Broadway Watch - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Fri, 29 Apr 2005, 12:04 pmWalter Plinge1 post in thread
Broadway Watch - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Fri, 29 Apr 2005, 12:04 pmChitty Chitty Bang Bang
Music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams
Directed by Adrian Noble
Opened 28th April 2005
Extracts from various reviewers:
“Once upon a time, some of the best show tunes saluted great characters played by great stars. Now they salute great props. Yet it says something about the dearth of humanity in this year's Broadway musicals that one such object - calling it inanimate isn't exactly appropriate - and the praises sung about it provide the most stirring and memorable thrills of the season.”
“To the exultant, near-rhapsodic strains of the title song - like the rest of the score, composed by brothers Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman - Chitty sails over the stage and the first few rows of the theater, while the audience responds with deservedly enthusiastic cheers and applause. And when the car and its passengers vanish behind the swiftly descending curtain to send the audience giddily into intermission, the verdict is absolute: It's the most genuinely electric moment of the Broadway musical season. But it really is all about the car.”
“…the only two cast members projecting personalities roughly on par with Chitty's are Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell. As Baron and Baroness Bomburst, the rulers of Vulgaria who will stop at nothing to capture Chitty and every child within their nation's borders, they relish every line, chew every bit of scenery, and overact with gleeful abandon. But this show needs over-the-top, it needs unique, and that's what Kudisch and Maxwell so gloriously provide. His lightning-quick oscillations between threatening and childish, her dry-as-the-Sahara line readings and anguished wails, and the second-act baby-talk duet ("Chu-Chi-Face") they share give the show the lively zest it's otherwise missing.”
“And who can forget the title song? Who can ever forget the title song? One of the most maddeningly addictive tunes composed in the last 50 years, the bouncy, fast-paced number is - by dint of its ingratiatingly simplistic music and lyrics and weak competition from the tunes in shows like Brooklyn and Little Women - one of the standout songs of the season. And it doesn't hurt that's always sung at appearances of that wonderful car, itself thoroughly unforgettable.”
“The rest of the show, though, is disposable, a fun enough time for children and adults that hits its marks well - if intermittently - but won't trouble your thoughts for very long afterwards. And yes, it has magical moments: Even if for only a few seconds, you'll believe a car can fly. But aren't real emotions what we want and need from theatre, even theatre like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? As long as Peter Pan is produced, it won't be difficult for families to find a show that truly flies in more ways than one.”
Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray
“At the end of the first act of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a car fitted out with wings and other accoutrements rises from the stage and hovers over the front of the orchestra. Big deal! At the Act II finale, the fancy-shmancy car lifts off again. Ho-hum. These are the only two times when anything lifts off in the musical. No, wait: Jan Maxwell, playing a somnolent baroness who abhors children, utters two extremely funny lines that serve the dual purpose of getting overdue laughs and, less fortunately, throwing into relief the dismal level of the rest of the tuner's humor.”
“These visual and audio moments are, of course, substitutes for the hallmarks of previous top-notch musicals that delighted kids from three to 93: imaginative songs, outstanding libretti, creative choreography, and big-hearted, scintillating performances.”
“Except for Maxwell's trouping and some intermittently agreeable turns by other performers, such ingredients are nowhere to be found in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang… The sole qualification for large-budget productions nowadays is that they present something tried and true -- or, what the hey, tried and trite.”
“While the heavies are called Vulgarians, it's the show itself that looks and feels vulgar… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang joins a list of musicals put together by people who don't seem to care for quality, only for commercial potential.”
“The show includes an icky duet titled "Chu-Chi Face," sung by the baron and baroness... In 1913, Irving Berlin -- one of the myriad Broadway songwriters who are spinning in their graves right now -- wrote a number called "Snookey Ookums," which goes in part: "All night long he calls her Snookey Ookums, all night long the neighbors shout, 'Cut it out! Cut it out! Cut it out!' " You may find yourself wanting to shout the same repeated phrase to the battalion of opportunists behind Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
“Never mind the flying car… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang offers as much bang as your buck(s) could want. It's overstuffed and undisciplined, it seems to make up the plot as it goes along, about a third of the songs in it are negligible, and you leave the theater thinking you might actually go back when your relatives come to town in the fall.”
“…this latest London import is likely to earn the ire of anyone bemoaning Broadway's reliance on spectacle, and they'd have a good argument. But… Chitty has enough laughs, flash, toe-tappers and scene-stealers to delight families more often than it will bore them.”
“In a new landmark for Broadway special effects, Chitty even gets the final bow, which may drive the chandelier and helicopter to drink.”
“In theory, the combination of stage tricks, vaudeville turns, scary bad guys, cute kids and vibrator jokes should result in an unholy mess. In real life, or what passes for real life in a Broadway megamusical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang falls somewhere between guilty pleasure and giddy shambles.”
“Worth giving yourself over to for two and a half hours? (I'm still thinking about it.) Sure. Go. Clap. Smile. Forgive. Enjoy.”
