‘Me ol’ bam-boo, me ol’ bam-boo.’ Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang, New Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds. 23.1.2016

I had sadly missed out on a concert that was being performed by my favourite west ender in October as I had a full run through rehearsal of Sunset booked for that day, so I was not going to let this time seeing him pass, even if it did mean driving 4 and a half hours to do so.

Jon Robyns announced that he would be finishing performing in Memphis at the beginning of October, the reason being that he had landed the leading man of Caractacus Potts in the famous Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, performing at the New Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. Now knowing it was due for its tour but sadly Jon would not be driving along with it, as like most tours they have to bring in a Celebrity to the cast to try and get the ticket sales up when traveling which I believe is going to be Jason Manford, and then Lee Mead will be taking over at some point. So it was a given that a road trip was in order for me and Hayleigh. We had booked the tickets in November along with the tickets to Miss Saigon, and luckily we booked a hotel when it was on Black Friday so we got a brilliant deal on our room for Travelodge!

Now I had never been as far North as Leeds, and I have never been to this City, we travelled up early on the Saturday and arrived around 15.30 in the city, we parked, booked into the hotel, had a rest before heading for a bite to eat. We were really excited, well I was being that I hadn’t seen Jon perform since January last year when he was performing as Huey. So after our bellies were fed it was time to head over to the Theatre.

New Yorkshire Theatre reminded me a lot of Chichester Theatre, it has a huge foyer, and when you enter the Theatre it is slightly in the round. there were a lot of people and especially children which was lovely to see, as I know that when I finally have children they will be joining me all the time to the theatre! We paid £40 for our tickets at were seated in Row A, and we could not complain about the view, but again looking around the theatre, I don’t think that any seats that you were placed or bought you would be disappointed, as you can see from the photo of Chitty at the end of the show when we were leaving the arena. But I was very happy as to where I was seated, and plenty of leg room for all!

 

 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the story of Caractacus Potts a widowed father, and inventor who just want what’s best for his two children. HIs two children wish for him to buy him a run down racing car, that they love to play on. True to his word Caractacus achieves the purchase of the car, even with the bumps in between including a sweet factory where he meets Truly Scrumptious, and a town fair bawl due to a bad hair cut! Caractacus transforms that run down vehicle and turns it into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, named from the sound of engine it makes. To celebrate they take a trip to the seaside, and find Truly on the way who kindly accepts their invitation to join them. But little due they know that lurking in the bushes are the spies for Vulgeria’s Baron who wants Chitty all to himself, and when Caractacus’s potty father gets kidnap, they venture to Vulgeria on a rescue mission and discover its a lot more than they bargained for.

Again the story is very well known, having made famous from the film starring Dick Van Dyke, and included in the musical are many of the same songs such as ‘You Two’ ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ but also include a few new ones for the musical, as well brand new songs all together that were not in the first West End show, such as ‘Lovely Lonely Man’ that truly sings in Act 2, which I feel has replaced the Child Catchers number ‘Kiddy-Widdie-Winkies’ so it was a brand new take on the story and musical to an extent.

The set was simple, and well planned as most of the settings and effects were done with visuals reflected onto the set, which was supported by the white background, it gave a great flow to the show, and also would bring magic to the stage. It was great to see how much can be done with so little surroundings, but it allowed you to have focus on the actors, and the story being told.

We were lucky to have the full cast in for the performance and they were as follows:

Caractacus Potts – Jon Robyns

Truly Scrumptious – Amy Griffiths

Baron Bomburst/Lord Scrumptious – Don Gallagher

Baroness Bomburst/Miss Phillips – Tamsin Carroll

Grandpa Potts – Andy Hockley

Boris – Sam Harrison

Goran – Scott Paige

Junkman/The Child Catcher – Stephen Matthews

Bill Coggins/The Toymaker – Ewen Cummins

Jeremy – Henry Kent

Jemima – Caitlin Surtees

Now you all know that there is definitely one performer I have seen on that list, but other than that one it was my first time seeing them perform, however one performer in the Ensemble Jade Davies, I noticed straight away in the programme, as she performed as Cosette in Les Miserables when I saw it in December 2013.

