Although “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” did not play until 12:05 a.m. Wednesday, Carina Teoh arrived early to make sure she was the first in line.
“We got here at 9:15 in the morning, before the doors opened,” Teoh said.
Half-Blood Prince a hit
Carina Teoh, 15, waits with her mother, Peggy, right, at 2:30 p.m. as they pass hour five of their wait to see the midnight showing of “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince” at NCG Eastwood Cinemas 2500 Showtime Drive, in Lansing. Teoh arrived before the cinema opened to be the first person in line. “It’s a sentimental thing,” Carina said of her choice to wait in line for roughly 15 hours to be first. “It’s something I will tell my grandkids about when they start reading the books.”
The film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s sixth book in the popular series about the life of a boy wizard premiered Wednesday and the lines of eager fans at NCG Eastwood Cinemas, 2500 Showtime Drive, in Lansing, stretched out into the street and wrapped around both sides of the building.
Waiting and anticipating
For Teoh, a 15-year-old Okemos resident, Harry Potter is more than a fad. Teoh, who first began reading the series at age 6, said the books and their characters have made a big impact on her.
“The story is just amazing, there’s so much relatability, even if I can’t do magic,” she said.
“Harry Potter is just such a big part of my life and to be able to say that I was first in line for the movie is kind of a special experience.”
Peggy Teoh, Carina’s mother, said she was onboard with her daughter’s request to get in line early. Peggy said she also is a fan of the books and that the closest thing she can relate the Harry Potter craze to was the Beatlemania of her youth.
“That was just sitting around listening to records,” she said.
During the almost 15 hours of waiting for the film to show, the group stayed occupied by rereading Harry Potter books, playing cards and watching movies.
Dressed to impress
Shelby Goss, a resident of Charlevoix who came to see the film with friends, wore the costume of the Harry Potter character, professor Sybill Trelawney.
“Well, we were coming so early and it just makes it better if you’re in costume,” Goss said.
The night was special for Goss because the film, which began just after midnight, premiered on her 19th birthday.
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“It makes my birthday,” Goss said.
Some theatergoers who were attending films other than Harry Potter, were caught off guard by the crowds of fans.
The fans wearing capes and robes were particularly surprising to Spenser Price, a construction management senior.
“I mean it’s not something I would do, but I guess to each their own,” Price said. “I completely forgot (the movie) was coming out and when we turned the corner the lines were around the door.”
Price said some costumes in particular caught his attention.
“There’s some girls that are dressed up like Harry Potter that look pretty good,” he said.
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Preparing for Potter
Pat O’Boyle, promotions and marketing manager for NCG Eastwood Cinemas, said the theater anticipated the crowds of fans and was well-prepared to handle them, no matter the size of the crowd.
Establishing lines early and making sure all concessions were stocked helped the theater handle the large crowd.
“(The theater staff) did a great job; they sold out as many theaters as they possibly could and then they added a 3 a.m. show to try and accommodate the individuals we could fit into the shows,” O’Boyle said.
O’Boyle said the crowds might have been record breaking.
“This was the largest open that we’ve ever had at this building, I believe,” O’Boyle said.
Understanding the spell
Jeffrey Wray, an English professor who specializes in film studies, said although he is not a Harry Potter fanatic, the craze has made its way into his life.
“I’m a little bit biased because I have kids that read Harry Potter,” Wray said.
“I was actually dropping off my one son at the 12:05 showing last night and I saw the hordes and hordes and hordes of Harry Potterites.”
Wray attributes Potter’s popularity in part to its embrace of imagination. As a filmmaker who has adapted written works and as a professor who teaches a course about adaptation, Wray said he is interested in the fans’ views of the films versus the text in the seven books.
“I think (fans) seem to look at it a little bit differently,” Wray said. “I think they, they seem to accept the movie as, in some ways, an addendum to the book.”
Wray said he feels the book and films are judged independently of one another.
“(The fans are) not judging the movies necessarily based on the book,” Wray said.
“They’re judging the movie kind of as a … larger part of the whole Harry Potter universe.”
When compared to the opinions of Harry Potter fan Conor Dyer-Symonds, an East Lansing resident, Wray’s analysis seems to be fairly accurate.
“(The screenwriter) took a lot of liberties with the book and I actually really liked them,” Dyer-Symonds said.
“When you’re condensing a huge book like that into a movie … it’s a really hard job to do,” he said.
Carina Teoh said the movie was worth the long wait.
“I thought it was absolutely brilliant,” she said. “It was a decent amount different from the book, but I think for the film it worked.”
