Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

HC Vocal and Performance Academy’s main Summer production brought us the hugely popular and action packed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and I have to start by saying that this is possibly the best production I have seen by the Academy to date.

From start to finish the whole show looked incredibly tight and well rehearsed, director Holly really stripping back a lot of the scenes, allowing the performers to flourish whilst still maintaining great detail throughout.

Lyrics in the show state “Team Work makes a Dream Work” and this was so evident in all of the work that had gone on behind the scenes. The costumes were bright and vibrant with everyone looking in Unison in the ensemble scenes, the Vulgarian Guard in particular looked amazing, and the Principal's costumes, hair and make-up all combined to help bring the characters to life.

Extra work had gone in to add life to the production in what is a blank canvas in the Hummersknott Academy school auditorium. The creation and introduction of the Fete stalls not only added depth to the stage but gave a lovely immersive feel as we took to our seats (we won’t talk about my failure on the bottle ring toss!)

The staging was left as a blank canvas allowing a number of larger items to add the detail. The countryside moving projection created a lovely image of Chiity driving along, the Dolls house with spinning turntable was beautiful and well positioned so not to block the main scene and the hydraulics used to raise the car and create the flying scenes worked perfectly whilst cleverly disguised. Everyone involved in creating the visual effects deserves huge praise because in such a technical show these areas can really make or break a production.

Now those who know me know that I have very mixed feelings around Split casts. Yes they give a lot of students a chance to flourish but they can also leave productions feeling disjointed with casts not fully polished in their roles or in their later involvement in ensemble pieces. Well I am pleased to say that in this production it had no negative impact on this show and is a great testimony to the Production team of Holly and Gareth but also to the students for their work ethic. This show gave me a chance to see a lot of performers I have not seen in Lead roles before and what a great job everyone did.

One thing that splitting a cast does do is gives extra support to the ensemble as the lead roles often drop into ensemble numbers and when you have experienced performers such as Amber Evans, Leanna Honeyman, Lacey Simpson, Avea Calvert, Alicia and Lexi Thompson dropping into the Chorus not only do they lift the quality but they also help raise the performances of the younger members of the Academy. 

The big numbers were really polished with clean routines, great vocals and some wonderful harmonies throughout. Me Ol’ Bamboo a real standout for how tight the choreography was whilst the Opening and Finale numbers really brought so much life and energy to the production. It was great to see this huge cast in such unity in the numbers, all clearly having a great time on stage with the direction and blocking ensuring it never once overpowered the main action and story.

There are so many smaller roles in this musical that it was a great choice for the Academy packed with talent and it’s impossible to mention everyone. I have to mention Tille Best whose line delivery was excellent as Mrs Phillips; Summer Johnstone was brilliantly snobbish as Lord Scrumptious and Mila Jordan really excelled as Turkey Farmer and principal Guard (her 1st show with HC).

Eva Laing was suitably menacing as the ChildCatcher, her entrances with the wheeled cage full of captured children adding detail to her evil character. The hidden children were all excellent with the lead vocalists all excellent in their solo parts. The downbeat nature of their characters really shone through, matched by their matching patchwork rags for costumes.

Trying to protect the children and bringing warmth and joy to her character was the lovely Ruby Stagner as Toymaker. A brilliant debut for Ruby in her 1st ever show.

Bringing some lovely comedy to the show we had a number of double acts including Halle Larkins as Boris and Zoe Hardy as Goran, our Vulgarian Spies. They worked so well together with a cheeky attitude and their accents were brilliant, adding a germanic twist whilst comedic enough to match the characters.

The Comedy of the night had to go to our marvellous Baron and Baroness played by the wonderful Amelia Hooper and Lyla Appleby. The characters were so over played it was perfect, not only matching the line delivery with personality and pace but the physical acting was genius. Amelia who is proving to be a great character actress really had the character perfected, owning the stage and dominating her scenes. This is the best performance I have seen from Lyla who was nothing short of exceptional as the needy yet controlling Baroness. Her teasing and taunting of the Baron was brilliant whilst her facial expressions and ability to play to the audience was excellent to watch. These two combined for a brilliant version of Chu-Chi Face, not only understanding and mastering this tricky number but adding so much energy, acrobatics and physical humour to the number.

Now the majority of the story revolves around the Potts family and their desire to save their wreck of a car being sold and crushed. Sounds simple until the story gets more and more crazy.. Leading the Potts family was Grandpa Potts who, played by Mille Gadman, was lovely to watch. With a costume almost masking her the whole show her lines were delivered like a true grumpy man, her energy was brilliant and she really was great to watch.

From one generation to the next we had the grandchildren Jemima and Jeremy played by Martha Boyle and Poppy Walker. Not only were these two young actresses full of life and character but their voices were beautiful. Their diction was perfect and their voices in solos and in the group numbers really shone through. Not only were they great as individuals but the chemistry between them and with their dad and Truly was completely believable and heart warming.

Now talking of vocals there aren't really any words to describe just how exceptional a talent Chloe Hanks is, her portrayal of Truly Scrumptious was simply sublime. Her character was full of style and grace, her mannerisms delicate yet soft and her overall characterisation was perfect for the role. During the show she gave us snippets of an amazing voice yet Doll on a Music Box really was her chance to shine. The revolving platform not throwing her off as her beautiful elegant vibrato and stunning tone made the hairs on my arm stand on end. 

Not only were her solo lines sung with such control but Chloe also knows how to match her voice with those around her. Whilst still shining in quality her voice blended in with the rest of the ensemble and most notably combined amazingly with Ellie Lofts in The Doll Scene.

For anyone who has ever watched the Battle Round of The Voice will understand how well these two combined in the second part of this number. 2 stunning vocalists bouncing off each other with ease, understanding and controlling their solo lines and then coming together to create exceptional harmony.

Ellie in the Principal role of Potts was just amazing from start to finish. This Actress really has become a complete Triple Threat combining amazing vocals, believable and detailed characterisation along with a great understanding of dance and movement. Her lines were clear and full of character, her stage presence matched the role and her movement particularly in Ol’ Bamboo absolutely first class. Having seen snippets of Ellie before it was great to see her in this key role and I am very excited to see how far she can further develop.

A huge thank you to everyone for coming together to put on this excellent production. It took great control to not over complicate the numbers and what resulted was lovely big numbers still allowing the students to shine. The famous and big number a great example of how you can fill the stage with a huge cast and by simplifying the routines make it look controlled, tight and incredibly well rehearsed. Hush A Bye Mountain another great example of how less is sometimes more with just 6/7 dancers, beautifully dressed in white with small lights creating the perfect background for the number.

I was really impressed with the whole production and can not wait to see what your next shows for 2026 will deliver.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.