Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody is a musical parody, and it is very keen on reminding you it's a musical parody, lest they invite the wrath of she-who-must-not-be-named. Quirks of copyright law are just one of the sly and silly jests Salty Theatre works into the tight 60-minute production that is sure to split the sides of any Potterhead.
Theatre Works originally planned to run Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody in 2020 (need we say more). The 12-month postponement has perhaps worked in the show's favour, however, with Theatre Works' in-the-round “Glasshouse” set up allowing the parody to recreate a certain magical school’s houses and seat guests within them. (We saw the addition of baked goods to the Hufflepuff emblem, and we appreciate it.)
Opening with a big, bold number introducing the musical parody (reminding us again, in no uncertain terms, that is a parody cc Warner Brothers) the production takes us back to Hogwarts. But this isn’t the school fans will remember. This is the early 1940s and Tom Riddle (a delightfully jaunty Alex Donnelly) and his largely non-canon classmates are inexplicably required to compete in a battle of the bands by younger headmaster Dumbledore (Ellis Dolan). Riddle hasn’t yet turned into the irredeemable snake-faced tyrant we know and hate. In fact, he’s trying to be a better person courtesy of his sunny, carb-loving Hufflepuff girlfriend, Muffin (Mel O’Brien).
The production excels in its parody, be it in-jokes about Hogwarts’ constant nonchalance about dead children (featuring Jay Haggett’s Hagrid performing Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Con te Partiro’ to great amusement) or in pointing out the questionable morality of the wizarding community – such as when Muffin points out that perhaps wizards in 1942 should be helping stop, you know, the Nazis.
For those familiar with the Harry Potter parody genre, this work sits somewhere between the glorious Puffs and the low budget, but very entertaining A Very Potter Musical. Thanks to the presumed knowledge of the audience, only a few props painted in the correlating house colours are needed to set the scene and Caidan de Win’s lighting design is simple and effective, relaying atmosphere without overpowering the small space.
The storyline is ridiculous and it works, while the cast (where applicable) does a bang-up job of recreating and mocking the mannerisms of canon characters. Emily Hansford is uncanny in recreating the shrill energy of (not yet Moaning) Myrtle, and Donnelly excels in channelling the anguine affectations of Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort. And even though Haggett as Hagrid doesn’t quite capture the character most would be familiar with, the writing makes up for it by actually giving him hopes and dreams beyond looking after Harry Potter.
Where Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody falls down, however, is with its sound. Seated within the Perspex booths of the Glasshouse, we’re told to keep the door open to help the sound carry. It’s advice we hardly needed given the volume of some songs. Granted, the singing is flawless, but it’s sometimes hard to hear anything except a sheer wall of sound in group numbers. Given the whip-smart writing, we feel for certain we’ve missed jokes in the cacophony. The Dumbledore dick jokes feel out of place too, in a parody that otherwise cleverly pokes holes in the Potterverse.
Stumbles aside, Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody is an entertaining hour for fans of the magical franchise.
Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts is not authorized, sanctioned, licensed or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. or any person or company associated with the Harry Potter books, films or play.
