CAOS Musical Theatre Company’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – 14 April 2026, Rotherham Civic Theatre
Review by Claire Stanley.
A ‘truly scrumptious’ evening with CAOS was had tonight at the Rotherham Civic, under the directorship of Jan Jackson and Musical Director Peter Piper. ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ is a classic, appealing to all audience ages with a timeless feel. The opening number at the garage owned by Coggins (Anthony Palmer), saw the two Potts children playing in a relic of a racing car, -previously a winner of the 1910 British Grand Prix. The children long to keep the car, but as we find out throughout the course of the show, the baddies also want to own “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”! The father of the children Caractacus Potts (Jonny Philip) then takes an exciting journey to entertain his children and convince us of Chitty’s magic powers, floating and flying! So it is little wonder that “Chitty” captures the hearts of Jemima and Jeremy Potts (played by Josie Higgs and Humphrey Needham respectively). These two youngsters were word perfect in every one of their scenes and gave heart-warming performances, especially in vocals during both numbers of “You Two” and “Posh”. Grandpa Potts’ character features heavily in the children’s lives and Tom Barlow gave great energy and presence to the “Posh” number which he shared with them.
Jemima and Jeremy’s lonely father is soon joined by a potential suitor, cue the roaring motorcycle entrance of ‘Truly Scrumptious’ (Fay Banks). What an entrance it is too! Between her motorcycle and the Spies’ telephone (more of those two later), this is a contender for Prop of the Night. There were a great many props to manage for this show and as the civic is not the largest stage, this must have been demanding for all stage hands. Fay Banks plays ‘Truly’ wonderfully. Her projection is sound and her singing voice has a sweet yet rich tone. We the audience are warmed to her from minute one, winning our loyalty and dazzling us with perfected doll movements and vocals during “Doll On A Music Box”. She is also well placed along with the rest of the cast into the Company Song of the Night, – “Toot Sweets”. Along with delightful involvement from all ensemble children, I thought this number had everything; group singing demonstrating everyone’s abilities, slick choreography and candy stripe costumes a plenty! The props here were utilised well especially the manoeuvring of the sweet trollies in time to the music, making the general atmosphere of the Sweet Factory uplifting. All props in this scene were bulky so Congratulations to Gaye Holmes on movement and for rising to the challenge this poised. Now back to those pesky spies! Boris (David Clayton) and Goran (Hannah Moore) are super from beginning to end. I felt that they stole most of the scenes they were in. Their performances were forever synchronised, humorous and bold. They offered a very fitting dollop of mischief to the roles and deserved every bit of audience appreciation in response to their comedic timing. When their characters decide to commit to disguise of “Gordan” and “Doris”, they establish the costume changes brilliantly, upping their comic ante. Plus, they interacted with one another without minimising their presentation to the audience. Great accents also – “Act English” was a lovely number.
Another fun pairing was the Baron and Baroness who were well co-ordinated as the bad guys. (Ben Jackson) and (Kerry Masson-Wilson) captured the goofiness of their script with playful rapport. I thought the characterisation of the Baroness was held excellently and consistently in both expression, diction and strong vocals. “Chu Chi Face” permitted great childishness from them both and (Kerry Masson-Wilson) excelled in The Bombie Samba which with the rest of the company, was a visually bright and spirited number, giving ensemble another opportunity to shine. As for supporting cast members, there were many, all suited to their characters. It is hard to choose from an array but I feel I must commend the projection and clarity that both ‘Miss Phillips’ and ‘Violet’ delivered. Their lib was clear as a bell and stood out, (Connie Hughes and Lynne Pilkington) made the very most of these parts. Congratulations to (Jan Jackson) who underscored well chosen casting.
This is a show packed with a plethora of well known favourites including the “Roses of Success”, “Me Ol’ Bamboo” and of course “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. “Roses of Success” was very amusing and showcased the chaotic inventors through witty performance and “Einstein-esque” costumes. It was engaging to see the bamboo sticks in “Me Ol Bamboo” being used not just as a prop to carry but as something to aid inventive movement too. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was a delightful song. Led by Caractacus, (who ably managed the varying technicalities of Chitty) this song’s reprises were also jolly with the audience singing along. One can always measure a show’s appeal by it’s audience enjoyment which brings me onto the production’s Ultiumate Baddie and Goodie. The Child Catcher (played by Lee Hilton-Brammer) was a quirky and spooky offering and the children were suitably scared judging by their screaming, – heard as they were carted off. The audience dispatched a boo during Lee’s bow (who also showed versatility, contributing to many other ensemble numbers). Now for the Ultimate Goodie. Chitty herself. There were three versions of her on stage tonight and she glimmered when she showed she could float and positively gleamed when we eventually got to see her fly. She is of course the true leading lady of this show and I saw many a tear brushing when she was the final “performer” to take her bow. Many Thanks CAOS for such an entertaining evening and your warm hospitality. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, we loved you!
