NEW YORK – I never thought they could make a successful comedy out of the “Harry Potter” books. So, when Concertus, Inc. asked if I could watch it at the Little Shubert Theatre along 42nd St. on July 1, it was out of curiosity more than anything that made me say, why not?

I chose the matinee show at 3 p.m. since my daughter-in-law Brenda and I would be commuting from Queens Village to Manhattan and we wouldn’t want to go home late at night. Little Shubert Theatre was, like its name “little” compared to the other theatres in Broadway. But it was packed with an enthusiastic audience, consisting of people of all ages.

There were only two of them in the cast but they made that 70 minutes worth the while of everyone in the audience. Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, they are British actors, were remarkably funny in their antics and dialogues and they kept us enthralled all throughout the show.

When we watched “Potted Potter,” it was already going on its fourth week and has been drawing full-packed audience everyday. In fact, the show earned the prestigious New York Times Critic Pick Designation. It actually got a second rave review in New York Times, this time with some Manhattan middle-schoolers giving it the raves, capped by their agreeing unanimously at the end of the performance that the parody that “Potted Potter” is a must-see!

It was in 2005 when Dan and Jeff were asked to create a five-minute show recapping the plots of the first five “Potter” books. It was to entertain the long queues of fans waiting for the midnight release of the sixth “Potter” book.

In 2006, “Potted Potter” was expanded into an hour show in which the six books were parodied. It premiered on Aug. 4, 2006 at Edinburgh’s Zoo Southside venue. In October that year, Dan and Jeff entered into partnership with producer James Seabright and director Dominic Knutton, and they premiered a new version of the show at Pleasance Islington.

In 2007, under the guidance of director Richard Hurst, the show toured the UK including Pleasance Edinburgh where the seventh “Potter” book was incorporated just a few days after its release.

The tour culminated with a Christmas run at Trafalgar Studios in London. In 2008, Dan and Jeff also launched their second show, “Potted Pirates.”

Because they have commitments as Children’s BBC presenters, Dan and Jeff haned over the show to a new cast, David Ahmad and John Helier (they will be the stars of “Potted Potter” when it will be shown at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium RCBC Plaza in Ayala Ave., Makati City on Aug. 28 to Sept. 2) when they went to tour Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and New Zealand Comedy Festival.

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GMA Show’s Cast Visits Cebu

Geoff Eigenmann, Jennica Garcia, Bobby Andrews, Bubbles Paraiso, and Michael De Mesa spent an afternoon with Kapusong Cebuanos recently for the promotional tour of GMA Network’s top-rating Afternoon Prime drama “Kasalanan Bang Ibigin Ka?”

The cast first visited Brgy. Lorega and Brgy. T. Padilla for a meet and greet with their fans. A Kapuso Mall Show later followed that day where Geoff, Jennica, Bobby, Bubbles, and Michael were met by an estimated crowd of 5,000, all very eager to have a glimpse of their favorite stars.

Playing the role of Jaime in the Kapuso drama, Michael shares how it is working with his real-life son, Geoff: “We both are very happy and excited to be working together because this is a different setting for us.”

The highlights of the “Kasalanan Bang Ibigin Ka?” Cebu promo tour can be seen in “Let’s Fiesta” TV Special on July 22 airing via the Network’s regional stations in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Dagupan, CDO, GenSan, Naga, Bacolod, and Ilocos.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today, July 22, go to Ma. Theresa Llamedo (a.k.a. Dulce), Susan Valdez, Mita Rufino, Nela Legaspi, Yvette Bautista, Mimi Valero, Estela Lazo Diongzon, Jean Cua, Anne Therese N. Clarino, Herminio A. Frias, Deanna Loreta Basilio-Bernardo, Dan Calleja, Jane Oineza, Christopher “Niño” Alejandro, Mrs. Mary Cerrada of East Fairview and singer OJ Mariano…