Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Review

Watermill Theatre, Newbury

****

Written by Ian Fleming
Music & lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Directed by Paul Hart

Me Ol' Bamboo danced in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

It is bold and visionary to stage Chitty Chitty Bang Bang within the intimate confines of the Watermill’s 200-seater auditorium, but much like the magic that transforms the car in Ian Fleming’s classic story, so too has Paul Hart’s production of the show spread its wings in one of the most gloriously imaginative productions to be seen this year.

Christian Edwards plays Caractacus Potts, the widowered inventor who has clearly been an inspirational and principled, if somewhat maverick, father to children Jeremy and Jemimah. On the night of this review the Potts kids were played by Francis Adams and Auora Breslin who were both flawless in their portrayal of these cute kids who are wise beyond their years.

The show’s classic love story is the understated romance that blossoms between Caractacus and the confectionery heiress Truly Scrumptious (Lydia Louise) and it is a credit to this production that the tender humanity that sits at the core of the story is so delightfully picked out. Without veering into cheesy sentimentality, the strong familial love that binds the Potts clan together is beautifully portrayed.

Even more remarkably, not only was the versatile Edwards the face behind West End Producer, a man with whom I shared many an interval conversation over the years, but Louise is making her professional debut in this show. Based on the quality of this performance, a stunning career awaits her.

The show’s carefully crafted comedy is top-notch. Sam Pay as Boris and Alexander Zane as Goran, the two bungling Vulgarian spies, have honed their timing to perfection. And from a musical perspective Zane, the onstage MD in this actor-musician show, delivers some exquisite percussion on the glockenspiel during act two’s Doll On a Music Box. The other half of the evening’s hilarity is delivered by Samuel Morgan-Grahame as Baron Bomburst and Mairi Ikegami as his wife, the Baroness. These two nail their lampoonery to perfection, taking the scripts gags that, like a pantomime, are aimed at both the young and the not-so-young in the audience and delivering them immaculately.

The star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will always be, to use the vernacular, a car that’s more than spectacular, and the Katie Lias's designs for the Watermill do not disappoint. In a neat turn of staging that sees the audience de-camped half way through act one into a fairground marquee for a choreographed treat of Me Ol' Bamboo, on returning to the theatre, the magically powered car has been brought on stage and hidden under dustsheets (think of that chandelier in Phantom…). And of course, as the story unfolds, the car first drives, then takes to the sea, before finally, before our eyes, soaring into the skies with the Potts family and Truly all aboard.

Fabulous family theatre!

Runs until 13th September

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Review

New Wimbledon Theatre, London


****


Written by Ian Fleming
Music & lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Directed by James Brining

Lee Mead and Carrie Hope Fletcher

There's an aura of timeless quality that pervades the touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, currently in its second week at Wimbledon. Ian Fleming's wonderfully imaginative tale, so quintessentially English, married to the universal appeal of the Sherman Brothers' songs has made for a 20th century fairy tale that ranks alongside the classics.

Notwithstanding it being a warm July evening, the New Wimbledon theatre was filled by a generation-straddling audience. And in a production that makes intelligent use of projected graphics, there's a wholesome accessibility to the tour that makes it both affordable and reachable across the country - a pleasing contrast to the eye-watering ticket prices of so many West End shows.

The current cast are a delight. Lee Mead is the handsome widowered single dad - getting by with his crackpot inventions and instilling in his kids a decent sense of right and wrong and above all a belief in the power of imagination - and in that way, much like Peter Pan, a good production of Chitty (and this is a very good production) can speak to the child in all of us. Mead has his faithful following, but his take on Caractacus Potts' signature melodies (Hushabye Mountain, poignantly enhanced by the appearance of his late wife) is powerful and assured.

Opposite Mead, Carrie Hope Fletcher is Truly Scrumptious and who in a real life tale of theatrical romance was herself the young Jemima Potts when the stage show first opened at the London Palladium. As ever, Fletcher brings an ethereal charm to the role. Exquisite vocals - and what a delight to see the movie's Lovely Lonely Man, a song dropped from the stage show until now, restored (albeit now set in the Toymaker's workshop) to the libretto. And of course her doll impersonation with immaculate robotics and enchanting lyrics in Doll On A Music Box is as faultless as one might expect.

Stephen Mear's choreography gorgeously enhances the piece, with his work on the larger routines (The Bombie Samba and some fun tap work in Me Ol' Bamboo particularly excellent) being perfectly drilled visual treats. But it is his styling of (Matt Gillett as) the Childcatcher's entrapment of the Potts kids, that so evokes Robert Helpmann's terrifying cameo in the movie, and further defines Mear's remarkable calibre.

The supporting cast add just enough pantomime to the mix. Andy Hockley is a convincing Grandpa Potts and there's some well performed comic bungling from Sam Harrison and Scott Paige as Boris and Goran the Vulgarian spies. And it's an Albert Square dream team that currently pairs Shaun Wlliamson opposite Michelle Collins (both comic and talented actors par excellence) as the Baron and Baroness Bombast. And when one recalls that Chitty was written long before Britain joined the EEC (the EU's precursor) - there's almost a hint of wise prescience in Fleming's writing: Bombast for Juncker? Stranger things....

But as a familiar, family escape from some ghastly world affairs there's truly nothing better than this show. Down in the pit Andrew Hilton's orchestra make fine work of the Shermans' ditties, whilst onstage (and to use the vernacular) that iconic, fantasmagorical car - and yes, it really does fly - will have the kids wide-eyed in awe. The spontaneous standing ovation at the curtain call spoke volumes. Just go!

At Wimbledon until 30th July, then continuing on tour