Awesome Adaptations (6) - A Very Potter Musical

Awesome Adaptations is a weekly bookish meme, hosted at Alisa Selene’s books blog, Picturemereading.  Anyone can play along! Each week there is a new category of adaptation to blog about. Any format (television series, film, web series, etc.) is acceptable as long as it is based in some form on a book. If you’re playing along on your own blog, just mention Picturemereading in your post and include the banner above. Let them know which film you’d pick and why it is an awesome adaptation worth watching. Oh, and don’t forget to share the link to your own post in the comments for that week’s challenge so that everyone can read your thoughts!

An awesomely funny adaptation

Picture source: FortyTwoistheAnswer

Title: A Very Potter Musical

Adapted from The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

I’ll see my friends, gonna laugh til we cry
Take my firebolt, gonna take to the sky
No way this year anyone’s gonna die
And it’s gonna be totally awesome!

This musical was produced by college students at the University of Michigan in 2009 and comically interprets the world of Harry Potter, parodying different aspects of different books to create a very cohesive version of a year in the life of Harry (Freakin’!) Potter. I love this musical so much because of the catchy and fun songs, and the wonderfully hilarious versions of all the characters. My favorite song is “Granger Danger”, a duet between Ron and Draco who are struggling with their feelings for Hermoine.

There is so much to love in this musical, that I am afraid I can’t do it justice. I love how they took the idiosyncrasies of the characters and exaggerated them - Hermoine is truly a buzz kill when it comes to encouraging Harry and Ron to study and do well in class, Draco is so whiny and whimpy that he (or she, as he is played by a girl - fantastically I might add) literally flops around on the ground, Snape is outrageously sinister and unfair, and Dumbledore is so cool that he walks around in bermuda shorts and has a thing for Zac Efron. The relationships between Harry and Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, and even Voldemort and Quirrell (the ultimate odd couple) are highlighted in this musical and even through the laughs it’s heartwarming and touching. Even with Voldemort! It’s a fantastic balance between story, comedy and music and although it’s a parody, it’s also an homage to the great characters and stories and friendships that J.K. Rowling created in her amazing books. I can only say that this musical is “totally awesome!”

You can watch the whole musical on Youtube!

And bonus that some of the students in this production have gone on to become TV actors - I especially love Darren Criss (Harry Potter) as Blaine now on Glee!