Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on tour

I recently had the chance to see the touring production of Broadway's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It's adapted from the 1968 movie, which in turn (fun fact) came from a book by Ian Fleming of James Bond fame. I took my 6-year-old daughter along to the show. You only have to hear a few bars of the title song to expect that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will be a rousing Broadway experience. Chitty’s touring company did not disappoint. The show is energetic, colorful, and rollicking—fantasmagorical, as the tagline tells you ("the most fantasmagorical Broadway musical in the history of everything!").
Set in Britain (and a fictional nation called Vulgaria) in the early 20th century, Chitty is the story of inventor Caractacus Potts and his two children, Jemima and Jeremy, who fall in love with an old race car. Potts scrounges up the money to buy the car, then spiffs it up into the fantasmagorical vehicle of the title. The kids, played at alternate performances by Aly Brier and Camille Mancuso (Jemina) and Jeremy Lipton and Zachary Carter Sayle (Jeremy) are on stage for the majority of the show. They were consummate professionals, performing their musical numbers beautifully and even keeping up their proper British accents.

My daughter and I loved the singing and dancing in this show, from the can’t-help-but-sing-along title number to the sweet ballad “Hushabye Mountain” and the lavish dance performances in “Me Ol’ Bamboo” and “The Bombie Samba.” The sets did a fine job of establishing scenes, especially Caractacus’s workshop/home and the Scrumptious candy factory. The performers (I’d single out the children and Steve Wilson as Caractacus) were spot-on in their characterization, singing, and dancing. The kids didn’t synch exactly in every dance, but to me, this made them seem more realistic—your average 9- or 10-year-old certainly couldn’t keep up with such fancy footwork.

But the real star of the show is, of course, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! The moment when Caractacus reveals his transformation of the car left us with jaws dropped. When she moved—and even flew!—we were amazed. Fittingly, Chitty gets a place of honor in the final curtain call and even takes a bow.

My 6-year-old very much enjoyed the show. Some dialogue laced with puns was over her head, which left her a little restless. And one scene involving Vulgaria’s Childcatcher has the potential to be very scary for kids, depending on their sensitivities (my daughter claimed it didn’t bother her, but it made me squirm!).

The bottom line: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, we love you!