Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Outstanding.  That’s going to be the superlative that I use to describe this production!  I simply cannot believe the visual treat that I have witnessed whilst watching Curtain Call’s Production of the family favourite musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  One of my favourite films growing up, I loved the style, the choreography and I was frightened to death of the child catcher.  After watching this production, all of those memories came flooding back.

This show was once again, the brain-child of its director and choreographer – Joel Montague.  The sell-out audience were treated to a visual spectacular and left the theatre very happy and very contented.  The overall direction was brilliant.  Every single member of the cast was very well rehearsed and well-choreographed for their slick routines.  Scene changes were kept to a minimum as the cast cleverly manipulated the set through song or dialogue so that the audience barely noticed that the vast set was being re-set.  I loved the overall feel and the overall vision for this show.  It was a feel good, fun-filled festive treat for the whole family.  The clever use of projections and how the set was used, enhanced the overall pace.  One of my favourite pieces of direction was the use of the tennis/jogggers during the scene when the Potts drove to the beach.  Simply genius!  A massive well done to Joel Montague and his team on producing such an outstanding production!

The choreography was up there with the best that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this year.  The patterns and intricate detail in which the cast (including children) excellently showed, was very much appreciated by me.  The choreography was particularly outstanding in whole cast numbers such as ‘Toot Sweets’, ‘Ol Bamboo’, and the Salsa dance.  I must say, I normally see children dance the numbers, but in this production, I saw children performing – and there is a massive difference.  The hard work that has gone into the choreography and portrayal of choreography was very much appreciated by me.  Well done to the whole cast on your commitment.  It didn’t go un-noticed.

The musical director for this production was Malcolm Forbes-Peckham.  The orchestra were also excellent.  I appreciated all of the amazing work that has gone into such an intricate score.  I personally would’ve preferred to see the orchestra (they were backstage throughout) but this is just a personal preference.  Particular favourite sections were brass and percussion - well done!

The set was pretty spectacular.  Having such a large and vast amount of set pieces was (I’m sure) a logistical nightmare backstage, but this, by no means, impacted on the show.  The sets helped establish location and were visually excellent.  They looked very expensive and very well made.  Chitty herself was equally spectacular.  The hydraulics enabled the car to ‘fly’ which gave me (and I’m sure the whole audience) Goosebumps.  If you’re going to put on a production of this calibre you need to spend money on a good set and a good car.  This set/car was clearly the best out there and really took the overall visuals to a new level.  I loved the fact that Chitty got her own round of applause during her first entrance.  This goes to show the impact that the set and car had on the audience.

If any other society out there is thinking of putting on this production, then you need to hire these costumes!  I have not seen such fantastic and authentic looking costumes for an amateur production this year.  It’s clear to see that a lot of hours of blood, sweat and tears have gone into making these costumes and it is very much appreciated from an audience point of view.  Particular favourite costumes for me were those for Truly, Grandpa and Baron & Baroness Bomburst.  Well done to the amazing team at Curtain Call Productions – it was worth it!

The lighting design was good.  To be honest, I was so engrossed in the set, costumes, choreography and acting etc that I didn’t particularly notice the lights.  Everyone was well lit, follow-spots hit their marks and the coloured gels and gobos used were sympathetic to the era, style and rhythms of music.

I did notice the sound.  For me, the sound wasn’t great.  Cast mics were either going on and off intermittently or were not being cued correctly.  I also felt that the levels were all over the place.  Some cast mics were too loud and the blend between cast, band and audience wasn’t great.  During the big numbers the band were slightly too loud, and the cast mics were slightly too quiet.  I could tell that there were some lovely intricate harmonies in there – I just couldn’t hear them enough.

Caractacus Potts was played by Gary Jones-McCaw.  Gary had the right amount of showman and storytelling and was very well cast.  Gary is clearly a great dancer, and this was evident in routines such as ‘Ol Bamboo’.  This was a great showcase for Gary (and the cast) and was one of the highlights of the evening.  I loved Gary’s characterisation and he displayed lovely vocals during ‘Hushabye Mountain’. 

Truly Scrumptious was played by Siobhan Webb.  Siobhan very much looked the part and carried herself well to portray the down to earth well-to-do heir of the sweet factory.  Siobhan had a great rapport with the children on stage and it was lovely to watch their storyline develop throughout.  Siobhan also displayed lovely vocals.  Her version of ‘Doll On a Music Box’ was delightful!

Jeremy and Jemima Potts were played by Ewan Blud and Lauren Jones.  Both children were excellently directed and rehearsed.  They not only performed their roles brilliantly, but they performed with ease, confidence and excellence.  Well done!

Grandpa Potts was played by Rob Earl.  Rob’s physicality in this role was excellent.  I loved his physical embodiment of character.  He was very well cast in this role and he was very watchable.

Baroness Bomburst was brilliantly played by Tandie Stahl.  Tandie was outstanding in this role!  She was captivating and threw herself fully into every moment that she was onstage.  Her rapport with Chris Ridge (Baron) was excellent and her vocals were equally as brilliant.

Baron Bomburst was played by Chris Ridge.  Chris was an excellent choice for this role.  He had the right amount of absurdity and boyishness and was a great partner to Tandie’s Baronness.  Chris (and Tandie’s) version of ‘Chi-Chi Face’ was another highlight!

The comedy duo (Boris and Doris) were played by Samuel Dale and Christopher Barker.  These parts are supposed to be belly laugh funny, but I found that I didn’t laugh as much as I should’ve been.  I felt that their mics were a little low, which impacted on their humour.  I also felt that they underplayed some of the jokes a little and that at times, were too naturalistic; especially Goran.  I’m being quite picky here.  They were suitably funny, and children laughed in all of the right places, but I just wanted them to have more of a bigger impact than they did.

The Toymaker was played by Martin Popov.  I didn’t understand Martin characterisation at all.  It wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the show and seemed a little too stylistic.  This is just a personal observation.  The audience seemed to appreciate his performance – I just didn’t get it.

The childcatcher was greatly played by Cecil Walker.  Cecil sent shivers down my spine and brought me back to my childhood.  Although a little heavy with make-up, he looked very much the part.  Cecil used his physicality and his voice to help portray this role to great effect. 

There are far too many other characters for me to mention in this review.  With a cast of over 80 if wouldn’t be fair to mention more.  What I will say is that no matter how large or small your part or role was in this production, it certainly didn’t go un-noticed by me or the audience.  The choreography, the costumes, the set, the car, the dancing, the singing… there aren’t enough superlatives to say just how great this production was.  A huge congratulations on Curtain Call for an outstanding show.  I thank you once again for your hospitality and can’t wait to return to see your 2019 production of Grease!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.