Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Stoke-on-Trent swings open the garage doors and welcomes a brand new touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to the Regent Theatre in Hanley this week.

This large scale, big budget West Yorkshire Playhouse production, directed by James Brining, and with new choreography by Stephen Mear and musical supervision by Stephen Ridley, played to a packed house on opening night in Staffordshire, and the audience appeared to be delighted with the spectacle.

 

However the performance we saw did suffer a few minor technical hitches, with one in particular causing what appeared to be a minor injury of leading man Jason Manford in his role as Caractacus Potts, which led to the unfortunate upstaging of heroine ‘Truly Scrumptious’ during her title song, otherwise beautifully delivered by Amy Griffiths.

Technically though this is clearly not an easy show to tour, and although the actual flying ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ car didn’t have the wow factor that we hoped it might, the overall production design and fluid staging from Simon Higlett, integrated with Simon Wainwright’s video mapping and projection elements, was fabulous, and we feel it worked better here than it did in the original 2002 West End version.  Costume design also captures the early 1900s era of the piece perfectly.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Based on the famous children’s story by James Bond author Ian Flemming and subsequent film version, this bright stage musical utilises the familiar music and songs of the Sherman Brothers – with  just a few additions   As for the story, apart from the omission of the  ‘It was all just a dream’ ending that concludes the evergreen family flick, the rest of the stage version pretty much follows the exact same plot from the film, and manages to capture the same winning blend of fun and peril.

The roles of the ‘Vulgarians’ are beefed up a bit, and in particular the ‘Vulgarian Spies’ – played Vaudeville style by Scott Paige as Goran and Sam Harrison as Boris, are camped up to the extreme, and for our money they totally stole the show.

WHO’S IN IT ?

Andy Hockley as Grandpa Potts is also a highlight, and his appearances and numbers are a joy.

Which brings us on to the star names.  Lets just say, that although all of the star billing performances by aformentioned Jason Manford, alongside Phill Jupitus as Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst and Michelle Collins as Baroness Bomburst were all totally fine, the choreographic and vocal demands of the piece did challenge them at times. Two of our favourite numbers – ‘Me Ole Bamboo’ and ‘Chu-Chi Face’ were not as ‘full on’ as they could be.  And ‘The Bombie Samba’, which should be an Act 2 showstopper, felt a tad awkward.

That said, Martin Kemp as the creepy Childcatcher, pretty much nailed it.  Just a shame that his part is as small as it is, and the producers decided to cut his characters ‘Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies’ number, in favour of the much less interesting ‘Lovely Lonely Man’ – although I guess this song does help the narrative along.

The two main youngsters in this production, although a bit shouty at times, played a blinder throughout, and pretty much faultless.  They are joined by an equally engaging bunch of child performers for the big ‘Teamwork’ number, which is another Act 2 highlight.

SHOULD YOU SEE IT?

This is one of the Regent Theatre’s main spring season bookings, and as UK musical tours go, they don’t come much bigger than this.  So for sheer spectacle we say it’s worth securing a ticket.  We just feel that some of the expected polish and emotion in a few of the musical numbers that are led by the star line up feel a bit lacking.

FINAL WORD

We just want to make mention of how wonderful it is to hear the sound of a proper pit orchestra – it makes such a difference to the overall quality of a show like this.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang races through the remainder of the Easter holidays until 9 April 2016.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1458774858440{background-color: #e8e8e8 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1458950926278{padding-right: 40px !important;padding-left: 40px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”DATES, TIMES and BOOKING” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1458775149096{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1458775554849{margin-bottom: 30px !important;}” offset=”vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-12″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1459460369817{padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”]

WHERE

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BOX OFFICE

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If you need help please contact the venue box office on the number provided above.  Enjoy the show.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1459461196945{background-color: #c1c1c1 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1458950926278{padding-right: 40px !important;padding-left: 40px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”DISCOUNTS and OFFERS” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1459461038926{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1459492277543{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”]

Very few available.  The only ongoing options are the following:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/151221669″ title=”VIDEO TRAILER – (WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE ORIGINAL PRODUCTION)”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1458774858440{background-color: #e8e8e8 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1459159851723{padding-right: 40px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 40px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”SEEN THIS SHOW? SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1458936183375{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-12″][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1459162231179{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1459162663301{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}” offset=”vc_col-md-12″][vc_column_text]We love to hear what people think about Staffordshire Theatre – so why not share your feedback about this show and help others to decide if they’d like to see it.  All reviews can be anonymous.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-12″][vc_btn title=”SUBMIT A REVIEW” style=”flat” shape=”square” color=”juicy-pink” align=”left” i_type=”openiconic” i_icon_openiconic=”vc-oi vc-oi-user” link=”url:%23||” add_icon=”true”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1458934303194{padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #e8e8e8 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1458950862541{padding-right: 40px !important;padding-left: 40px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1458930987263{padding-right: 20px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”JOIN THE FREE STAFFORDSHIRE THEATRE NEWSLETTER” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1458928183290{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1458935765352{padding-right: 20px !important;}”]With stories, news, offers, features, and even competitions and fun quizzes ALL about theatre in Staffordshire.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-12″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1459165350582{padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”]

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