Miami Artzine
Nov. 20, 2008
You Will Believe a Car Can Fly
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is an impressive crowd-pleaser
By Mary Damiano

When I was a little kid, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was one of my favorite movies. Every time it was on TV I watched it. I ran around singing the songs. And I was in awe of the flying car.

That awe was back as I sat in the audience at Broward Center Wednesday night, watching that tricked-out car with a mind of its own take flight. As it rose and seemed to glide through a starlit sky, it looked like something out of Star Wars when the Millennium Falcon goes at warp speed, and I half-expected to hear a John Williams anthem rise from the orchestra pit.

The first national tour of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has launched in Fort Lauderdale, and it's an impressive crowd-pleaser. In many ways it's an old-fashioned musical, with rousing production numbers and classic songs, but the technical feat of the flying car brings it into the 21st century.

Still, it's obvious that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has its origins in the late 1960s. There's a floating and flying car; a country called Vulgaria ruled by an infantile baron and his dominatrix wife; candy that makes music; a heroine with the Bond Girl-esque name Truly Scrumptious. Sometimes it feels more like an acid trip than a family musical.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the story of an eccentric single dad, Caractacus Potts, and his two adorable children, who are besotted by a junk car that once won the Grand Prix. As Potts tries to raise money needed to buy the car, two spies are also after the car, as a birthday present for their spoiled, child-like baron. Hilarity, music and some terrific dance numbers ensue.

There are deeper themes at work, including making dreams come true in an increasingly industrialized world. And for the most part, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is very entertaining, even during the scenes when the car isn't flying. It's also gorgeous to look at--the lighting and scenic design gives many scenes a 3D look. The musical's first act bounces along breezily, with terrific numbers like "Me Ol' Bamboo" and "Toots Sweet." Situations turn dark in the second act, which gets bogged down with a few numbers that do nothing to move the story along.

But that's quibbling. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a good time, and is designed to bring out the kid in all of us.


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