THE creators of the James Bond movies have always thought big – so when it came to give their blessing for a stage show of another of their babies –
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - they made one condition – it had to be truly scrumptious!
And this spectacular show, which comes to
Milton Keynes Theatre at the end of the month, is jaw-droppingly huge.
CCBB first appeared as a film in 1968 and starred Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes and told the enchanting tale of a madcap inventor, an evil child-catcher and a magical car.
The acclaimed Sherman Brothers came up with an unforgettable score featuring songs like Toot Sweets, Hushabye Mountain and the Oscar-nominated title track.
The stage version is every bit as enthralling.
The flying car cost £750,000, making it the most expensive stage prop ever, it was the longest running stage show at the London Palladium – and gave Edlesborough actor Joe Ashman his début at the age of 10 - it costs £3m to run the tour and has a massive wardrobe of costumes costing a cool £500,000.
Just getting the production to each venue takes 12 enormous juggernauts. There are 30 adult actors, 46 children, 14 musicians, 30 technicians and 11 dogs (with their own deluxe portable kennels) – not to mention the real star of the show - that winged car.
Stage producer Michael Rose first became enchanted with the story when he watched the film which was written by 007 author Ian Fleming and produced by Cubby Broccoli.
"The story started with me in 1992 when I first wrote a letter to the Broccolis asking to put Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on stage. It took ten years before I got it onto the London Palladium," said Rose.
"It was a huge dream come true for me because I was a big James Bond fan.
"The Broccolis think in such an enormous size and scale because they work like that for the Bond movies so they wanted to be assured this would be a really big show that would appeal to a wide range of ages and hold their attention throughout.
"We're quite faithful to the movie but before we could go into development we had to be certain of one thing – that we made sure that the car was going to fly!
"We came up with one-and-a-half tons of machinery that flies around the stage with a family encased in it and, at the Palladium, out over the first few rows of the stalls.
"We had so many computers in the auditorium, as they programme the movements of the car, it looked like an Apollo launch at Houston.
"It broke all the rules. Someone ought to have said never work with children, animals and flying cars. Luckily it only broke down three times in three-and-a-half years at the Palladium.
"The car is the real star of the show.
"There's lots of other technical tricks, like a sweet making machine and the machine that the Child Catcher uses to steal children.
"We even took the roof off the Palladium to allow the Child Catcher to be flown out – not that we're planning to do that at Milton Keynes!
"I blindly agreed to a tour and thought about how we'd do it afterwards.
"Our greatest challenge is getting the 12 pantechnicons into the theatres."
There are no big name stars in this production. Instead it features a strong West End company led by Bedford performer Darren Bennett as whacky inventor Caractacus Potts.
And the producer's favourite song ? "It has to be Hushabye Mountain.
When I saw the film, hearing Dick Van Dyke sing that number, I was absolutely transfixed and it stayed in my mind up to adulthood.
"To hear that song on stage is something else."
CCBB runs from Feb 23 until March 13. For tickets call the box office 0844 871 7652 or go on-line www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes 