THE EDGE - Ft. Lauderdale
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Anthony Jones
Sunday Nov 23, 2008

It's been 40 years since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang first hit movie screens and became a perennial family favorite. Now, the musical soars into the Broward Center for the Performing Arts with a performance that shows that the classic can delight audiences even today, especially when done right, like the new tour that's hitting cities across the country throughout the next year.

The story follows Caractacus Potts, an inventor of imaginative but not always functionary machinery who is raising his two young children, Jeremy and Jemima. When Potts gets his hand on an old junkyard racing car, he brings it back to life . . . literally, as the magical vehicle floats, flies and more with a simple "please." But when Grandpa Potts is mistaken for the inventor of the vehicle and is captured, the adventure takes the Potts family and their flying car to Vulgaria, a place run by a dimwitted Baron and his Baroness where children are forbidden and are taken away by the evil Childcatcher and locked away in a castle dungeon.

The casting for the touring show is perfect, especially Steve Wilson as Caractacus Potts, filling the enormous shoes of Dick Van Dyke, who originated the role in the film. His fully-realized turn as Potts was endearing and the real emotional engine of the show (sorry, Chitty). He carries some of the shows biggest and best numbers, like the playful "Me Ol' Bamboo."

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is among the best family musicals put on stage that Disney never made. Kelly McCormick as Truly Scrumptious plays exactly the kind of sweet-natured character that can melt audience hearts. McCormick and Wilson have great chemistry together, and their "Doll on a Music Box" performance is one of the highlights of the show.

Dirk Lumbard and Scott Cote as Boris and Goran, two bumbling henchmen of the Baron and Baroness, are hilarious and provide some of the show's most comedic and seemingly unfiltered moments. George Dvorsky and Elizabeth Ward Land as the Baron and Baroness also shine in the second act with their performance of "Chu-Chi Face".

The show features a few musical numbers that don't advance the plot in any way and, if written today, would likely have been canned. However, the songs are so well written and unabashedly catchy, capturing the charm of movie musicals of yesteryear. The show's plot actually doesn't pick up until right before the end of the first Act, but when Chitty takes flight for the first time, it is awe-inspiring. I looked for some kind of robotic arm that would explain Chitty's fluid movement but there was none to be found. It might be the first time in a long time I've been stumped by a special effect.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a classic musical that's not for the cynical. It features enough jokes that fly over the kids' heads and keep adults laughing. Sadly, as perfect a family show this is, there were hardly any children in attendance. The theater was full of adults and few tots in sight, yet the show still ended in a clap-along for the final number, impressively drawing out everyone's inner child. So unless the Childcatcher is keeping children away, this is among the best family musicals put on stage that Disney never made.


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