Justin -
The last of the Potter Musicals by Starkid Productions, AVPSY is truly a delight and wraps the trilogy fantastically.Harry Potter, played by Darren Criss, is back for one last round of stardom during his Senior year at Hogwarts. He is joined by his friends Ron and Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger as they unfold the mystery behind the Chamber of Secrets. Harry's resolve will be tested as he struggles and faces the greatest challenge of his life thus far and what that may be may not be apparent at first.Before you watch AVPSY, there are a couple of pre-reqs that you must fulfill in order to get the most out of this gem. First, it requires that you have a decent knowledge of the events in the Harry Potter series. The second is being familiar with last two installments of the trilogy or you will be missing out on some of the jokes and find yourself quite confused.The reader should note that AVPSY is a script reading and not a polished play. Given incredibly stringent time-restraints and location, Darren Criss was not able to rehearse with the rest of the Starkids actors/actresses. Still it is very impressive that he manages to find time in his busy schedule to pull this off, given all his obligations to Glee. Although fans of the Potter musical series may initially find that the script reading annoying, the magic is still present and ever as strong. In addition, last-second improvs may be even more entertaining than the original script.The script/plot is probably the strongest of the three Potter musicals. AVPSY is a more well-developed bildungsroman than the first two installments and one that every person can relate to in some level. The characters, especially Harry, seem much more real because of this.What I found most disappointing about the play are the songs. I found the original melodies of AVPSY to be sub-par in quality compared to the first two Potter musicals. I did not find them to be memorable and with the exception of maybe one original song, did not evoke an emotion in me as strong as AVPM or AVPS.With all this said, I hope the reader finds AVPSY as enjoyable as I did. It truly is awesome and Darren Criss fans will find him supermegafoxyawesomehot.
