Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I am sure many people who have seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will say this could never be done by amateurs as it would be far too technical and costly to do, well they had not reckoned with Manor Operatic Society and how they do shows.

From the start this show was brilliant from every angle, the sets, costumes and of course the actors on stage were without exception fantastic.

In the lead role as Caractacus Potts was James Smith who could have stepped out of the film of this show, in fact that is not true as James was in my mind far better than Dick Van Dyke who also has a pseudo British accent when he does films of this sort but James had the perfect accent for his character and he was able to sing, dance and act his way through the scores of songs this part requires. Accompanying James on stage was Emma Flanagan-Holmes as Truly Scrumptious and she really lived up to her character name. Emma, as James was perfect was able to bring this part to life, I particularly enjoyed their characterisations as toys for the Emperor’s Birthday Party when she was a musical box dancer and he was a rag doll.

As the children of Caractacus Potts were George Henderson as Jeremy and Evie May Bradford as Jemima, these two were exceptional and enjoyed by the entire audience especially when they joined with James to sing You Two, and from what I have heard Joe Davies and Amy Nugent who played these parts on alternate performances where equally as good.

Completing the family line up as Grandpa Potts was Robert Spink who again was perfect in every way and was the absolute epitome of Lionel Jeffries who of course played this role in the film; however this should not detract from the Robert’s performance which was brilliant.

As we all know there are two spies in this piece who are trying to steal the car for Baron Bomburst, played by Simon Hance, who together with Emily Mae Hoyland proved to be a cracking double act, their rendition of Chu Chi Face almost brought the house down. I mentioned the two spies, Boris and Goran played by Chris |Hanlon and Digory Holmes respectively. Each time these two came on their costumes were more and more outlandish than in their previous entrance and their acting was equally outlandish never once either of them letting their characters slip and the whole audience loved them.

Also playing a cracking part was Liam Gordon as The Child Catcher; Liam made this part his own as he skulked around the stage and you could really imagine him creepily catching the children for whatever reason. Also worth a mention was Gary Rossiter as the Toy Maker, he was a really friendly old gent who you could imagine all the children loving as he made their toys.

There are many good numbers in this show and I have mentioned a few above but mention must also be made of Toot Sweets which took place in the sweet factory and had the entire company enjoying themselves on stage. It is also true of the number Me Ol’ Bamboo where all the guys on stage danced around the fun fair as Morris Men complete with their sticks to deliver a very intricate number with ease.

This show was a complete team effort which was loved by the entire audience and I am sure a show which will go down in the history of amateur theatre not only in Sheffield but in the whole of the NODA North East region. A special mention must also go to Chitty herself of course and I was extremely pleased to meet the guy who had built her and a great job he did too, I think everyone was very excited when she flew which really was the icing in the cake.

Many congratulations to everyone involved and especially to Richard Bradford as Director, Linda Kelly, Choreographer, Andrew Collis Musical Director and Matthew Symonds as Assistant MD.

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