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A Very Potter Musical
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"A Very Potter Musical" is a parody musical of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It was created and performed by a group of University of Michigan students in April 2009. Cast Darren Criss - Harry Potter Joey Richter - Ronald Weasley Bonnie Gruesen - Hermione Granger Jaime Lyn Beatty - Ginny Weasley Lauren Lopez - Draco Malfoy Joe Walker - Lord Voldemort Dylan Saunders - Albus Dumbledore Joe Moses - Severus Snape Brian Rosenthal - Quirinus Quirrell Tyler Brunsman - Cedric Diggory and Cornelius Fudge Devin Lytle - Cho Chang Lily Marks - Pansy Parkinson and Molly Weasley Sango Tajima - Lavender Brown Richard Campbell - Neville Longbottom Jim Povolo - Gregory Goyle and Rumbleroar Julia Albain - Vincent Crabbe Britney Coleman - Bellatrix Lestrange Crew Director - Matt Lang Assistant Director - Nick Lang Script - Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Brian Holden Songs - Darren Criss, AJ Holmes Stage Manager - Emily Stromberg Lighting Designer - Mary Clare Blake Booth Set Designer - Lisa Griebel Costume Designer - Marguerite Woodward Sound Designer - Matt Glenn Light Board Operator - Rachael D. Albert When the idea first started to take on a more concrete form in October 2008, Matt Lang started putting up posters advertising the musical around the university's campus. Many of the script's lines had formed from long-running jokes between the five originators (Nick and Matt Lang, Darren Criss, Brian Holden and AJ Holmes), but the actual story (Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Brian Holden) took a couple of months to complete. AJ Holmes and Darren Criss wrote the music in a matter of weeks, although some of the songs were actually learned the day before the actual show. Legal Matters The entire play was posted on YouTube in June 2009 under the original title 'Harry Potter: The Musical'. Initially it had been posted for family and friends (i.e. those who were unable to see the production live) to view. Plot The musical features original music to a script that combines plot elements from the books, most notably Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. <ref name="StarKidPotter's YouTube channel" /> Act 1 Harry Potter is "going back to Hogwarts" for another 'totally awesome' year at school. He stops at Diagon Alley with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, where he is introduced to Ron's younger sister Ginny Weasley. There they run into Harry's crush, the 'super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot' Cho Chang, Cho's boyfriend Cedric Diggory, and Neville Longbottom, who is being picked on by the Slytherins, led by Harry's rival, Draco Malfoy. The students board the Hogwarts Express and arrive at Hogwarts, where they are greeted by Albus Dumbledore ("Going Back to Hogwarts"). Severus Snape arrives and gives a pop quiz about portkeys using obvious foreshadowing. It is then announced that Hogwarts will be holding a House Cup tournament similar to the Triwizard Tournament, which is explained to them by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell (who clearly has Voldemort hidden under his turban). Snape then calls out the four champions from each house, which are Cho, Cedric, Malfoy and Harry. Hermione is worried, since a student had died in a previous tournament, and asks Harry to quit. He complies, but Dumbledore says that Harry is not allowed to. As the trio continue to talk Malfoy enters with Crabbe and Goyle and begins to brag about another wizarding school called Pigfarts that is located on Mars, with Rumbleroar—a talking lion—as its headmaster. The trio tries to ignore him until he calls Hermione a mudblood. Hermione attacks Malfoy and forces him to apologize. He seems regretful of his actions after the three leave, but ignores it. Meanwhile, Voldemort and Quirrell are getting used to Voldemort living on the back of Quirrell's head, with the two becoming a bizarre, odd couple ("Different as Can Be"). Hermione frets over what the first task of the tournament could be, but Harry is more interested in playing his guitar. Harry calls Ginny over to use her name as a substitute for a song he's trying to write for Cho ("Cho's Song (Ginny Version)") but while it thrills the smitten Ginny, it fails to work for Harry. Ron enters and says that he saw people bringing in giant cages. Hermione realizes that it is for the first task, so they pull out Harry's Invisibility Cloak to investigate. Ginny tries to tag along but Ron forces her to stay back. Once alone, Ginny pines for Harry ("Harry"). Voldemort and Quirrell are pleased with their evil plans and decide to go out partying. The trio sneaks through the halls and are almost discovered by Malfoy. They then see that the cages only have goats in them, but it is revealed