Students from both Seckman High and Seckman Middle schools will work together to take audiences back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this month.
The schools, which share a campus in Imperial, will perform “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” a play set 19 years after the Harry Potter book series and focuses on the children of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy and others.
Show times will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16-18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, at Rickman Auditorium, 747 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students and those 60 and older.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at seckmantheatre.ludus.com or at the door.
“I was pretty excited (to do this play),” said Seckman High junior Maddie Procter, 16, of the Arnold area, who plays Professor McGonagall.
“Harry Potter is a really big thing. I was really into it in middle school, and I still like it. It is really fun,” Maddie said. “I like being able to be part of something I liked when I was younger.”
Seckman High’s theater and debate teacher Chris Owens, the play’s director, said he chose the play because many people are familiar with Harry Potter’s story. He also wanted to provide opportunities for middle school students to be part of a high school production.
“Seckman Middle School does not currently have a drama program or theater troupe, I wanted to find opportunities to get them involved in productions,” he said. “This show started being licensed last year for high schools. It is pared down a little bit for a high school show. I am excited about taking this story that a lot of people know to draw an audience and also introduce some middle schoolers to theater here at Seckman High School.”
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” was written in 2016 by Jack Thorne and is based on an original story collaboratively created by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany.
The play focuses on Albus Potter, the second son and middle child of Harry Potter, and his relationship with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry Potter’s rival, Draco Malfoy, from the original book series. Sixth grader Everett Childs will play Albus Potter; senior Thomas Wilson will play Harry Potter; seventh grader Dillon Kendall will play Scorpius Malfoy; and junior AJ Fenske will play Draco Malfoy.
In the play, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy team up to steal a Time-Turner and travel back in time to alter the events of the series’ fourth book, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” that led to the death of Cedric Diggory.
Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy get help from Delphi Diggory, who portrays herself as a niece of Cedric Diggory’s father, Amos Diggory, but is hiding a secret. Sophomore Ana Schaefer will play Delphi Diggory, and junior Noah Brownlow will play Amos Diggory, Albus Dumbledore and James Potter Sr. in the production.
Owens said the high school version of the play allows schools to create the magic of the Harry Potter universe on a budget.
“It can be as complicated as you want it to be or as simple as you want it to be. We are trying to strike a balance in that with our production, we don’t have a huge budget, but we are treating this like our big show of the year,” he said. “Hopefully, there is enough magic to impress the audience in addition to good storytelling.”
Maddie said one of her favorite parts of the play is when the audience is introduced to the world of Lord Voldemort, the main villain from the original series.
“Also, the reveal of the twist villain,” Maddie said. “I think everyone will be entertained. There is a lot of things going on in the play.”
Owens said he enjoys the scene when Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy and Delphi Diggory take a transformation potion to look like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Junior Anna Fischer is playing Hermione Granger, and freshman Cal Baker is playing Ron Weasley.
“The actors have to do this back and forth transforming into each other,” he said. “It is a wild scene that is impressive.”
Other cast members include seniors Burke Sebastian, Ash Ross, Faith Anderson and Pho Hundley; juniors Carter Looney, Lily Pirtle, Gracie Jones, Sabrina Formby, Lanie Cheragotti, Issie Stegmann, Maggie Mertz and Ava Shores; sophomores Max Eldridge, Kaitlyn Stairs, Marissa Johnson, Devin Lograsso and Elisabeth Keith; freshmen Peyton Hegel, Addie McCarty, Jay Jackson, Ryleigh Cook, Alexa Formby and Tiffani Tolie; eighth graders Bella Green and Lily Carbone; seventh graders Bredam Wheeler, Giuliana Prezzavento, Gabbie Kline and Grace Kline; and sixth grader Piper Burger.