Pillsbury Press: London: Harry Potter

Sunday, January 18, 2026

London: Harry Potter

Sunday was a quiet day for us. I looked into finding a church service, but the ones I found started at 11 am and would last "about an hour." With a 1 pm curtain time to see "Harry Potter," I was afraid the timing would be too tight, especially since we wanted to eat first.

After COVID, Broadway took the two-part "Harry Potter" production and turned it into a 3.5 hour version. We took Yoran to see it when he lived with us. At the time Don said he wanted to see the original version to see if it filled in any gaps for him. London seems to be the only place still showing the two-part version.

After a long line for security, we entered the Palace Theater for the 1 pm part one. We left around 3:45 pm and were told to return at 6 pm for the second part. That ended around 8:30. Even for me, that is a lot of time spent in the theater.

I'm a "in the room where it happens" kind of theater going, so our seats were pretty far up, at least they were centered. At our knees were binoculars we could rent for a pound. Unfortunately, we did not have any British money. Attempts to take some out of ATMs were denied either by the ATM, or by Don scoffing at the fees. Other than this time, we could charge every other transaction. I will add that now that mass transit accepts credit cards, it is so much easier traveling by credit card. Missed opportunity. Then again, I could have brought my binoculars from home.

The show was well done (of course). In the end, Don said the play did not take away from his confusion. He read the first three books many years ago, and has not seen any of the movies. I read the entire series years ago, but did not watch the movie. It is the basic quest plot of pitting good against evil. Try to remember who is good and who is evil, and enjoy the magic acts. It is pure entertainment.

Inside Leicester Square are iconic characters from West End shows. I enjoyed playing guess the show before reading the plaque. Some were easy (such as Mary Poppins), but some, such as Bridget Jones, were a challenge. I really do have a soft spot for public art.

Between shows we visited London's largest LEGO store in Leicester Square and got some really good gelato. I didn't feel the two hour gap was long enough for dinner, though I'm sure many others disagreed with me. After the show we went to a pub for dinner. I hadn't factored in that though the pub was open until 10:30, the kitchen might close earlier. We were able to order dinner with a couple of minutes to spare thanks to the barkeep who let us know the kitchen was closing in six minutes.

UPDATE: On January 28 it was announced London will switch to the one show Broadway version on October 6, 2026. The last day for the two part version will be September 20, 2026. Glad we went when we did. The Palace Theater is the perfect venue for Hogwarts.