Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I loved the show and the production overall, such an iconic musical, with lots of fun, but also good musical numbers, performed well. The show relies a lot on the car, which worked extremely well, and got a round of applause both nights I saw the show!  Congratulations to everyone involved for taking on such a large project and delivering it to such a high standard.

When the band struck up the overture, I was immediately engaged with the beautiful sound, very melodious, but with plenty of emphasis.  Peter Allanson had got together a small but very experienced group, who were probably very excited to be playing something different.

Julia Rufey gave us a nicely directed production overall, however I felt some scenes would have benefitted from being more contained, especially as the Arena has difficulty lighting the far sides of the front of the stage. 

The scenery used was good, and the car was super, the whole production centres on it, and it did not disappoint! 

The bows were very scrappy, a shame, as the rest of the show was slick and well-rehearsed, with plenty of pace.

I liked Andrea Campusano’s choreography, it suited the feel of the piece, it was good to see some really proficient male dancers.  “Me Ol’ Bamboo” was very lively and full of fun, and I liked the way we got the feel of a Samba without getting too technical. 

The costumes were mostly very good, colourful and worn well.  They looked pristine, and wigs were good.  I felt Truly’s costumes needed to be more colourful and elegant, and Caractus less formal.

Sound balance was at all times excellent, no mic problems, and the band never outdid the singers, whilst turning up the level for the dance numbers etc, very nicely managed.  Lighting was very well-managed throughout.

Gareth Edwards gave a good performance as Caractus Potts, he sang and danced it well, with some nice nuances in his lib, however I was not convinced by his relationship with Truly, the script didn’t seem to give them much of a chance to show this.  I admired the fact that he dealt with the car and all the technicalities very well, whilst maintaining the musical aspect.

Elise Betts was a lovely Truly, she sang it really well.  ‘Lovely, Lonely Man’ was beautiful, and she performed the doll song and routine extremely well.

Tony Bradburn made a good Grandpa Potts, stern but sympathetic, there was plenty of energy in POSH! - the children obviously enjoyed singing with him.

I really enjoyed the pairing of Matt Clothier and Susan Akroyd as the Baron and Baroness Bomburst, they interacted so well, very pompous and silly, but it worked nicely, some good choreography and action.

I loved the look of Alex McKinven as the Childcatcher, he was frightening and acted with conviction, just a shame the part wasn’t bigger to give him more scope to explore the characterisation.  

Will Smith was the slightly irresolute Toymaker, not wanting to get involved, but then feeling he had to for the children’s sake. Nicely done.

I loved the Spies, Boris and Goran, as played by Alex Handley and AJ King. Their whole performance was very accomplished, movements were totally together, never out of step, and they got the humour out of every situation, I was impressed and amused.  Excellent!

The ensemble and smaller part principals all performed extremely well.

I thought both teams of children were extremely good, there was lots of energy and some very good solo lines in ‘Teamwork’.  Confidence was high, and no-one let their enthusiasm falter – very well done.

Lollipops Jeremy and Jemima, Nate Finestone and Darcey Jones, were much more childlike in their interpretation, both sang and acted extremely well.

Gingerbread Jeremy and Jemima, Ben Pulford and Maddie Evans, acted, moved, and sang with enthusiatic conviction, whilst creating good relationships. 

In summary, a premium production, that was exceedingly well done, I was very happy to be able to see it twice!

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