Movie Classic Hits The Stage

THE fantasmagorical flying car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is taking to the air again tonight in the first stage version of the movie classic.

The musical is opening at the London Palladium with Michael Ball in the lead role as wacky inventor Caractacus Potts. He takes on the part played by Dick Van Dyke in the 1968 film which gave a generation of children sleepless nights at the thought of The Child Catcher.

In the adaptation of Ian Fleming's classic story, Potts invents a flying car which takes him and his family to the faraway kingdom of Vulgaria, where children are outlawed.

The role of The Child Catcher is played by Rocky Horror Show star Richard O'Brien, while Brian Blessed, Anton Rodgers and Nichola McAuliffe also make up the cast. It is directed by Adrian Noble, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and features 18-year-old newcomer Emma Williams as Truly Scrumptious.

Author not available, Movie classic hits the stage. , Evening Telegraph, 04-16-2002, pp