The automotive supreme musical ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ has hit the road and is visiting the Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 1st June. Based on the Ian Fleming motion picture, the musical follows inventor Caractacus Potts, struggling to get by after the passing of wife, to please his children (Jeremy & Jemima) he purchases an almost scrapped ex-racing car and turns it into the most phantasmagorical machine. After Grandpa is kidnapped by Vulgarian spies – Caractacus, his children and his friend Truly set out on an adventure to get him back.
Adam Garcia leads this cast as Caractacus Potts. Garcia brings us a more grounded version of Potts, leaning into his struggle as a widowed father. This makes his beautiful performance of ‘Hushabye Mountain’ more apt and pulls at the heartstrings of the audience. Yet there is still the showmanship that Dick Van Dyke brought to the role, with him bringing boundless energy to ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’ – easily keeping up with the rest of the ensemble tackling the sublime choreography. This more paternal version of Potts works for this production and brings a realness to the character through Garcia’s impressive portrayal.
As Caractacus Potts’s love interest, Truly Scrumptious, Ellie Nunn brings us a more determined young woman, who is more than up to the challenge to handle Pott’s stubborn nature. With this there is such a joyous nature in Nunn’s portrayal of the character, especially during moments of Chitty’s magic, Nunn’s portrayal helps build the excitement in the audience. Nunn’s performance of the iconic numbers ‘Truly Scrumptious’ and ‘Doll On A Music Box’ are simply delightful, this is the strongest portrayal of the character since the musical was established in 2002.
Liam Fox is eccentric and hilariously bonkers as Caractacus’ father, Grandpa Potts. Fox embodies the original portrayal that Lionel Jeffries brought to the character in the 1968 motion picture. ‘Posh’ is as brilliant as ever, with Fox ramping up Grandpa’s chaotic energy accompanied by Jeremy and Jemima to bring a slightly different version of the number. Fox brings the audience a character they will instantly recognize and love.
Elaine C. Smith brings us a new version of The Childcatcher, toning down the terrifying nature of the character and bringing us a more gothic Miss Hannigan-esque version of the horror of many of our childhoods. Her performance of ‘Kiddie-Widdy-Winkies’ is the pinnacle of where the creepiness of this interpretation of the character stems from. It is difficult to be scared of Smith as she is known to many in Scotland as a delightful comedienne, but also the design of this version of The Childcatcher isn’t particularly terrifying, especially when you compare it to Richard O’Brien’s portrayal in the original West-End production of the musical, who utterly terrified audiences. Smith does her best with the material and direction she is given, however conceptually this character should be slightly scarier.
Louis Wilkins as Jeremy and Isabella Manning as Jemima are simply delightful at Caractacus Potts’ children. The two tackle musical numbers such as ‘You Two’, ‘Posh’ and of course ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ with gusto. Their performances are lovely and really pull on the heartstrings of the audience.
Bibi Jay (covering Jenny Gayner) as The Baroness and Hadrian Delacey (covering Martin Callaghan) as The Baron bring us farcical energy and hilarity. Whether it’s their impressive tackling of ‘The Bombie Samba’ or their hilarious performance of ‘Chu-Chi Face’, the two performers bring these chaotic characters to life brilliantly.
Adam Stafford as Boris and Michael Joseph as Goran are utterly brilliant, they are the comedic gems of this production and the two of them embody the chaotic spies fantastically. John MacAulay also features as The Toymaker, he brings a warmth to the role and assists our heroes in taking on the Baron and Baroness.
The ensemble of this production take on a multitude of characters, whether it be Grand Prix audience members, members of the funfair, or Vulgarians – all with energy, sublime vocals and tackling complex choreography beautifully. The ensemble are as follows; Charlie Bishop, Ruairidh Blackwood, Belle Kizzy Green, Kirsty Ingram, Isabella Mason, Theo UK Rose, Callum Train, Tia Gyngell (Swing), Joe Press (Swing), Molly Rees Howe (Swing) and Luke Woollaston (Swing).
This production also features an incredible Children’s ensemble, who even though their limited stage time, pack one heck of an impression in their performance of ‘Teamwork’, bringing brilliant vocals and tremendous dance skill. The Children’s ensemble are as follows; Lisa Alexander, Lexie Chisholm, Addison Creanor, Miah Darling, Phoebe Galloway, Ava Girdwood, Sadie McKenzie and Charlie Waller.
Ian Fleming’s book with adaptations from Ray Roderick and Jeremy Sams holds a wonderous tale which varies in style and ultimately reminisces through settings and characters that seem straight out of a child’s imagination. Some of the dialogue does need to be tweaked to perhaps be more comedically relevant to audiences of today, however the actual story is timeless and an utter joy. The late Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman’s music and lyrics have never sounded so good under Jessica Viner’s musical direction and George Dyer’s supervision, the score sounds simply marvelous.
Bringing this musical to stage is a mammoth task, the technological feat that each production needs to hit is a hard target to meet. First off you have the whimsical and varied settings of the story, and then you have the ludicrous task of making a car float and fly. Thom Southerland directs this production by stripping back the set design and using small set pieces by Morgan Large to indicate where each scene is set, whilst at points this is effective, especially utilizing the ensemble for the switch in setting, it does leave the set looking rather bare. With this there are moments where there are props used to indicate Chitty and the blimp – this doesn’t quite work, especially with the Chitty car being visibly stuck on top of a modern remote-control car. These are great conceptual ideas but the final product doesn’t quite work.
Morgan Large also designs the costume in this production, the design is highly effective and you instantly recognize each character, the most notable design is the indication of the carnival through the performers, they were beautiful. Of course, the biggest set piece and arguably the star of the show is Chitty herself, compared to other productions, this new UK Tour has done incredibly well to bring the car to stage, with the act one finale being simply breathtaking, the joy and wonder on the faces of the audience is exactly what this production is all about and on this side – the production team have scored massively. Ben Cracknell’s lighting design is effective and lifts the energy of each scene, with Gareth Tucker’s sound design bringing the scenes to life.
A special mention has to go to Karen Bruce, whose choreography is simply dazzling, her tackling of ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’ is incredible, she does the iconic hit justice. With this the doll-like choreo of ‘Doll On A Music Box’ is so precise and beautiful. Bruce’s choreography brings boundless energy to scenes and supplies a visual feast for the audience.
Although this production has it’s flaws, this newest revival of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ ups the scale of the cherished musical numbers and brings the magic of the motion picture to stage wonderfully. This is the perfect show for a night out at the theatre with the family.
Get your tickets for the UK Tour here – https://chittyontour.com/#tour-dates
Theatre Scotland 
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