A few weeks ago John and I travelled to Birmingham to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Birmingham Hippodrome. I absolutely loved the film when I was younger, I would watch it everyday after school. I knew all the words and would sing along at the top of my voice. We went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang years ago and loved it but the actual reason for our visit this time was that I am a huge Carrie Hope Fletcher fan.
John booked tickets as a surprise for my birthday and I couldn't wait. The date couldn't come soon enough. When we arrived at the theatre it reminded me of the theatres that you see in New York or London. It was off the beaten track and didn't look much from the outside but inside it was a lovely, fresh and modern.
Our seats were in the stalls and we had a great view of the stage. The Saturday Matinee performance was full with people of all ages. It was so nice to see so many young children there too.
Photo Credit - Chitty The Musical
Playing the role of Caractacus Potts was Lee Mead. For those that don't know him he won the BBC talent search for Joseph in the show Any Dream Will Do. I have to say stepping in the shoes of Dick Van Dyke is hard and I am so thrilled I got to see Lee take on this role. For me he was the star of the show. His acting was flawless, his singing was effortless and there is a lovely warmth about him that made me smile every time he came on the stage. I had a tear in my eye and lump in my throat as he sang Hushabye Mountain to Jeremy and Jemima. It was so beautiful and not one person in the audience made a sound.
Photo Credit - Chitty The Musical
I have waited months and months to see Carrie as Truly Scrumptious. I follow her over on her You Tube channel and have seen sneak peeks on her costumes and her fellow cast mates. She really does the role justice. She brings an edge to Truly that is quite feisty and just like Lee her vocals are just effortless. She doesn't even look like she needs to try. The chemistry between Lee and Carrie is so real and I know he has since left the show so I wonder just how magical it is now starring Jason Manford.
The other highlights for me were Claire Sweeney and Phil Jupitus as the Bombursts. We have not seen Phil in anything before so didn't know what to expect. He plays the character so well, he had the audience in stitches and he suited the role perfectly. Claire Sweeney is from my home town and I love watching her live on stage. We saw her in Hairspray and now Chitty and she always excels in the roles. The Chu Chi Face song was fabulous.
Photo Credit - Chitty The Musical
A special mention to Scott Paige who is just hilarious as Goran (The Bombursts spy) he really got the audience laughing. Also the chilling and quite scary Childcatcher was amazing.
The actual production was so more advanced than last time we saw it. There were projections of scenery on the stage and the way the Chitty car flew through the night was so much better than last time.
It was clear a lot of effort has gone in to this production and for us we saw the perfect cast.
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