students put into a work of fan art is amazing.

Parts 5 and 6

We open part 5 with the reveal we were all waiting for – Voldemort, played by Joe Walker, attached to Quirrell by the back of his head. The two actors share a robe, back-to-back, making any scene they are in together absolutely ridiculous. Voldemort has a raspy evil-sounding voice, which is perfectly hilarious for lines like “I watch you wipe your butt daily. You can call me Voldemort, we’re there. We’ve reached that point.”

As we watch the two characters attempt to go to sleep, the first song since Get Back to Hogwarts begins. Different As Can Be is a duet between our two villains, describing how evil Voldemort is, while Quirrell just wants to read a Jane Austin novel by the fireplace. I love the way this song starts off, because a kooky musical duet between two villains is just not something we expect to happen.

The next scene starts with Harry jamming out on his guitar. He asks Ginny to come over and listen to a song he’s written for Cho Chang. “For the purposes of now” he temporarily substitutes Ginny’s name for Cho’s name. All of the lines happen to rhyme with “Ginny” and after he sings the song, Harry says “You know what, it doesn’t work, like at all.” He continues to explain how amazing Cho is, saying that she is “supermegafoxyawesomehot” and “far more attractive, far more appealing, far more interesting than any girl that I know, in my immediate group of… the friends.”

Ron enters with his “signature” bass riff. To find out more about the House Cup challenges, Harry reveals his invisibility cloak, which covers about one person’s head, which makes all of the cloak scenes hilarious, as we are to assume all three members of the Trio are covered by the cloak even though we can see 90% of their bodies.

The Trio leaves Ginny alone, and she sings a song entitled Harry. This song is actually a parody of another song (Sami) that made its premiere in a different StarKid production, Little White Lie. They were short on time to make a new song for Ginny, so Darren Criss rewrote “Sami” to fit into AVPM. Ginny’s voice during this song resonates with passion for Harry, excitement, energy, and wanting to be noticed. The ballad is beautifully executed, but seems to be a little too slow for the actress, as Ginny signals to the band to speed it up in the middle of the song so she doesn’t lose her breath.

Parts 7 and 8

Voldemort and Quirrell grow closer to each other emotionally as they start solidifying their plans. The Trio sneaks around the castle wearing the cloak and runs into Malfoy, who reveals that he has a crush on Hermione. After they leave, the Trio finds Dumbledore and Snape, who reveal with a Jurassic Park reference that the first task will have dragons.

We go back to Quirrell and Voldemort, who have had a night of drinking down at the Hog’s Head. We see a little bit of Voldemort’s humanity through his drunken confessions. He says that he has never had a real friend before because “I just kill people who try to get me to open up, you know? Oops.” Through all of the humor, it is nice to see Voldemort finally having a friend in Quirrell (not to mention the Quirrelmort ship that blooms from this show).

The couple sing a reprise of Different As Can Be, which now has a slightly different connotation as they are starting to see things from each other’s points of view.

Parts 9 and 10

The first task is revealed to all of the champions: to fight a dragon. Dumbledore enters with some amazing lines such as “Granger, I thought you were a bogart!” and “Are you kids ready to fight a dragon? Of course not, you’re children. What the hell am I thinking?” That last line really sums up how in the books Dumbledore has made some poor and dangerous decisions over the years in regards to literal children. Each champion is assigned a dragon:

Cedric: Puff the Magic Dragon
Cho: Figment the Imaginary Dragon
Draco: The Reluctant Dragon
Harry: The Hungarian Horntail (the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life!)

As someone who grew up watching all three of the first dragons’ movies, books, and TV shows, I really appreciated the references to them here. As Harry comes face to face with his dragon, he summons not his broom as he does in the books, but his guitar. He sings a sweet song (Hey Dragon) to lull the monster to sleep, winning the task.

I’m living off the glory
Of a stupid children’s story
That I had nothing to do with

These lyrics impress me because it is a very subtle nod to The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and the Tale of the Three Brothers in particular. It is these hidden gems (like Ginny’s full name) sneaking their way into an otherwise fun and funny musical that make me appreciate how much thought went into the making of the show.

With the Yule Ball coming up, Harry brings out his guitar and sings Cho’s song for her (this time with “Cho Chang” instead of “Ginny” even though every verse still rhymes with “Ginny”). Truly humor at its finest. The students leave and Quirrelmort enters to place a portkey in the punch bowl.

