PUBLIC REVIEW

For: Wexford Musical Society

Production: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Venue: National Opera House, Wexford

Credits: Richard Sherman & Robert Sherman

Adjudicator: Tony McCleane-Fay

Date: 3 May 2019

From Vulgaria With Love

A rousing production of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Wexford Light
Opera, with terrific musical direction by Fintan Cleary, wondrous choral direction by
Eithne Corrigan, creative choreography by Nicole McDonald and efficient direction
by Thomas O’Leary.

Written longhand by James Bond author, Ian Fleming for his then twelve-year old
son, The Magic Car, was a sort of James Bond for kids. Sadly, Fleming died before
the stories were published as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, named after a series of real
cars, invented by Louis Zborowski in the 1920’s, which is when the musical is set.
Apparently, Roald Dahl who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film, invented the
character of the Child Catcher and the country Vulgaria, where the second act takes
place – they were not in the original stories. The plot reads like a pantomime version
of a James Bond story!

Widower, Caractacus Potts, an inventor, and his two children Jeremy and Jemima
join up with Sweet Factory heiress Truly Scrumptious aboard Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang, a resourcefully sentient car, to rescue Grandpa Potts from the nasty Baron
Bomburst, who rules Vulgaria with his wife who hates children.

Caractacus Potts, a self-styled inventor, was played by Pete McCamley as an

amiable character who clearly missed his late wife but was doing his best for his
children. However, it was clearly not good enough as his inventions always
malfunctioned, and the children played truant with his knowledge. Mr McCamley
gave a good performance and was quite believable in the role, his onstage
relationship with Jeremy and Jemima was quite credible and natural. His singing,
however, was a bit laboured and he seemed to struggle with some of the songs.
“You Two”, his first song was a little underpowered, and on “Toot Sweets”, we could
hardly hear his contribution but on “Hushabye Mountain”, he paced the song well
and sang it with a nice warmth and sentiment. His Caractacus was a nice genial
character and his relationship with Truly was quite finely drawn.
As Truly Scrumptious, who happens along on a motorbike and accidently invades
the Potts family, Aileen Donohue’s Truly was like a character out of a Famous Five
novel, she was feisty, courageous and yet quite maternal to Potts’ children. Her
performance of “Lovely Lonely Man” demonstrated a fabulous voice and was a
showstopper. “Truly Scrumptious” with Jeremy and Jemima was absolutely charming
and Ms O’Donohue’s voice blended beautifully with the children’s singing. Her diction
and enunciation were splendid as was her accent. A truly wonderful interpretation
which made the character very engaging.

Jeremy and Jemima were played by Hugh O’Brien and Grace Goggins. They both
captured the essence of these pre-war children. Their opening scene in the old
Chitty was excellent and they established an endearing relationship with Caractacus
and Grandpa. Their singing was harmonious and very confident on all of their songs,
particularly “You Two” with Caractacus and “Posh” with Grandpa.

As Grandpa, Pat Lawlor commanded the stage. He showed the character’s warmth
with Caractacus and the children and his sense of humour with the Baron. His song
“Posh” with Jeremy and Jemima was perfectly presented, strident yet humorous. On
“The Roses of Success” with the Inventors, who were hilarious, his slapstick was
excellent as was his singing. A fine, funny and at times, subtle, performance.

Des Whelan played two characters in this show; Lord Scrumptious and Baron
Bomburst. As Lord Scrumptious, Truly’s father and owner of Toot Sweets a sweet
factory, he was dismissive of Potts and quite sarcastic but showed a boyish delight
when Caractacus’s invention (a whistling sweet) sang. As the Baron, he played him
as a spoilt child, demanding toys and parties. Mr Whelan had a very strong stage
presence and sang well on “Chu-Chi Face” with his Baroness, played with child-
hating hysteria by Elisabeth Rose Browne. Ms Brown played the Baroness as the
polar opposite of the Baron. She was quick tempered, flirtatious and smart. She had
a fine voice on “Chu-Chi Face” and was quite good on “The Bombie Samba” where
she also danced quite well. Ms Browne also played Lord Scrumptious’ secretary, Mrs
Higgins, with a fine officious and snooty demeanour.