when Dumbledore and Snape enter that the goats are merely snacks for the dragons that the champions will have to fight. After their night of partying, Voldemort and Quirrell stumble home, drunk. The two realize that they slowly have become close friends ("Different as Can Be (Reprise)"). The day of the first task has arrived, and the champions are assigned their dragons, with everyone except Harry getting a cute, easily defeated dragon while Harry must battle a Hungarian Horntail. When it is Harry's turn, he plays the guitar and sings the dragon to sleep to defeat it ("The Dragon Song"). The Yule Ball is now coming up, and Ginny wants to ask Harry. However, he continues to be oblivious to her, and asks Cho using the song he wrote with Ginny ("Cho's Song"). Cho, however, is already going with Cedric and turns him down. He and Ron decide to go stag. Meanwhile Voldemort and Quirrell set up the final stages of their plan, which will come to a head that night, by putting a portkey ladle in a punch made specifically for Harry (as it is made with Squirt, which no one but Harry can stand). The two realize they won't be attached much longer and seem to be bothered by this. They decide to make plans to hang out afterward. At the ball, Ron expresses concern for Hermione because he heard that she was seen crying. Malfoy comes over (ignoring his own date, Pansy) and bashes Hermione. Just then, a cleaned up and beautiful Hermione enters, shocking both Ron and Draco into realising they have feelings for her ("Granger Danger"). A drunk and jealous Ron fights with Hermione and Harry suggests he suck up his pride and tell her that he likes her. As he says this, Harry notices Ginny and realizes that he has similar feelings for her. He asks Ginny to dance. Meanwhile, Ron's attempt to tell Hermione how he feels goes horribly awry and she gets even angrier at him. Malfoy's attempts to intervene don't go well either, and she ends up slapping them both. As they dance, Harry and Ginny kiss. Harry immediately pushes her off and says they can't be together as she is his best friend's sister. An upset Ginny runs off and a frustrated Harry cuts into Cho and Cedric's dance and proceeds to dance with her. Cedric starts fighting with Harry and Cho says that she's thirsty. The two fight over who should get her drink and both end up touching the ladle. They are transported to a graveyard where Voldemort, Quirrell and Death Eaters arrive. They kill Cedric and prepare a potion to give Voldemort a body using bones, one of the Death Eater's hands (who seems very similar to Snape) and Harry's blood. It works, and Voldemort is given a new body which he proceeds to tap dance with ("To Dance Again"). Bellatrix Lestrange arrives and reminds Voldemort of their plan to frame Harry's murder on Quirrell. A betrayed Quirrell is upset, and although Voldemort attempts to apologize, Quirrell won't have any of it. Harry then grabs the ladle again and is transported back to the ball where he announces to everyone that Voldemort is back. Act 2 Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe that Voldemort is back, despite the fact that Voldemort has a vlog. Harry attempts to talk to Ron and Hermione about this but both are too concerned with their fight at the ball to care. Malfoy enters and mocks Harry again, while continuing to reference Pigfarts. Annoyed by him, Neville de-pants Draco, to everyone's amusement. Snape enters and orders Malfoy to leave, and Harry notices he now has a hook hand. Ginny comes up to talk to Harry about their kiss, but Harry says that they still can't be together. Dumbledore then comes up to Harry and tells him to meet him in his office later that night. Harry tries to tell Dumbledore about his suspicions that Snape is a Death Eater, but Dumbledore ignores him. Meanwhile, Snape is visiting Voldemort. He tells him that he's found a way to sneak Death Eaters into Hogwarts and brings in Malfoy to help. At first, Voldemort simply laughs at him, but Malfoy reveals he knows a foolproof way in: the vents. Malfoy, however, expects payment (specifically a rocket ship that will get him to Pigfarts). Malfoy and Voldemort make the Unbreakable Vow that Draco will sneak the Death Eaters in and kill Dumbledore, and Draco will receive his rocket ship (and Voldemort has to be his slave for the day). Harry, Ron and Hermione go to Dumbledore's office, which has a "boss Zac Efron poster" hanging in it. Dumbledore explains that Voldemort has created six horcruxes - but he's already destroyed five, and he gives them a convenient horcrux detector and the sword of Gryffindor to destroy the sixth. Just then, the Death Eaters enter, and Harry, Ron and Hermione hide under the Invisibility Cloak while Dumbledore attempts to use a disguise. Malfoy enters and tries to kill Dumbledore, but Dumbledore convinces him not to. Snape then enters and kills Dumbledore. A distraught