Parts 11, 12, 13, and 14

It’s time for my favorite scene in the show: the Yule Ball. Harry and Ron are going stag, and when Hermione shows up resplendent in a beautiful ball gown, Ron and Draco head to opposite sides of the stage to sing about how they might be falling in love with her in the song Granger Danger. I love the harmonies and contrasting melodies in this song and how it opens up Ron’s eyes to his feelings for her. Meanwhile, a spotlight appears on Draco and he sings “What? What the hell is this? You expect me to sing about her?”

After their song, Ron gets jealous of everyone else getting to dance with Hermione. While Harry tries to give him advice on what to do, he realizes he’s been overlooking a potential romantic partner in Ginny. However, after he kisses her, he realizes that it’s too weird being with his best friend’s sister. He opts to dance with Cho, which gets him in a fight with Cedric. Grabbing the punch ladle portkey, Harry moves to hit Cedric with it only to have Cedric grab onto it as well. Time stands still while actors around them leave and say “portkey” over and over, in case you were fuzzy on what was happening.

Harry and Cedric end up in a graveyard. Cedric, cheerful as ever, and with a big smile on his face, asks where Harry’s sense of adventure is. Harry snaps at him:

Cedric, you are so annoying, okay? You’re like, this guy that’s just around all the time when I don’t need a guy around. You’re this spare guy all the time. This spare dude. You’re such a spare!

Quirrelmort bursts through the door and Voldemort yells “Kill the spare!” (which is exactly what he says in the book). Quirrell casts the killing curse on Cedric, who dies. Death Eaters add the necessary ingredients to a cauldron and Quirrelmort steps into it. Quirrell leaves first, followed shortly by Voldemort, who jumps out among a cacophony of sound from the band. As he takes his first shaky steps, we hear the distinct “clack” of tap shoes. AJ Holmes then plays a single note on the piano and we are suddenly into a song and dance (literally) with the song To Dance Again.

Seeing and hearing Voldemort sing a whole song about how he loves to dance is definitely not something anyone expected to happen, which makes it all the more funny as we watch the scene unfold. Joe Walker pulls off this amazing performance wearing a very sparkly cape (no shirt), and skin-tight leggings. The song ends with a kick line, which, you know. Why not?

Bellatrix Lestrange (Britney Coleman) is ecstatic by Voldemort’s return. The actress really gets into her character throughout the show. Unfortunately for any Quirrelmort shippers, the plan is revealed that Voldemort will blame Quirrell for Harry’s death, sending him to Azkaban. Harry grabs the portkey and is transported back to Hogwarts.

Act 2

Parts 1 and 2

Tyler Brunsman returns (this time as the Minister of Magic) and blatantly refuses to hear any word about Voldemort returning, to the point where he says “I still don’t believe you’re back” when Voldemort shows up to his office and kills him (this happens in part 4). Voldemort finds himself longing for Quirrell and the friendship that he had found in him. This distracts him so much that he doesn’t pay attention to Bellatrix’s plan, which makes her upset, and she leaves. Voldemort whines “Now two people are mad at meeee.”

Draco shows up to help Voldemort get his Death Eaters into Hogwarts. At first Voldemort laughs at the idea of a child helping him, but he adds: “How do you propose you get my Death Eaters into your little daycare center? And don’t – and don’t suggest a giant slide, or a trampoline, because we’ve already tried those.” Draco reveals that they can enter Hogwarts through the vents (duh!). In this scene, Draco attempts to sing a song of his own twice, only to be cut off once by Voldemort and a second time by the band playing scene change music.

Parts 3 and 4

Part 3 opens on Harry and Hermione standing outside of Dumbledore’s office. Ron enters, disgruntled because he doesn’t have a snack and he’s missing Wizards of Waverly Place. Upon hearing that Ron is snackless, AJ Holmes pulls out a package of Twizzlers and gives it to him. “Hogwarts is amazing.” The Trio enters Dumbledore’s office, and upon a wall hangs a “boss Zefron poster” (according to Ron). After Dumbledore tells them about horcruxes and how to kill them, Death Eaters, Draco, and Snape enter the office. When Draco hesitates to kill Dumbledore, Snape proclaims: “Coward! Ten points from Gryffindor!” before casting the killing curse.

In part 4, Voldemort infiltrates the Ministry of Magic with Bellatrix. Once Fudge is defeated, Voldemort wants to “try something new” with her, and asks her to sit back-to-back with him to remind him of his time with Quirrell. She is not amused by this, and leaves him alone. Harry appears center stage while Voldemort goes off to the side. Harry starts the next song, Missing You, singing about Dumbledore. Quirrell shows up on the opposite side of the stage and sings his own verse of Missing You. Harry and Quirrell harmonize, telling of the person they miss the most at that moment. I love this song because it is legitimately a beautifully written and executed song, no matter how humorous the foundational content may be.

