Review: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, King's Theatre, Glasgow, 19 October 2016

Caractacus Potts is a single father to two children with wild imaginations. After playing in an old race car in a scrapyard, they convince their father to buy it himself and transform it back to way it was before. However, Baron Bomburst has decided that he wants the car for himself and will stop at nothing to get it.

The star-studded cast is led by Jason Manford, who is exceptional in the role of inventor Caractacus Potts. He portrays the dedicated father beautifully and has a wonderful singing voice. Phill Jupitus is as comical as you would expect as Baron Bomburst, a grown man with a slightly questionable enthusiasm for toys.

Special mention has to go to Claire Sweeney, outstanding as Baroness Bomburst. While the role has been well written with some excellent one-liners, it is her vocal ability, especially during "The Bombie Samba", that really cranks this production up a notch. Jos Vantyler's Child Catcher is the thing of nightmares. Employed to round up and dispose of any children in Vulgaria (where children are forbidden) he even brings terror to those who are well past the age of capture...

As touring productions are so often scaled down I had expected the special effects of the car to be portrayed with a projector or something similar. But much to the audience's delight, the close of Act One is nothing short of spectacular, as Chitty defies gravity above the stage.

The song and dance numbers are performed on a large scale and are West End quality. Although it isn't as much of a lavish performances as the likes of "Me Ol' Bamboo", the song that got the best reception was the neverending earworm of a title track "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which I imagine will be stuck in my head for the next month or so.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang attracts a family audience and manages to enthral every single person in the theatre. Truly magnificent and completely magical.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at the King's Theatre, Glasgow until Saturday 29 October.

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