Harry tells Ron and Hermione to leave him alone as he must defeat Voldemort on his own. Meanwhile, Voldemort kills the Minister (who still refuses to believe he's back) and takes over the Ministry. Bellatrix attempts to revive her relationship with Voldemort and have sex with him, but Voldemort prefers to sit back to back with her as he did with Quirrell, causing her to break up with him. Meanwhile, Harry pauses to reflect on Dumbledore, while Quirrell does the same about Voldemort in Azkaban ("Missing You"). Soon, Ginny finds Harry and tells him that Death Eaters are in the castle. Harry tells her to leave him alone as he can not do what is expected of him. Ginny then inspires him by reminding him that he has her to rely on, and they are joined by Ron and Hermione ("Not Alone"). Ginny then reveals she was able to find the group thanks to Malfoy, who regrets his previous actions. They are still mad at him but agree to let him help. The group splits up, with Ginny and Hermione going to get the Order of the Phoenix, while the boys find the last horcrux in Dumbledore's office. Before they leave Ron calls Hermione over to apologize about his behavior at the ball as he was jealous. He then kisses her and before long they are making out. The boys make their way into Dumbledore's office and realize that the sixth horcrux is the Zac Efron poster. The poster then turns into Voldemort and later Hermione, and tries to get Ron (who has the sword) to kill Harry instead of destroying the horcrux. Just as Ron appears to succumb, he stabs the poster. Harry and Ron share a moment. Bellatrix and the Death Eaters suddenly enter with a captured Hermione and Ginny. Snape arrives and reveals that he is a good guy, managing to free the girls from all of the Death Eaters except Bellatrix, who attacks Snape with a snake. Molly Weasley then enters, kills Bellatrix and exits just as suddenly as she arrived. A dying Snape reveals that there is actually a seventh horcrux: Harry. Realising he must die, Harry faces Voldemort, who kills him. In limbo, Dumbledore greets Harry and gives him the important information he knew the whole time but decided not to tell Harry. He then sends him back to life. Just then, Rumbleroar the lion enters and it is revealed that Dumbledore is, in fact, not really dead, but faking it so he can go to Pigfarts. Back at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione attempt to inspire the weary troops with a song ("Voldemort Is Going Down"). As they gain momentum, Harry returns. Voldemort enters and is shocked to see Harry alive. The two circle, and Harry asks him to feel remorse. Just as Voldemort about to feel remorse for Quirrell, he changes his mind. Harry, nevertheless, is able to defeat him. The students celebrate, and Ron sees Harry and Ginny kissing and gives them his blessing. The only remaining question is that of the House Cup's winner, and Neville answers this by bringing in Dumbledore's will, which states that Gryffindor won. In Azkaban, a Dementor sets Quirrell free and tells him Voldemort is dead. Quirrell is saddened until Voldemort arrives, revealing that he was able to survive because a part of his soul is in Quirrell's heart. The two make up ("Not Alone (reprise)"). Musical Numbers "Going Back to Hogwarts" - Harry and Company "Different as Can Be" - Voldemort and Quirrell "Cho's Song (Ginny Version)" - Harry "Harry" - Ginny "Different as Can Be (reprise)" - Voldemort and Quirrell "The Dragon Song" - Harry "Cho's Song" - Harry "Granger Danger" - Ron and Draco "To Dance Again" - Voldemort and Death Eaters "Missing You" - Harry and Quirrell "Not Alone" - Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione "Voldemort is Going Down" - Ron, Hermione and Students "Not Alone (Reprise)" - Company Success Since posting the play on YouTube, the stars of "A Very Potter Musical" have achieved a spot in the Potter fandom. Comments for language translations on the YouTube channel are common and the cast have said that many times people they meet will request translations. While others have also requested for the script in order to create other performances, StarKid Productions is hesitant due to the legal matters and how others might mistakenly take advantage. As for the sheet music, the musicians never actually wrote the music down. Many nights, some of the music was even improvised during performances. <ref name="WZRD Wizard Rock Station Interview" /> Several of the more popular cast members have even attracted their own fans. "I think I've been unofficially married to a number of people," explained Darren Criss.<ref name="io9.com Inside Secrets Of The Harry Potter Musical" /> The StarKidPotter channel received online recognition from YouTube for being the second most subscribed to in a month. <ref name="StarKidPotter's YouTube channel" /> References and See Also
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