BOSTON HERALD
'Chitty Chitty' does bang-up job
February 6, 2009
By Jenna Scherer


Generally when a children's movie gets adapted to the stage, it isn't for its improvement. Anyone who caught "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" at the Wang Theatre will recall how its big budget and beefed-up score couldn't hold a candle to the film. The same goes for the musicalized "Shrek" that recently hit Broadway.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is the exception to this rule. The theatrical adaptation of the 1968 film, currently onstage at the Wang , is 2 hours of colorful, souped-up kiddie entertainment. But unlike so many of its counterparts, "Chitty's" whimsy and non-stop exuberance don't feel forced. It may be little more than a well-greased machine, but like the titular car, it hides a beating heart beneath all those cranking gears.

At first blush, a story whose main set piece is a large automobile that drives, floats and flies may not seem ideal for staging. But the winning combination of Adrian Noble's direction and Anthony Ward's design make it not only possible, but quite a thing to witness - particularly if you happen to be younger than 12.

The stage version tells essentially the same story as Ken Hughes' film, itself loosely based on the children's book by James Bond scribe Ian Fleming. At the behest of his beloved children, English inventor Caractacus Potts (Steve Wilson) takes it upon himself to acquire and fix up a run-down jalopy. The car begins to display magical powers, attracting the attention of the evil Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria (George Dvorsky and Elizabeth Ward Land). It's up to the Potts family and candy heiress Truly Scrumptious (Kelly McCormick) to save the day.

It makes for a treacly, distracting 2 hours, filled with Rube Goldberg-style machines, colorful costumes and pointless but pleasurable dance numbers. Book adaptor/tour director Ray Roderick has added silly double entendres to engage parents, but the move comes off as slightly desperate. Fact is, even if there were nothing for adults in "Chitty," it's still unaccountably fun for us big folks to watch.

Roderick has found refreshingly watchable child actors in Jeremy Lipton and Camille Mancuso, who portray the Potts children (alternating nights with another kiddie duo). Wilson makes a sweet, silvery-voiced Caractacus, and McCormick an appropriately scrumptious Truly. On the villain side, Dvorsky and Land are sublime in "Chu-Chi Face," the Baron and Baroness' twisted love duet. As Vulgarian spies in the mold of vaudeville clowns, Dirk Lumbard and Scott Cote keep the silly factor high. And then there are the packs of trained dogs that routinely run across the stage.

For Wednesday's packed audience, however, it all boiled down to that car and its catchy little tune. They cheered at the mere sight of its shiny fenders, and even more when it sprouted wings. It's not star power in the traditional sense, but in this case it'll do just fine.


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