Strictly for the kiddies...

Tonight we took the kids to see the touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Ohio Theatre. We try to make an effort to get the kids to the theatre at least once a year and this one seemed perfect. We all love the movie version and the kids would already know much of the music. We also lucked out because all the tickets for tonight's performance were half off - due to a promotion called Kids Night on Broadway. We were surprised that the place wasn't packed. There were many empty seats on the floor...which is where we were.

Much like the touring production of Beauty & the Beast, this show is strictly for the kids. Though they throw in a new song here or there, it is basically the movie but live. The actors were adequate (with the exception of Kelly McCormick who shined as Truly Scrumptious) but I found myself wondering about two songs in if we had mistakenly walked in on a JV production instead of a professional touring company. Scene changes were obvious, off-stage actors could be seen hiding behind props and the acting was pretty wooden. Steve Wilson's (as Potts the Inventor) microphone was poorly glued to his forehead and the whole night I kept thinking he had food or something stuck to him from the breakfast scene which starts the play. It was really distracting! Plus it didn't seem to help at all because I could barely hear him at times...though I am hard of hearing in one ear to be fair. The kids also had some trouble understanding the dialogue at first because the obviously American actors were pretending to be British.

There were some bright spots - "Me Ol'Bamboo", "Doll on a Music Box" & of course "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ." Some of the sets were nice as well. The biggest draw - Chitty herself - didn't disappoint. She really looked like the one in the movie, and they did a nice job with the flying and driving scenes.

My kids enjoyed it, and so did other kids old enough to sit through a 2 1/2 hour performance. Brandon loved how they used real dogs in the show. If all they did was have this little pack of dogs run back and forth across the stage all night, I think he would have been happy. My daughter really liked the vaudeville spies Boris & Goran...but she was wise enough to realize their slapstick was only there to kill time between scenes. Some of their jokes were a bit risque - and indeed the Baron & Baroness' behavior bordered on inappropriate at times as well. The crowd at our show seemed willing to clap over anything...which makes it fun for the kids, but annoying to those who are more serious about their theatre.

The touring company also fell victim to pandering to the audience in the cheapest of ways - mentioning the Buckeyes and actually getting the audience to do the whole O-H-I-O. I hate that. I loathe that. I want to get up and leave because of that. Theatre does not need to do this. Our town is sophisticated enough to enjoy the show without it. They did it in Wicked and they beat it to death in Spamalot. Boo hiss...


I'd give the production a B-/C+. I would recommend it for anyone with kids 6-12, but everyone else should just buy the film on DVD.