First comments go to the comedy spies of the night Boris, and Goran played by Scott, and Sam, they brought laughter to the audience, and you knew they were enjoying their parts when one stage. There number ‘Act English’ was one of the favourites of Act One, and not only did they have the children laughing to it, but also the adults with the cheeky adults would only understand jokes. They were a delight to watch, and worked well as a pair playing off one another, and I loved that they broke the fourth wall and interacted with the audience, the only ones who were able to by the looks of things.

The Baron, and Baroness were also brilliant pair performed by Don and Tasmin, and I loved Tasmin’s portrayal of the Baroness in particular, she reminded me of a actress from a film but for the life of me I can’t remember put my finger on it, but you could see her influences to her character were from many Disney villians in some ways, such as the down on her luck with wanting her way but not getting it.

The Childcatcher a well known villain that everyone remembers was played by Stephen Matthews and I love how they made him appear a lot bigger than he was by the shadows of his hands and frame projected onto the set as if overpowering everyone so they would not be able to get away if they tried. The only thing I can say was I didn’t like what they had done with his face makeup it looked very much like a Mexican skull Halloween make up job, and I felt that they could of made him look like the one in the film drawn and skinny which everyone was frightened of, but that being said he still scared the children in the audience and if a child catcher hasn’t achieved that then you know your in the wrong role.

Ewan Cummins the friendly toymaker, was warming and sweet. He had a friendly presence on stage that made you trust him, and when he helped the children you could see he enjoyed performing with them all including Jeremy and Jemina. The two children actors were superb and never stopped acting, they would be reacting to what was said and never let their guard down, you could tell why they were cast, and again I can’t help but be jealous of them having this amazing dream of being on stage, that only I could have wished for.

Now onto the leading Man and Lady. Truly Scrumptious was Amy Griffiths, a strong feminist role who can take after herself but still falls in love with the hero and you could see that relationship form, and how Truly slowly lets her guard down after she meets Caractacus and the children. Amy was brilliant for truly and I loved her outfits, her song ‘Lovely Lonely Man’ was warming to listen to and you just egged her on to be with Caractacus. Which you can understand when the main man is Jon Robyns, I can’t fault this performer I really can’t, and I loved watching him, he just looked like he was having so much fun on the stage and not cause he gets to play with cars, but performing with the children too. His rendition of ‘Hushaby Mountain’ was really sweet, and I never knew Jon could dance as well as he does because I would like to see Jason Manford pull off Me Ol Bamboo because it looked a challenge but Jon just flew through it with a smile on his face. We waited in the foyer after the show, as we were made aware that there was no stage door at the theatre but Jon and cast tend to come out into the bar. It was great to actually meet him again, and this time get a chance to talk to him for some time before we left for the hotel. He thanked us for coming up, and I was honoured that he remembered I was performed in Sunset asking me how it went and that the Churchill is a brilliant place to perform (having performed himself in Spamalot’s Tour).

Having that chat just shows how much Jon appreciated his supporters and just makes me continue to see him in whatever he performs in, as with Chitty closing in Leeds soon he has just been announced as the new Emmett in Legally Blonde performing at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. So yep road trip in April, May is on the cards just got to get the plans together! We said our goodbyes and wished him well before heading back to the hotel after a lovely evening of entertainment. Unfortunately Jon was the only performer we saw as many had passed as we are talking but who knows I may get a chance to see them some other time.

Its disappointing to see that many of these cast members will not be continuing performing on the tour when it hits the road, as they were such a strong Cast that worked really well together to tell a brilliant story, but as I said before they need A List stars to get the bum on seats which is sad when people are missing out on some amazing talent that they just wont get to see. But that’s not to say the new cast wont be good, and if you get the chance to see it, if its coming to a theatre near you then go, especially if you have children as it would be a brilliant first viewing for any age! Its a classic story that everyone knows and its great to see the magic come to life in front of you, I mean how many performances do you go to that actually have a curtain call for a car?

So get your tickets now!