Watch out! The most fantasmagorical musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang lands in Milton Keynes 04 – 14 May! One of the world’s favourite musicals, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will have audiences of all ages flying high with its mixture of madness, intrigue and exuberance.
Can the loveable but whacky inventor, Potts, along with his two children and the gorgeous Truly Scrumptious outwit the bombastic Baron Bomburst who has decreed that all children be banished from his kingdom? What happens when the children are caught and imprisoned with other youngsters by the evil Childcatcher? Will it all end happily-ever-after? Well, of course it will!
Having broken all box office records in the West End, this fun-filled production promises laughs, magic galore and favourite songs including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hushabye Mountain and Truly Scrumptious – and Chitty herself!
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Caractacus Potts will be played Lee Mead (Casualty, Legally Blonde, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) with Carrie Hope Fletcher (Les Misérables, War of the Worlds) as Truly Scrumptious,
Michelle Collins (EastEnders, Coronation Street) as Baroness Bomburst
Shaun Williamson (The Railway Children, EastEnders) as Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst,
Matt Gillett, (Jersey Boys and Top Hat) as The Child Catcher
Photo: Alastair Muir
and Andy Hockley (The Phantom Of The Opera) as Grandpa Potts.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman, who were also responsible for Mary Poppins, The Slipper and the Rose, The Aristocats and The Jungle Book. The Sherman Brothers have won two Academy Awards with a further nine nominations, two Grammy Awards and they have received 21 gold and platinum albums. The film made from Ian Fleming’s classic story has been adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams, based on the MGM Motion Picture Licensed Script adapted by Ray Roderick.
This new production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will be directed by West Yorkshire Playhouse Artistic Director James Brining, with new choreography by Stephen Mear. There will be a live orchestra with Musical Supervision by Stephen Ridley. Set and costume design is by Simon Higlett, lighting design is by Tim Mitchell, sound design is by Ben Harrison and video design is by Simon Wainwright.
There will be sensational sets and stunning special effects and, of course, the memorable score by the Sherman Brothers.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at Milton Keynes Theatre from 4-14th May
Box office: 0844 871 7652 or online: www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes
Like a child that gets over excited before Christmas only to find the very present they were longing for was not there, I went along to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with memories of Michael Ball and the wonderful Brian Blessed in the London production. That was possibly a mistake. I really can’t say that there was anything wrong with this production, but during the interval I remember hoping it would perk up in the second half, it didn’t. I drove home thinking the whole evening had been a bit flat.
Ernie Almond
