Where - Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
When – Opening Night, Saturday 02 February 2013.
Reviewer - Joe Calleri
Stars – 3.
Stars – 3.
Full Disclosure -
I attended the opening night of this production on a complimentary ticket as the guest of a media
invitee.
What a curious and ultimately unsatisfying show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is. Born from the fertile imagination of James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, this part pantomime, part farce, part grand spectacle, big budget musical theatre production sadly lacks cohesion, leaving one with a nagging feeling in the pit of one’s stomach that, something is not quite right.
Where to lay the blame? In my view, Roger Hodgman’s stodgy, unimaginative
direction, and David Hobson’s overly-restrained portrayal of the mad-cap inventor, Caractacus
Potts, are the chief culprits. Hodgman allows so many embarrassing
pancake-flat spots to permeate the production, especially in the first half that, at
one point I thought I was watching a drama. Honestly, the
audience was so quiet and unmoved that, you could have heard a pin drop. Such
silence is unforgiveable in a musical comedy, and the discomfort felt by the
cast was, in my view, palpable.
Hobson on the other hand, possesses a brilliant, powerful singing voice that is beyond reproach, and he can certainly dance, but his acting lacks passion and conviction.
Hobson on the other hand, possesses a brilliant, powerful singing voice that is beyond reproach, and he can certainly dance, but his acting lacks passion and conviction.
The other main issue for this production is that, it is impossible
to not compare it to the vastly superior, Mary Poppins, also written by the
brilliant Sherman brothers, Richard and Robert. Some of the ensemble dance
scenes and songs are overly reminiscent of those seen and heard during Mary
Poppins, but with the exception of the title theme, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (to
which the audience happily claps along), nowhere near as memorable.
On the shorter plus-side of the ledger, we have the non-human star
of this production, the remarkably intelligent, flying, 1920’s racing car, Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang. A joy to behold, and on its own worth the price of admission. Priced
at just over $1 million, it’s also, apparently, the world’s most expensive
stage prop. But, in my mind, one prop car – however spectacular - does not a successful
show make.
The bright, colourful costumes and gorgeous high chroma,
cartoon-like sets (both by Anthony Ward), do, however, present wonderful visual
feasts for the eyes.
A mangy group of dogs running across the stage not surprisingly wins
the night’s best laughs, as do the bumbling Vulgarian spies, Goran (George Kapiniaris)
and Boris (Todd Goddard), and the wonderfully over the top Baroness Bomburst
(Jennifer Vuletic) steals every scene in which she appears.
Rachael Beck sings like an angel and is suitably sweetly
demeanoured as the improbably named, Truly Scrumptious, Potts’ love interest.
Finally, I've included some of the images I took during the January 31, 2013 media call for this production.
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| Tyler Coppin, The Child Catcher. |
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