Parts 5 and 6

Harry is feeling down and lost when Ginny walks in and lets him know he’s Not Alone with the next song. This song gives me a warm feeling every time I listen to it. Ron and Hermione enter and sing as well. Everyone’s vocal performance in this song is incredibly strong and powerful. If you ever feel like you’re all alone, I highly recommend listening to this song to feel better.

Ron confesses his love for Hermione and they share the single most awkward kiss I have ever seen in my life.

The kids make it into Dumbledore’s office to look for the last horcrux. It turns out that the final horcrux is the “boss Zefron poster,” so Ron must use the sword of Gryffindor to defeat it. Voldemort appears in a hole in the poster and tells Ron his deepest insecurities (just like the locket did in the books). It seems as if Ron is about to turn on Harry when he twirls around and stabs the poster with the sword. The poster falls to the floor while Ron continues to stab it. Every time a stab occurs, the band plays a cacophony of noise. On the final stab, which is more of a poke, AJ plays a couple of low notes on the keyboard, which is a little musical joke that I very much appreciate.

Harry and Ron share a cute bonding moment as they tell each other that they love each other and that they will always be best friends. Bellatrix enters with some Death Eaters, but Snape arrives in time to get rid of most of them. Molly Weasley shows up for the first and only time in the show to kill Bellatrix.

Parts 7, 8, and 9

Voldemort and more Death Eaters are trying to take over Hogwarts. He uses a Sonorus charm to make an announcement to the students and to Harry specifically. Harry decides that it is best to face Voldemort himself. He does, and Voldemort casts the killing curse. Having finally gotten his wish of killing Harry, he reflects: “I just thought it might make me feel less empty inside.”

Harry wakes up at King’s Cross station where Dumbledore is waiting for him. AJ plays a beautiful melody on the piano as Dumbledore explains how Harry is still alive: through the power of love.

Meanwhile, Voldemort returns to Hogwarts to make the announcement that Harry is dead. We see all of the students together, and Ron gives the group a rousing speech about how they need to have hope and fight back in the song Voldemort is Going Down. Hermione joins him with some awesome harmonies, and the rest of the students join as well. There is a driving rhythm in this song that motivates me whenever I listen to it.

Harry shows up mid-song to join the rest of the students in their march towards Voldemort. This ignites energy and hope in the students as they all finish the song together. As they hear Voldemort approaching, Ron assuages their fear because they have barricaded the door with a bench. This does not deter Voldemort, who enters through the curtain to the side of the prop door, and casts the killing curse on the bench, kicking it aside.

Voldemort and Harry face off – Harry telling Voldemort that he needs to feel remorse in order to save himself. As Voldemort reflects on what we can only assume is his friendship with Quirrell, AJ plays a longing melody on the piano. Snapping out of it, Voldemort threatens AJ with his wand and AJ puts up his hands, which is my favorite fourth wall break in the show.

Harry and Voldemort cast the spells they are most known for, and Voldemort falls to the ground. He is carried offstage by two students, and everyone celebrates. After the students leave the stage, we go to Quirrell who is being let out of Azkaban. He hears the news that Voldemort is dead and breaks down. Voldemort enters wrapped in a white cloth. He grabs Quirrell’s attention with a “Hey, you” and Quirrell finds out that Voldemort can’t truly disappear because part of him still remains in Quirrell’s heart.

Quirrell: So you came back?
Voldemort: I came home.

Quirrell asks if Voldemort wants to kill Harry anymore. Voldemort admits that he doesn’t, and that he has learned something: “You think killing people might make them like you, but it doesn’t. It just makes people dead.” He then admits: “I say to myself, maybe with Quirrell things will be okay.”

Quirrell: Is okay good?
Voldemort: Quirrell… okay is wonderful!

Our favorite ship is reunited at last and the entire cast comes out to sing Not Alone as they take a bow and end the show.

In Summary

A Very Potter Musical has changed so many people’s lives, mine included. It is witty, hilarious, ridiculous, and fun. I will always be grateful for everyone involved in its production and for the sense of community for Harry Potter that they brought back into my life when I had lost it. I definitely recommend watching this at least once a year, and always with friends if possible. I want to give a special shout out here to Nick and Matt Lang as well as Brian Holden for writing the script for the show.

If you’re interested in checking out Starkid’s music as well as their other shows, click here!

Remember that you’re not alone, and this community will always feel like being home.