I may be the only person in the world who, until last night, had never seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but boy, was it worth the wait!
Being completely new to the children’s classic I had no idea what to expect when I headed down to the opening night at HMT Aberdeen, apart from the rather catchy title song.
And I would be lying if I said it was what I expected.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang brings ‘wholesome joy’ to Aberdeen
But it was nothing short of an evening packed with complete and utter wholesome joy.
It has been a long time since I have left a show sore from smiling – and that’s saying something given I was at Taylor Swift in Edinburgh on Friday night.
The stage show is adapted from the 1968 movie which was written by Roald Dahl, who in turn reinvented Ian Fleming’s original novel for the silver screen.
And while the original may be almost 60 years old, the performance we watched last night did an incredible job of staying true to the time it was written while still feeling incredibly current.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang brought back fond memories of Aberdeen pantomimes
This was achieved mainly by the beautiful staging, intricate props and puppets and hugely impressive special effects.
Couple this with the incredibly funny script and impeccable comic timing of the actors (a special shout out to Martin Callaghan, as the Baron, Jenny Gayner, as the Baroness, Adam Stafford, as Boris, and Michael Joseph as Goran) and you could easily be watching something produced for stage last year.
At times it did feel as though you could be watching an ultra-professional pantomime – and I mean this in a good way.
And for those of you familiar with Aberdeen performances it seemed all the more so with the city’s panto royalty Elaine C Smith taking up a staring role as the villain The Child Catcher.
I’m tempted to go again…
Stepping in for Adam Garcia as Caractacus Potts, understudy Callum Train did an incredible job of leading the production alongside the superb acting of Isla Ithier as Jemima Potts and Charlie McGuire as Jeremy Potts.
And of course, you can’t forget the delightful Ellie Nunn, who played Truly Scrumptious and was every bit her namesake.
All were incredibly talented and deserved the standing ovation at the end.
I for one, will no longer be a stranger to this wonderful and wacky story… I am already contemplating returning this week for another fix. I recommend you all get yourself acquainted ‘toot sweet’, too!
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