Chitty Chitty Bang bang

Playing to massive audiences in excess of 5500 this production was a big audience draw, as was expected, but even that excellent outcome only managed a break even result because of the huge costs of presenting this particular musical. The spectacular scenery and costumes, and of course the Chitty cars, all add additional costs that many companies might find difficult to manage. Tops are made of tougher nerves and all their hard work and excellent planning resulted in a technically superb production. Tops were one of a small number of companies selected to perform this show in 2018 and this was the first amateur production of Chitty in the South West.

The Princess Theatre doesn’t have the deepest of stages, and side stage space is limited, therefore it was always going to be a tough call to cope with the three cars in the limited space available. How companies playing in smaller venues will cope heaven knows. However, some good planning, and some small tweaks to certain scenes, ensured that pace and smooth running of the show were not disrupted. The hydraulic chitty car certainly looked hugely impressive on the Princess stage as it rose up and tilted to simulate flying.  This was the moment the audience had been waiting for, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The limitations of the stage did prevent back projection which would have aided this moment, but it mattered not.

Scenic Project scenery was colourful and spectacular and the many colourful costumes contributed to a great visual feel to the production.

An excellent principal line up gave energetic and lively performances. This show bears more than a passing resemblance to a pantomime, and performances were judged to satisfy that genre, especially the baron and baroness (Gary Abrahams and Helen Haviland) and the Spies (Dan Sinnott and Lloyd Bickham), who were all very entertaining and beautifully over the top. I particularly enjoyed Gary as Baron Bomburst. He conveyed this character’s ridiculous pomposity beautifully.

The more tender and realistic performances were left to husband and wife team David and Theresa Pappin as Caractacus Potts and Truly Scrumptious. Obviously, their growing relationship was believable, and they served as a gentler relief to all the pantomimic tomfoolery happening around them. I particularly enjoyed Hushaby Mountain.

The principal children gave solid performances and were easily able to hold their own against the strong adult performances. There were no weak links at all in a very strong line up and everyone clearly understood that with many of these roles, the prime aim was up front, in your face, pantomime style entertainment.

There was a huge cast and at times the stage did look somewhat crowded, but there was much evidence of good choreographic planning from Tracy Loveridge. Viewed from up in the balcony, I was particularly impressed with The Samba where it was most impressive that despite being jammed like Vatican Square on Easter Sunday, no one bumped into anyone and the routine seemed like a well-oiled machine. The ensemble was required to don a number of ridiculous disguises and I enjoyed the inventors, the sweet factory and Me Ol’Bamboo.

Musically, as always, the production was first rate. One expects an excellent orchestra here, and great musical direction and this production was no different.

As you would expect, the audience loved this very impressive production. My only critical comment really was that some of the bigger scenes such as the fairground scene, and the sewer scene could have perhaps had more visual dynamics as a lot of people seemed to be just standing around, but then again, the sheer numbers on stage could have hampered any further business taking place. Chases round the auditorium were a good way , in this case, of covering a long change back into the car for the finale , but this always causes an issue in multi-level auditoria because everyone in the balcony is then detached from the action and is sat there wondering what is happening and craning forward for a better view and maybe it might have been better to have also had something happening on stage for those up top to look at. These are minor comments however and the final audience reaction was all the cast could have wished for after a very entertaining performance which clearly understood that this is a show aimed at a younger audience.

 

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