Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon watching the talented young people of Pleasure Folk Juniors performing their very happy and enjoyable production of the musical adventure Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. It tells the story about an out-of-this-world car that flys through the air and sails the seas. The show has music and lyrics written by brothers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, the story is taken from a book by Jeremy Sams and the show is based on the 1968 film written by Rohal Dahl, Ken Hughes and Richard Maibaum, which in turn is based on the original book  by Ian Fleming writer of the James Bond Books. 

The show was in the secure hands of Director Gemma Briscoe, who had at her disposal a good sized very talented cast. I would love to mention them all as they all worked excellently together rising to the occasion and performing with lots of energy and confidence. However, I will mention some of the named roles who all performed excellently producing some good characterisations. They included Miles Gardner who produced a wonderful mature performance which is required for the role of eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts who, together with his two children Jeremy and Jemima played convincingly by Joel Morley and  Eden Wainwright, set about restoring an old race car back to its old glory.  They meet the delectable Truly Scrumptious played by Jessica Galligan who sang beautifully and suited her role really well. Truly is the daughter of Lord Scrumptious played by Alex Sheeran who was suitably haughty as a pier of the realm and the owner of the sweet factory. Unfortunately, the tyrannical, child-hating rulers of Vulgaria, Baron Rowburst and his wife Baroness Rowburst played by Charlie Geldart and Liv Salters, really want the car for themselves. Both Charlie and Liv did well with their accents and made an entertaining comedic couple. They send bumbling comedic duo, Boris (Eve Mcbride) and Goran (Clara Kirwan) to get the car but they are too late as it has been sold to Caractacus, so they kidnap Grandpa played by Isla Graham. Isla has very good stage presence and she made use of her many talents resulting in a very good performance.

So the family along with Truly travel in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Vulgaria in order to rescue Grandpa - they soon discover the car is magic and can float on water and also fly. On arrival at their destination they get help from some of the townsfolk and the Toymaker, played very nicely by Toby Wainwright, as they look to rescue Grandpa and outwit and rid the kingdom of the Baron and Baroness and their villainous henchman - along with the dastardly hated and scary Child Catcher played with just the right amount of malevolence by Emily Mayne. There were some nice cameo roles played by Meg Clark as Miss Phillips, Jack Elder  as Mr. Coggins, Charlotte Procter as Violet, with Alfie Casey as Sid and Darcy Main as the Fair Announcer. I was very impressed with the innovative way the production team made the illusion of a car by using members of the cast with some props, and the way they moved around the stage worked very well and was very effective. All the cast projected very well which meant dialogue could be heard and the story followed easily and musical numbers were enjoyed  very much by the audience.

The Chorus and dancers all played their part in the story with lots of confidence, supporting the principal cast and looking as if they were enjoying themselves immensely.

The band led by musical director Nancy Wells were very supportive of the cast on stage and played at just the right level enabling the songs and dialogue to be heard. It was lovely to see the little ones enjoying themselves performing the Choreography devised by Liz Wainwright and Assistant Choreographer, Eve McBride which suited the production nicely.

Scenery by Pleasure Folk was just right for stage area and this show - well done to the Stage Manager and all the stage and technical crew. Costumes were as is usual for Pleasure folk spot on and colourful helping to bring authenticity to the production.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this very enjoyable production including front of house matrons and prompt. The audience sitting near me all appeared to be enjoying themselves and were also very proud of their relatives and friends who were on the stage and so they should be.Thank you very much for inviting me, I had a lovely afternoon.

 

 

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