Saturday, December 28, 2024

Scottish Accent for the Win!

Our local high school was very fortunate this year to be the first theater in the state of Utah to win the lottery for permission to produce the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling's play about the children of Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Auditions for this show happened just the 2nd week of school and Emma of course was all-in.

Something I haven't ever mentioned, I don't think, is the fact that both of my daughters are bizarrely talented in the department of accents. Both of them have been able to speak in a very convincing Scottish accent since the time they were in grade school. They can do all sorts of other accents from around the British Isles and Europe, but Scottish is definitely their strong suit. My brother Peter is also like this, and funny enough, he's also a musician. As soon as the theater teacher announced what the fall play would be, I had a hunch about what part Emma would be playing, and I wasn't wrong.

Minerva McGonagall, of course!

I was able to help with the production of this play exactly zero hours. As previously mentioned, my free-time is currently almost non-existent so, sorry! What that meant was that I had NO idea what the plot was of this show, or what any of the magical tricks were or how they were performed. Opening night was the week after Halloween, and I didn't know what to expect.

Here's what I loved about the play. First of all, Emma! She made a wonderful Minerva, and did just a fantastic job. She nailed that accent and was so funny in the role. Second, there were really fun magical feats that I don't actually know how they did. And Emma has refused to tell me. People disappeared, brooms and time-turners floated through the air, smoke billowed and sparks flew. Oh and the dementor puppets - truly both beautiful and really scary. And also I just loved the music. The play is not a musical, but it has some music in it like a soundtrack, written especially for the play, and it's so beautiful. I hope I can track it down at some point. 

Emma got a lot of rave reviews from people who came to see it. She really is a great little actress. And boy can she pull off that accent. This show was so well done. It was definitely still a high-school production, but I'm so grateful for the wonderful teacher, Mick, as he is called by the students, for his skill at putting together great productions. Next is The Little Mermaid, and I'm so looking forward to it. 





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