The car is the star! (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - The Musical)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - The Musical
Date:	26/09/09 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: very enjoyable show

Disadvantages: expensive

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of those wonderful family musical films that I grew up with and remember fondly from my childhood! It is such a lovely story and film that a while ago I bought the DVD for my daughters and they absolutely fell in love with it too! When I discovered that the touring production was coming to our local theatre - The New Victoria, Woking - I really wanted us to go and see it. However, looking into prices for reasonable seats I discovered that for the four of us to go, it would cost in excess of £120 which for only a couple of hours entertainment is very expensive. Therefore, I decided not to bother. That was until last week, when an email came from the theatre saying that for the second Monday and Tuesday performances, all children accompanied by an adult would go free. That is how, for half the price we originally expected to pay, we found ourselves in Woking last week watching this wonderful show!

For those of you who don't know the story, it is about an old racing car. At the start of the show, it is a state of dreadful disrepair until young Jeremy and Jemima Potts persuade their inventor father to buy it. Caractacus Potts does the car up in his workshop and eventually there emerges a gleaming shining star which they take out for a drive. On their way they notice that the car has very particular sounds - there's a chitty, chitty followed by a bang - which is how the car gets its name of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They travel to the seaside but along the way run into a very rich and beautiful lady - Truly Scrumptious - who becomes their friends. Chitty is no ordinary car though and attracts the attention of Baron Bombast of Vulgaria. His men go to all sorts of measures to capture the car and in order to get away, Chitty first turns into a floating car and then a magical flying car!

The family fly to Vulgaria to rescue their Grandpa who has been captured but it soon becomes apparent that no children are allowed in Vulgaria, and Jeremy and Jemima fall victim to the villainous childcatcher! All sorts happen to rescue Grandpa and the children and at the heart of the action and playing no less a part than any person is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

We really did enjoying watching the stage version of the film and I did think that it worked very well. I wondered how they were going to get a car to float and then to fly, but they did and I still haven't worked out how! The effect of the car flying was very magical and exciting to the girls and they could hardly believe their eyes!

There were not any well known names starring in the touring version but that does not take away from any of the truly professional performances. Everyone was very good although, personally, I did not like the way that the character of Truly Scrumptious came across. I have to mention the performances of the two children who starred as they were absolutely superb. There are four sets of children who appear, but if they are all as good as the two we saw you would be in for a treat! I was a bit scared that the Childcatcher may prove a bit too scary for my youngest daughter, and although he is quite nasty, he does not appear for long and she did not seem to be too bothered by him - thanks goodness!

Obviously, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a musical and I loved hearing all the songs that I enjoyed in the film. They are not all included though, and there are a couple of new numbers as well which were very good. It was also a bit of fun when it was the Baron's birthday party that it had a bit of a Brazilian theme and all of the guests were dancing the Salsa.

I think that the film transferred very well to the stage. There was enough of the original to satisfy any CCBB diehards but the new additions gave it a sense of originality too. The costumes, the dancing, the music, the special effects were all brilliant and there was a great atmosphere in the theatre with most people clapping along to the well known numbers. This went on all the way to the curtain call and it was great to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang take her place amongst all the actors as she really was the star of the show!

Our daughters, along with loving this show, loved the whole theatre experience. I would love to take them much more but it is just so expensive! I shall definitely be on the lookout for more special offers like the one that enabled us all to see this great show!

Summary: A lovely family show!