Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

Fortuitous.

The word that could only describe the feeling I felt when I was approved to attend a Digital Health Conference in LONDON. Not only that, my airfare would be paid for by work. (we get $1000 each calendar year for professional development and even though I had been with the company technically for over a year, the period of my employment crossed over two calendar years). That would be $900 for the conference and the rest going towards the airfare. Yay, me!

That left me to plan my vacation around the conference. And this year, I decided to travel to London and Berlin! And an even more happy fluke? I would be in London when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was having its previews for the fans, before officially its official opening night on July 30 at the Palace Theatre.

But how to get a ticket for the 2 night performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, when it was sold out ages ago? Fun fact: 175,000 tickets sold out in under 8 hours!

Pro tip: turn to their Facebook fan page to see if anyone was selling their tickets!

No doubt, there is a risk when buying from someone you don’t know, but lucky for me, the gal I contacted was communicative, transparent and really honest. She had purchased tickets hoping to be in London at that time, but plans fell through and she just wanted to sell to another fan for the face value (£50). She even helped facilitate with the Palace Theatre’s box office, so that all I needed to do was present my ID upon arrival. Her loss was my gain and for that, I say a hearty ‘thank you!’

My flight landed at Gatwick hella early – and as I couldn’t quite check into my AirBnB yet, I booked a 4 hour stay at the Yotel Air, a capsule hotel, located at Gatwick’s south terminal. A hotel that you could book per hour where you can shower, relax and power nap, instead of walking around London with your luggage, killing time while suffering from jet lag? I love this idea.

Part one of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was taking place the same day I landed, so I needed as much shut eye as possible. Made my way down to the Palace Theatre, got my tickets and found my seat – stall E5. And for 2+ hours, I sat there enthralled, delighted and completely agog at what I was seeing. It was dazzling, magical and the special effects were impressive!

I don’t want to give anything away because #keepthesecrets, but it was truly one of the best live theatre I’ve ever seen. I can’t even begin to describe how fun it was. To be honest, I did enjoy the movies, but I’m not a Potter head – however, this production made me even more appreciative of the whole Harry Potter saga.

This is truly a must-see show. Anyone who has tickets will be in for a treat. anyone who doesn’t but wants to, I sincerely hope you get your hands on some (even lining up everyday for the box office selling off extra seats or unclaimed tickets). It’s worth it!

Part one’s tonight. Part two’s tomorrow.