Harry Potter as a musical?

July 6, 12:23 PMLA Theater Reviews ExaminerJana J. Monji

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Harry Potter as a musical isn't just a thought in some Broadway producer's head. A few versions have already made their way to the Internet: from just the lyrics and borrowing music from already famous Broadway musicals to a complete musical parody. There's even a dedicated YouTube channel: StarKidPotter. So before you go to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," check out these Web sites for Potter parodies.

Did you love "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"? So did Caius Marcius who made a musical based on the operetta "H.M.S. Pinafore" by Gilbert and Sullivan called "H.M.S. Dumbledore." To the chorus of "We Sail the Ocean Blue" the wizards and witches sing:

We're bereft of You-Know-Who,
Let's commence a celebration!
Spread the news by owl and Floo
All throughout the Magic nation.
As our Dedalus D.
Impetuously
Shoots stars through the sky all day
We will dance through the town
In our Wizarding gowns
To rejoice on LV's last day!

Caius Marcius, which seems like a pseudonym if there ever was one, has it copyrighted in 2004 and 2006 with revisions and additional lyrics by James Patterson. The famous exchange in "My Gallant Crew, Good Morning" 

"What, never?"

"No, never!"

"What, never?"

"Well, hardly ever!

becomes:

DUMBLEDORE
Promotion of Dark Arts
I'll never, never start
Not even if in shades of gray
I'm noble, they all cry,
'Cause I'd never stoop to try
A wicked spell like an AK-
ALL
Did Sever?
DUMBLEDORE
Not ever!
ALL
What, never?
DUMBLEDORE
Well, rarely ever!

Caisu Marcius also wrote: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Chamber" based on Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Written in 2004, this is, of course, a musical about "Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets."

I'm not sure what Sondheim would think of the lyrics like this:

DOBBY:
In the Chamber a Phoenix flies
Brave and vibrant and pure
With a song that all heroes prize
Can he ram the Chamber?
Sure!

These are filks. What is a filk? I'm not sure and I'm not sure that filkers know themselves. One of their activities is taking music and changing the lyrics to go with a science fiction or fantasy storyline. In this case, we have a lot of people filking Harry Potter.

Caius Marcius has a long list of musicals for Harry Potter including "Potter! - The Musical" which is based on Lionel Vart's "Oliver!" (which is itself based on the novel "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens).

Dumbledore sings "Consider Yourself":

Consider yourself at home
Consider yourself one of the family
We hope that you not roam
The hallways forbidden to all but some
Consider yourself well in
Consider yourself part of the furniture
A lot of it is alive
Oh well, with caution you will survive

If it should chance to be
You should see
A ghost a around
They will most abound
Watch out!
Always a chance you'll be chased around by Mister Peeves
He will tattle, scream, and shout!
Consider yourself our mate
We don't want to have no fuss
For after some consideration we can state
Consider yourself one of us!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (In the U.S. it was "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")

• "H.M.S. Dumbledore" - Based on Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore."
• "Potter! - The Musical" - Based on Lionel Bart's "Oliver!" by JustLivePosthumously.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• "The Chamber Man" - Based on Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man." By JustLivePosthumously.
• "Chamber of Secrets" - Based on the Alan Menkin and Howard Ashman musical "The Little Shop of Horrors" by Salazar.
• "A Funny Thing Happen on the Way to the Chamber" - Marcius. Based on Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
• "The Phantom of the Diary" - Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." Also written by Salazar.
• "Hogwarts Musical" - Based on, what else? Disney's "High School Musical." Filk written by SchmergoWeasley.
• "Merlin Rouge" - Based on Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge." Written by Gail.
• "The Sound of Magic" - Based on Rodger and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music." By Veresna Ussep.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• "Brink O'Doom" - Another Marcius musical based on Lerner and Loewe's "Brigadoon."
• "My Fair Harry" - Another Lerner and Loewe musical, "My Fair Lady," becomes the base for JustLivePosthumously's filk.
• "Harry" - Based on Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan's "Annie." By Veresna Ussep.
• "A Sirius Story" - Nelsongirl used Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" for this one.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• "A!Kedavra" - Caius Marcius using Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"
• "Harry, Get Your Wand" - JustLivingPosthumously using Irving Berlin's "Annie, Get your Gun."
• "Tournament of Horrors" - Gail using "The Little Shop of Horrors."
• "Tri-Wiz Tourney" - By Cormac Slughorn using "Bye, Bye Birdie." You'd think "The Wiz" would be a natural when you see this title.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• "At 12 Grimmauld Place" - By Haggridd. Based on "42nd Street."
• "Crazy But True" - By JustLivePosthumously based on George and Ira Gershwin's "Crazy for you."
• "Harry and Lord V" - By Schmergo Weasley. Based on Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."
• "Hogwarts Story" - By Wendy using "West Side Story."
• "How to Succeed Against Baseness without even Dying" - Marcius. Based on Frank Loesser's "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying."
• "The Order" - By Salazar based on Kander and Ebb's "Chicago."
• "The Phoenix of the Order" - By SchmergoWeasley. Based on "Phantom of the Opera."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• "Chosen One - Half-blood Prince" - By The Dark Evil. Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar."
• "Harry and the Amazing 50 percent Blood Turncoat" - By Marcius. Based on Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
• "Les Magiciens" - By Murasaki.  Based on Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer's "Les Miserables."
• "The Prince Loser" - By Salazar. Based on Mel Brooks "The Producers."
• "Rent" - By BellatrixLestrange. Based on Jonathan Larson's "Rent."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• "Crux" - By Marcius. Based on "Chess" written by Tim Rice (lyrics) and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson
• "Hallows Dead" - By Salazar. Based on "Evil Dead! The Musical." This is a Canadian musical with music by Christopher Bond, Frank Cipola, Melissa Morris, George Reinblatt and book and lyrics by Reinblatt.

More information along with the lyrics are available on the Harry Potter Filks personal Web page.

StarKidPotter Channel is where a fan produced, non-commercial parody of Harry Potter, "A Very Potter Musical," can be viewed. The show was written and produced this year, 2009, by college students and recent grads. It ran for three nights with five performances. Darren Criss plays Harry. Criss and A.J. Holmes wrote the songs. The scripts was by Matt Lang (who also directed), Nick Lang and Brian Holden. Criss is apparently originally from San Francisco, but now hangs around Ann Arbor.

This is a parody and Ron Weasley (Joey Richter) is much less cloddish than in the movie. Cho Chang, is, well, not who you expect. Draco is also a bit of a surprise. Some of the music is good (and it's original). If the videos aren't there, check out their Facebook fan page.

For related articles on Harry Potter:

Harry Potter Filks: The word wizards

A note to Emma Watson

Harry Potter tango?