美国国家公共电台 NPR Backstage Magic At 'Harry Potter And The Cursed Child'（在线收听）

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

When the creators of "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child" were working on adapting the wizarding world for the stage, they knew a lot of people had seen the Harry Potter movies. And they didn't just want to reproduce those old movie tricks. So they ended up creating a spectacle that relies much more on human-powered magic than special effects, a process the show's creators documented in a new coffee-table book, "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child: The Journey." We sent NPR's Petra Mayer on her own journey behind the scenes at the current Broadway production to see the magic being made.

PETRA MAYER, BYLINE: Past the backstage door at Manhattan's Lyric Theatre, there's a warren of corridors and staircases so complex, you almost expect to pop out in Hogsmeade. But instead, I'm in a rubber-floored workout room where today's cast is warming up for the show directed by movement captain James Brown III, who also plays Bane the centaur.

JAMES BROWN III: Toes together, knees apart.

MAYER: It's pretty intense. There's yoga, there's stretching.

BROWN III: Forehead rest on the ground. Forearms rest on the ground.

MAYER: And some hardcore calisthenics. This isn't usual for a Broadway show, but then not that many shows are this physical. The actors in "Cursed Child" create effects that would have been done on screen with CGI with their own bodies and with the help of some special crew members.

STEVEN HOGGETT: It's a Japanese form originally.

MAYER: That's movement director Steven Hoggett. He designed all the acrobatics you'll see onstage.

HOGGETT: We call them ninjas. Black arts is also a name for it where there are performers that you can't see in the space because they are wearing completely black. And they are against a black background.

MAYER: So when I watch Harry and Draco rehearse their duel across the kitchen table...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Rictusempra.

MAYER: Well, I can't give it all away. I'll let Steven Hoggett say it.

HOGGETT: We use black arts to create a battle where they cast spells at one another, and things happen to their bodies which would seem impossible on a normal human body.

MAYER: Hoggett says the ninjas use a special code of taps to let the actors know they're there, but still, it takes a lot of trust.

HOGGETT: I mean, in lots of ways, you are throwing yourself into the darkness, hoping that somebody is there to put their hand out and hold the back of your head.

MAYER: Movement Captain James Brown III - you heard him leading the workout earlier - describes what the actors do as the foundation of a trust fall.

BROWN III: So it's the idea of, without prompting, you'll give me your weight, and then I'll give you my weight. And it's just about how we kind of move together in a space without direction.

MAYER: The effect it produces of Harry flying through the air - it's startling seen from the audience or just in this brightly lit rehearsal room.

BROWN III: Really, is that the best you've got? Emancipare.

MAYER: Not everything in "Cursed Child" is this handmade. There are some fancy lighting tricks, and there's one effect I could swear is a digital projection, but no one will confirm my suspicions. This show, after all, was originally advertised with the tagline keep the secrets. But most of the onstage magic happens on a human level. And for producers Colin Callender and Sonia Friedman, that was an important choice.

COLIN CALLENDER: Since our starting point was about exploring the emotional lives of these characters and to be honest about these characters in a very immediate way, we didn't want to high-tech it.

SONIA FRIEDMAN: To be honest, we wanted sort of good, old-fashioned, as I call it, Victorian magic, Victorian theater tricks - very simple, actually.

MAYER: Friedman adds that those tricks are not simple to master. In fact, they take months to perfect. But, she says, they help create a human connection that draws the audience into the storytelling. And as we get closer to curtain, that audience is filling up the lobby. Everywhere I look, I see Hogwarts scarves. David Goren (ph) is here from Austin, Texas. He says he'd like to be a Gryffindor, but he's really a Hufflepuff. And he says he has no idea what to expect onstage.

DAVID GOREN: I intentionally did not research this at all, so I could be surprised.

MAYER: Listeners, I promise I did not spoil him. I kept the secret.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's 12:30, and the call is half hour. Half hour from the top of Act 1.

MAYER: On with the show. Petra Mayer, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF IMOGEN HEAP SONG, "SUITE ONE: PLATFORM 9 3/4"