The off-Broadway play Puffs is launching a series of Wizard Nights in the next month, where performances of the play will be followed by wizard rock concerts or staged readings of other shows in the Puffs universe.
Puffs, or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic is a play that parodies the Harry Potter books by following three of the Hufflepuffs in Harry’s year: Wayne Hopkins (Zac Moon), Megan Jones (Julie Ann Earls), and Oliver Rivers (Langston Belton). The trio forms a strong friendship, and tries to get a magical education (and not last place in the House Cup) as things at Hogwarts get increasingly chaotic. It currently plays at the Elektra Theatre on weekends.
The playwright, Matt Cox, has written parodies of other Potter properties – Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts – and the cast of Puffs will do staged readings of those parodies following certain performances, a free add-on for those who attend the performance in question.
We have already seen the Cursed Child parody, Nineteen Years Later Or; There And Back Again: A Puffs Tale Parts 1 & 3, when a reading of it was done in August, four days after the script was released. It concerns the son of two of the Puffs, and how he gets embroiled in the mess of a Potter kid at school just like his parents did. Along the way, there are some interesting musings on identity as a Puff versus as a Brave (Gryffindor).
Those who love Puffs – and we’ve yet to meet a Potter fan who doesn’t – will love Nineteen Years Later, which is infinitely better written than the play it parodies. Nineteen Years Later will be performed on three Fridays: January 13, January 20, and February 3.
The Fantastic Beast parody will be a world premiere, and we are as excited as anyone. Dude, Where’s My Fantastic Beast? Or; 30 Short Films About Magical New York In 1926 When A Puff Came For A Quick Visit And The Disaster That Followed Film 1 of 5 promises to be a good time, and we’re interested in seeing how Matt Cox tackles a story that already has a Hufflepuff protagonist.
The press release gives the synopsis: “A surprise dark wizard running rampant across Europe, rising tensions in the American wizard community, strange haircuts, a man who just wants to open a bakery, beasts who may or may not be fantastical, and lots of twenties jargon all chaotically collide when an awkward British zoologist tries to take a trip to Arizona.” There will only be two readings of Dude, Where’s My Fantastic Beast?, on Sunday January 15 and Friday January 27.
Interspersed with the readings will be wizard rock concerts featuring some of the absolute best bands on the scene. On Sunday, January 22nd, there will be a performance by a VIP (Very Important Puff), Tonks and the Aurors. Those who want to hear more from Astoria Greengrass can listen to the sexy songs of Swish and Flick on Saturday, January 28. And Wizard Nights will conclude on the weekend of February 4/5 with performances by Draco and the Malfoys.
There’s no better time to see Puffs than in the next month, when you can get an extra play or a wizard rock concert for free! To buy tickets, go to Puffs the Play’s website.
Will you be seeing any of the Wizard Nights?
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