Broadway.Com – Eric Grode
Next Broadway Musical opening – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – 2nd May
Music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams
Directed by Adrian Noble
Opened 28th April 2005
Extracts from various reviewers:
“Once upon a time, some of the best show tunes saluted great characters played by great stars. Now they salute great props. Yet it says something about the dearth of humanity in this year's Broadway musicals that one such object - calling it inanimate isn't exactly appropriate - and the praises sung about it provide the most stirring and memorable thrills of the season.”
“To the exultant, near-rhapsodic strains of the title song - like the rest of the score, composed by brothers Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman - Chitty sails over the stage and the first few rows of the theater, while the audience responds with deservedly enthusiastic cheers and applause. And when the car and its passengers vanish behind the swiftly descending curtain to send the audience giddily into intermission, the verdict is absolute: It's the most genuinely electric moment of the Broadway musical season. But it really is all about the car.”
“…the only two cast members projecting personalities roughly on par with Chitty's are Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell. As Baron and Baroness Bomburst, the rulers of Vulgaria who will stop at nothing to capture Chitty and every child within their nation's borders, they relish every line, chew every bit of scenery, and overact with gleeful abandon. But this show needs over-the-top, it needs unique, and that's what Kudisch and Maxwell so gloriously provide. His lightning-quick oscillations between threatening and childish, her dry-as-the-Sahara line readings and anguished wails, and the second-act baby-talk duet ("Chu-Chi-Face") they share give the show the lively zest it's otherwise missing.”
“And who can forget the title song? Who can ever forget the title song? One of the most maddeningly addictive tunes composed in the last 50 years, the bouncy, fast-paced number is - by dint of its ingratiatingly simplistic music and lyrics and weak competition from the tunes in shows like Brooklyn and Little Women - one of the standout songs of the season. And it doesn't hurt that's always sung at appearances of that wonderful car, itself thoroughly unforgettable.”
“The rest of the show, though, is disposable, a fun enough time for children and adults that hits its marks well - if intermittently - but won't trouble your thoughts for very long afterwards. And yes, it has magical moments: Even if for only a few seconds, you'll believe a car can fly. But aren't real emotions what we want and need from theatre, even theatre like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? As long as Peter Pan is produced, it won't be difficult for families to find a show that truly flies in more ways than one.”
Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray
“At the end of the first act of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a car fitted out with wings and other accoutrements rises from the stage and hovers over the front of the orchestra. Big deal! At the Act II finale, the fancy-shmancy car lifts off again. Ho-hum. These are the only two times when anything lifts off in the musical. No, wait: Jan Maxwell, playing a somnolent baroness who abhors children, utters two extremely funny lines that serve the dual purpose of getting overdue laughs and, less fortunately, throwing into relief the dismal level of the rest of the tuner's humor.”
“These visual and audio moments are, of course, substitutes for the hallmarks of previous top-notch musicals that delighted kids from three to 93: imaginative songs, outstanding libretti, creative choreography, and big-hearted, scintillating performances.”
“Except for Maxwell's trouping and some intermittently agreeable turns by other performers, such ingredients are nowhere to be found in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang… The sole qualification for large-budget productions nowadays is that they present something tried and true -- or, what the hey, tried and trite.”
“While the heavies are called Vulgarians, it's the show itself that looks and feels vulgar… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang joins a list of musicals put together by people who don't seem to care for quality, only for commercial potential.”
“The show includes an icky duet titled "Chu-Chi Face," sung by the baron and baroness... In 1913, Irving Berlin -- one of the myriad Broadway songwriters who are spinning in their graves right now -- wrote a number called "Snookey Ookums," which goes in part: "All night long he calls her Snookey Ookums, all night long the neighbors shout, 'Cut it out! Cut it out! Cut it out!' " You may find yourself wanting to shout the same repeated phrase to the battalion of opportunists behind Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
“Never mind the flying car… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang offers as much bang as your buck(s) could want. It's overstuffed and undisciplined, it seems to make up the plot as it goes along, about a third of the songs in it are negligible, and you leave the theater thinking you might actually go back when your relatives come to town in the fall.”
“…this latest London import is likely to earn the ire of anyone bemoaning Broadway's reliance on spectacle, and they'd have a good argument. But… Chitty has enough laughs, flash, toe-tappers and scene-stealers to delight families more often than it will bore them.”
“In a new landmark for Broadway special effects, Chitty even gets the final bow, which may drive the chandelier and helicopter to drink.”
“In theory, the combination of stage tricks, vaudeville turns, scary bad guys, cute kids and vibrator jokes should result in an unholy mess. In real life, or what passes for real life in a Broadway megamusical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang falls somewhere between guilty pleasure and giddy shambles.”
“Worth giving yourself over to for two and a half hours? (I'm still thinking about it.) Sure. Go. Clap. Smile. Forgive. Enjoy.”
Broadway.Com – Eric Grode
Next Broadway Musical opening – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – 2nd May