Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

When Brighton Theatre Group presented their absolutely incredible Les Miserables - Let The People Sing last year it was as if they had reached the pinnacle of every excellent thing they could achieve in theatre. Yet here they are with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which is absolutely as superb in every sense, and perhaps even more. Here is a company which is achieving excellence in every single department of creating a show: from lighting to staging, from choreography to music, from acting to dancing and singing. They have an enviable level of talent in every single department and they equal or surpass their professional peers in every respect with this, their latest show. 

People have many different reactions to hearing the title Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which takes many of us right back to childhood: from wanting to be in the fabulous flying car to being terrified of the Childcatcher and everything in between. What you sometimes forget is how many well-known tunes we know and love have originated there: ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’, ‘Chu-Chi Face’, ‘Teamwork’ and 'Hushabye Mountain’, plus the obvious title song. It really is a trip to childhood with rose tinted glasses, reminding us to play and feel joy in the world where we can. And when a production is this superb, even the oldest members of the audience feel inspired, positive and full of energy.  

Energy is the key to this whole production and in the height of a massive and uncomfortable heatwave, this production never dips for an instant. Every single person on the stage is focussed with full attention and everyone is connected. This is true team work from the actors to the technicians to the directing team and everyone in between. There is a lot of technical work involved in this production, holding the show and adding beauty. The lighting is stunning, with lights at the front of the stage adding an extra picture aspect, different areas are highlighted when needed including darkening the back of the stage so changes can’t be seen. Different colours are used for scenes and mood and hold it so very well, but on top of this we have pyrotechnics: giant sparklers at the sides of one scene and explosions going off when the Vulgarians are shooting at the family, low lying fog in one scene, and moving film projections at the back showing Caractacus Potts in a race with Chitty in the opening, and later the ship shooting at them coming closer and the tide coming in, and added backgrounds to other scenes. Yet all of this tech is appropriate, and used to assist and hold the production, not overwhelm it: the balance is absolutely brilliant.  

A musical is nothing without good music and singers and this production has a truly exceptional level of talent in both design and delivery. The orchestra is fantastic, playing almost continuously. Musical Director Dan Lacey and Youth Musical Director Magnus Sørensen have done a magnificent job here. The level of musical ability is astounding as is the quality of the singing, both in solos and big crowd numbers. The amount of people on the stage in the big numbers is really quite incredible, which must need an almost military level of organisation to create a show of this standard, because all the pictures they create are fabulous: precise and detailed. 

Choreography and movement is off the scale impressive: from slow movements completely synchronized for example in the opening number with the car race, freezes with everyone including the children in mid wave being completely still such as in the scene with the Vulgarians in the foreground and the Potts family in the background. The level of technical difficulty in the dances is jaw dropping, such as all the different dance styles including ballet walking en pointe, to the synchronised big number ’Me Ol’ Bamboo’ with bamboo canes. Jodie Michele who also features as the Baroness has surpassed herself with this choreography and even more astonishing is that every single person on the stage seems to pull it off with ease, flexibility and utter joy. Watching such detail and precision will make any lover of dance look on with wonder and little happy sighs. 

Sometimes with huge productions the focus can be on the big pictures, or the singing, or the dancing; at the expense of acting. It’s hard to find a production where the acting is just as good as the singing and dancing as it takes exceptional performers to do this; except Brighton Theatre Group have made it look easy, for here are genuine triple threat performers in every single role. Carl Lovejoy is indeed a joy, here in the role he seems born to play: Caractacus Potts. He is simply perfect in this role, in every way, from his genuine care of the children, to his eccentric inventor nature and purchasing Chitty in the first place, and the way we watch and totally believe that he is falling in love with Truly. In the song ‘Truly Scrumptious’ where the focus is on Truly and the children he looks at her with complete adoration, we can see that he is falling in love with her; yet the focus isn’t on him and still he adds these beautiful details to his work. He makes Potts every man and yet extraordinary, someone we want to live next door to, and someone we want on our side in a crisis. On top there is his singing voice which is out of this world, a joy to listen to; and his dancing ability including the highest high heel kicks ever seen as the Rag Doll toy for the Baron, make his performance truly on another level on any stage.  

Opposite him looking the picture of beauty is Kiarnie Camp as Truly Scrumptious: fully costumed in stunning dresses and beautiful cascade of blonde curls making her look like she just walked off the original film set. She is the feisty young woman who Caractacus clearly adores more and more through the piece, and she is clearly returning his affection while being demure. She is the quintessential early 1910s lady: riding a motorbike and being independent, yet despite herself, falling for this inventor and his two young children whom she openly adores. Her voice suits this character perfectly: a crystal clear pitch perfect classical soprano, and together with Carl Lovejoy, their voices blend beautifully. Her doll on the podium as the gift to the Baron is absolutely fantastic, showing the lengths she would go to, to save the children of the Vulgarian land, as well as the Potts children.  

The Potts children at this performance: Aaryan Willmott as Jeremy and Georgia Burns as Jemima are a joy on the stage as well, always in character, their characterisation shining through in their acting, creating such innocent and imaginative, lovely children. The two spies: Dean Cowlard and Philip Lloyd Davies are an hilarious double act, with a lovely stint out in the audience in the beginning of Act Two which they joked wasn’t panto, yet it is so very welcome. Dean Cowlard dressed as “an English lady” yet still with a moustache was hilarious, and Philip Lloyd Davies is especially funny as the more stupid of the two, showing some really great comic timing in his bumbling naivete. Steve Emery looks so much like the film version of Grandpa Potts it’s enough to make you double take, plus what a wonderful way to reprise the role he performed with this group in 2019. He is full of English stiff upper lip in every comical sense, and his rendition of ‘Posh’ is superb.  

Sometimes the villains shine the brightest and the Baron and Baroness here are far superior to those created in the film: Gary Lynn as the childlike ridiculous Baron with really great copper coloured hair and Jodie Michele as the haughty Baroness are absolutely outstanding. Seeing Jodie Michele in this role makes you long to see her on the stage more, her characterisation of the selfish and child-phobic power hungry Baroness is out of this world. Her every look, twist of her mouth and sneer: sheer perfection in delivery, plus her dancing skills, as choreographer of the show, are a joy to see: her flexibility in vertical almost splits while singing a difficult song is incredible. Her costumes and wigs, fabulously designed by Wain Douglas who also plays Truly’s father, are enough to give anyone costume envy: the array of dresses, including samba, and different wigs including the blonde plaits where part of the dance leads the ends to gently brush the floor: such is the precision in movement, are absolutely superb. Both Gary Lynn and Jodie Michele work together so well in each of their scenes it’s a joy to watch them. Every single actor both young and old, all the children too, are superb, including Nick Jordan as the original Chitty owner and then the Toy Maker: he brings a lovely warm presence to his role of genuine care for all the children. 

Wigs, makeup and special effects are a huge strength here: Chris Horlock and team have surpassed themselves: from Grandpa’s whiskers to the crazy Baron wig to the spy wigs which are supposed to look ridiculous, to Truly’s cascade of natural looking platinum blonde tresses, plus all the makeup on each of the actors including dirt and grime on the children in the sewers under the castle. The physical transformation of Jake Beniston as the Childcatcher: high pin heels, hooked nose and bald cap with black greased curls on it, plus scary eye contacts, make him genuinely scary to both children and adults alike.  

Costumes are scrumptious, including the picture of the ladies and gents in the opening scene in various shades of cream and ivory, watching the race. The pictures they create with their movements and the costume choices are sublime, instantly setting the scene of the time and the themes. The backgrounds and scenery work so well, showing the garage, the ‘outhouse’ where Gandpa likes to “visit India” including a little model of this hanging from a model hot air balloon as the Vulgarians capture it and take it away - such lovely little details. The tiny Chitty at the start of Act two is also great fun. The scene changes are smooth and happen out of sight which is super, and if you do catch the movers in the background they are all costumed, which is exactly as it should be, making it part of the show.  

There are so many pictures that remain with you in your mind after the show: the Baroness lying on the floor prostrate with emotion and turning herself around using her hands as oars is completely hilarious, tap dancing inventors and incredibly, the whole fair section with cartwheels and acrobats doing somersaults and then the level of dancing and singing technique not to mention energy on show in ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’ is jaw dropping. The children appearing from the fog in the sewers under the castle with their slow movements is gripping, the full ‘Toot Sweets’ number in the sweet factory is so much fun and ‘Hushaby Mountain’ is so poignant and full of emotion. 

If all that isn’t enough, Edison is a top hit each time he is on stage. Played by Marco, this Old English Sheepdog is not only gorgeous but so well behaved in both heat and the deafening applause from the audience. And if one dog isn’t enough, a troupe of dogs appear in various scenes, from the little one doing tricks at the fair to all the others in various scenes: such a wonderful touch in a family show. And of course the other character: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang itself, showing all the character ascribed to it by those around it, suddenly becoming a hovercraft at one point with a massive air pillow suddenly inflating around it so they can go across the sea, and the Chitty wings appearing, and then the car literally lifts up in the air as if it’s flying, achieving a really grand old height too. They seriously look like they are flying and their shocked reactions when it first happens help to reinforce that belief. The trick is so cleverly done you can’t actually see any mechanism: absolutely brilliant, helping us all believe in Chitty. 

This is a production that could be written about for days, saying exactly why everything is to the highest possible level: every single actor on the stage excels; every single singer and dancer is amazing; and every single thing that goes into creating a production of this type and size is smashing the top of every scale set for production standards. Director Michael Burnie has done a magnificent job in bringing this all together, and each person involved deserves the highest praise and congratulations possible. This could easily be a West End production, except that it actually exceeds those expectations in many ways, due to the exuberance and joy that each person is delivering their performance. This production is important to each individual and it shows. It shows in teamwork, in the joy they clearly have in working with each other, in the generosity of performance and the spirit that they deliver this highest quality entertainment. It’s a kaleidoscope of colour: stunning, majestic, phenomenal, superb, breath-taking, jaw-dropping, and absolutely flawless: one that will be talked about for years and years to come.  

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