The Baron’s henchmen, who were charged with kidnapping Caractacus so he could
build a fancy car for the Baron, were so incompetent that they snatched Grandpa
instead. Played with an unmitigated glee; Gearóid McCauley as Boris and George
Lawlor as Goran made a fine comedy duo and were very funny. Disguising
themselves to pass as proper Englishmen they sang “Act English” with great comic
timing and verve. Popping up throughout the show in various disguises the two
actors clearly had a lot of fun with their roles, which was infectious for the audience.

On arriving in Vulgaria, Grandpa’s rescuers met The Toymaker, a maker of toys(!),

but not for kids, as children were banned in this country, but for the Baron. Played
with a geniality by Brian O’Gorman, who portrayed the character as the most-sane
person in Vulgaria. Secreting the Vulgarian children underground in the sewers, he
fed and looked after them. Mr O’Gorman’s Toymaker had a genuine kindness and
also sang quite well on “Teamwork”. He also played Mr Goggins, the garage owner
where Chitty was stored. Again, a good characterisation of the benevolent mechanic.
The Baroness employed a scarecrow-like character, the Child Catcher, to round up
and imprison all of the children in this horrid land. This character was a black-clad,
hook-nosed, spider-like man who engendered fear into everybody in Vulgaria.
Played by John Crosbie, who stalked about the stage like a preternatural demon, this
was a very fine performance. Mr Crosbie intimidated the Toymaker and tricked
Jeremy and Jemima by offering free sweets. He also played the Junkman early on in
the show, who offered thirty shillings to Goggins for the wrecked Chitty car. As the
Junkman, he was equally as convincing, unsettling Jeremy and Jemima as he
shouted at them. A strong performance from Mr Crosbie.

The ensemble played many different roles, all with a lovely energy. They also
demonstrated wonderful stagecraft, the Turkey Farmer’s spirit-gummed beard came
loose as he mentioned that he was going to make a fortune from Caractacus’ hair
cutting machine and quickly declared that he was going to buy a new beard with
some of the money he’d make! Choreography was looked after by Nicole McDonald
and she created some lovely moments on stage. “Toot Sweets” was nicely moved
with a huge dance ensemble as was “The Bombie Samba” and the opening, with
some of the ensemble moving in harmony behind a gauze that looked splendid. “Me
Ol’ Bamboo” was a spectacular feast for the eyes and even had a bit of Morris
dancing. Aileen O’Donohoe’s robotic doll-like moves in “Doll on A Music Box” were
brilliantly choreographed too.

The music in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is quite infectious, with ear-worming tunes and
some great orchestrations. Fintan Cleary’s arrangements of the score were quite
uplifting, evocative of the famous English composers of old. Big brass and
percussion sound with warm woodwind and keyboard fills, the twelve-piece
orchestra resonated around the perfect acoustic of the Opera House. Chorus
mistress / répétiteur, Eithne Corrigan’s work with the ensemble and off-stage chorus
was stunning. Ms Corrigan managed to elicit harmonies on some of the songs I
didn’t realise were there! The performances of title song, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”
became bigger and more harmonious on each reprise. The children’s chorus on
“Teamwork” was fabulous and even the comic ditty “The Rose of Success” was
superbly drilled. “The Vulgarian National Anthem” sounded authentic, like a Roger
Wagner Chorale. Outstanding work from Ms Corrigan and Mr Cleary.

Set design by Ben Hennessy was quite elaborate and very well finished and
dressed. The Pott’s house in particular was very well rendered. Lighting by Aidan
McGrath was well-designed and cued and sound by Jason Fallon was excellent with
some nice high-quality sound effects. Costumes were co-ordinated by Anne Reck
and were suitable for the show as was make-up by Elle Doyle, which looked great on
the Child Catcher especially. Stage manager Colin Murphy controlled everything with
finesse and the transitions were good.

Wexford Light Opera’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a show full of fun and the
audience loved it. The car, hired from Blue Chill in the U.K. was perfect and drove,
floated and flew with impeccable mechanical elegance. Thomas O’Leary’s direction
was good, with some nice little touches and there were some dazzling performances
from the principals and ensemble. A very good production of a feel-good show.

Tony McCleane-Fay, May 2019.