When Ian Fleming first wrote Chitty, it was for his son Casper. Based on a real car named Chitty owned by Prince Zborowski, the story Fleming wrote was one of adventure and fantasy inspired by a career in the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty and his job working on newspapers before and after the Second Word War. Fleming wrote about what he loved, cars, spies and adventure.
Since it was first published in 1964, it has been on our screens and theatre stages across the land. Now it is the Liverpool Empire's turn to house the mammoth cast and crew needed to stage this breathtaking production.
Caractacus Potts (Darren Bennett) lives with his two young children and Granddad Potts (John Griffiths). Jeremy (Elliot Allinson) and Jemima (Rachel Corrigan) never ask for anything from their father, but they have fallen in love with an old battered car that they have been playing with in Mr Coggins scrap yard.
The car was famous once, the winner of the British Grand Prix many times. The children are horrified when they discover that Mr Coggins has agreed to sell the car for scrap. After much nagging from his children and a stroke of luck, Caractacus finds the money needed to rescue the car and after many hours of work hidden away in his workshop, he presents the polished car to his children. A run in with Truly Scrumptious (Katie Ray) makes the day complete and they persuade her to join them for a family picnic. Climbing into the car and switching on the engine, they discover that it makes funny noises... "Chitty Chitty", followed by two loud bangs.
Baron Bomburst (Edward Peel) is determined to get his hands on the car. What he wants he always gets and he has heard of the reputation of the car in Mr Coggins’s junkyard. His wife, the Baroness (Kim Ismay) sets two of the best spies on the job, Boris (Richard Ashton) and Goran (Nigel Garton) and orders them to find and bring back the car to Vulgaria.
The show is packed full of the old familiar songs that most of us have grown up with. It was very hard to try and stop my foot from tapping and singing along with the favourites, ‘Toot Sweets’ and ‘Hushabye Mountain.’ Twelve year old Elliot Allinson and eight year old Rachel Corrigan gave solid and confident performances as the Potts children, and looked perfectly at home on the stage.
The set is colourful, although nothing too over the top to distract the audience from the many costumes of the fabulous ensemble.
The real star of the show is, of course, Chitty. She simply glides through the air with a backdrop of shining stars. If there's one thing guaranteed to give you goose bumps, it's a flying car.
‘Chitty Chiity Bang Bang’ is a must see for all the family. From young to old there is something for everyone in this jam-packed show.
9/10
‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ is on at the Liverpool Empire Theatre until the 17th July. Contact box office on 0844 499 6677 for tickets.
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