OFFICIAL "Chitty" Review Thread..

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 5:55pm

Just thought I'd start this for people to post reviews as they come out and to discuss the reviews. Personally, I'm thinking the show will be hit hard, but the performers might get some really nice notices especially Esparza, Kudisch and Maxwell....
Curtain should be going up very soon.....

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 5:59pm

Broadway.com is... well... Sure. Go. Clap. Smile. Forgive. Enjoy. is that good?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:00pm

It's up?

Damn, guess I should take a peek.

Fly, Chitty! Half an hour.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:02pm

F*CKing Hell. There's an error and I can't see the review.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:04pm

http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=511253

"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. "The most fantasmagorical stage musical in the history of everything," as the poster breathlessly promises? Depending on what's playing at the New Victory Theatre next door and if The Lion King has a show that night, it's the third most fantasmawhateverical show on the block. Worth giving yourself over to for two and a half hours?

(I'm still thinking about it.)

Sure. Go. Clap. Smile. Forgive. Enjoy."

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:04pm

Broadway.com is Positive:

Never mind the flying car. With a dozen kids, almost as many dogs, a flying outhouse and a harness effect that makes Jane Krakowski's entrance in Nine look like an Oshkosh Rep production of Peter Pan, 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.

Adapted with canny showmanship by Adrian Noble from the garish 1968 movie and Ian Fleming's original children's story, 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 like 42nd Street, its predecessor in the Hilton Theatre, Chitty has enough laughs, flash, toe-tappers and scene-stealers to delight families more often than it will bore them.

______________________________________________________________

Shows like Chitty are designed to withstand cast replacements with a minimum of fuss, although Noble has fielded a solid crew here. Esparza's crisp, vibrato-heavy tenor makes Caractacus a more conventional but equally valid leading man; while he isn't the dancer Dick Van Dyke was, Esparza uses his nimble-but-not-quite-nimble-enough style to good effect in "Me Ol' Bamboo."

Lynne's choreography here and throughout marks the biggest upgrade from the film.) He and Dilly have zero chemistry, although she sounds fine and cuts a lovely figure. Bosco is asked to do little more than dodder around and sing the boring songs, but he does have a nice rapport with the two youngsters. All five henchmen rein in the mugging compared to their film counterparts without keeping their teeth off the scenery altogether; Kudisch and Maxwell in particular turn their scenes into a high-camp extravaganza of weird accents and shameless jokes by Jeremy Sams. ("You can't banish me! I'm on the stamps!")

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. "The most fantasmagorical stage musical in the history of everything," as the poster breathlessly promises? Depending on what's playing at the New Victory Theatre next door and if The Lion King has a show that night, it's the third most fantasmawhateverical show on the block. Worth giving yourself over to for two and a half hours?

(I'm still thinking about it.)

Sure. Go. Clap. Smile. Forgive. Enjoy.




http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=511253

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 06:04 PM

[ruprecht]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:06pm

Funny review.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:07pm

Weird, the link works.

Lukewarm on the Raúl. I'll take it.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:14pm

Though don't you think it's another positive by default review?

Another, "I can't really make my mind up, but there are certainly worse shows out there" review?

It is positive, but almost grudgingly...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:17pm

It is, paradox. I feel like the show isn't really that great, but it's difficult to hate... sort of the same sense, in a way. I feel like positive comments are given because as a whole, it certainly could be far worse.

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 06:17 PM

[jo]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:22pm

I think no one would admit that it is a guilty pleasure not because it is enjoyable but because it makes one feel like a kid again

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:30pm

damn that car...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:31pm

*bites nails*

Curtain goes up... NOW.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:33pm

Talkin Broadway is Mixed:

"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.

So when the end of the first act of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang finally arrives, it's hardly a surprise to see the car of the title flying. Those familiar with the 1968 film on which this show is based are waiting for it; those who notice the Playbill cover, on which the scene is emblazoned, are expecting it; those who are merely watching the show can predict it. After all, by that point, the retrofitted British Grand Prix roadster has already floated on water and charmed everyone who's seen it, including the majority of patrons seeing the show in the newly renamed Hilton Theatre. So what's a little flight on top of it all?

And make no mistake, that flying is astounding. 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.
_______________________________________________________________

However, when the car is considered by everyone (including the writers) the show's focus, what performer will be allowed to provide adequate competition? Take one of the most talented serious musical actors of his generation, Raúl Esparza, and stuff him into the role of inventor Caractacus Potts, and what makes him special evaporates. (The role was played on film by the amiable and rubber-limbed Dick Van Dyke, a much better fit.) Rewrite the female lead, Truly Scrumptious, so she's less frilly and more modern, and you subvert the earnest charms of the usually effervescent Erin Dilly and force her into a second-rate Julie Andrews impersonation. Waste the gifted Philip Bosco in the role of the warm, doddering, but flatly humorous grandfather, and you get the buffoon needed but not much else.
___________________________________________________

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."



http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/CCBB.html

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 06:33 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:33pm

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 06:33 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:36pm

admittance that the actors are upstaged by the car. Hm.

one of the most talented serious musical actors of his generation
^ cool beans.... the compliment, at least, if not the context.

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 06:36 PM

[Matt_G]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:41pm

Margo! How could you leave out the best part of that review????


"But 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."

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 6:46pm

Ya know, believe it or not, I was just re-reading the review and was about to edit that paragraph in. Sorry.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 8:04pm

Hmm...
The reviews so far aren't as bad as I thought they'd be.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 8:04pm

I'm so impatient...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 9:03pm

Surprised that TalkinBroadway's as positive as it was about this show. But happy. :)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 10:22pm

The Times is up. Not sure how to characterize it -- positive, but also a bit snide and dismissive?:

"AND who says Broadway has lost the human touch?

The title character - and undisputed star - of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," the lavish wind-up music box of a show that opened last night at the Hilton Theater, is an automobile that swims, flies and rescues people in distress if they remember to say please. Chitty routinely receives more enthusiastic applause than any of the other cast members; she is allowed the final bow in the curtain calls; and the audience claps along in tribute whenever her theme song is played, starting with the overture. The darn thing probably has a dressing room that would make Nathan Lane choke with envy.

There are also some real and very talented people in the cast, including Raúl Esparza, Philip Bosco and Jan Maxwell. (Ms. Maxwell is the sole reason for grown-ups to attend this show without children.) Of course, you cannot always understand what they are saying or singing. But words muffled by miking and plummy British accents don't much seem to matter to the alternately fidgety and absorbed audience, which surely has the youngest median age of any show on Broadway. This is, after all, a work that makes "The Lion King" look as lurid as "Mondo Cane."

No, it's the playthings that are the thing in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which is directed by Adrian Noble and (far more important) designed by Anthony Ward: windmills and Rube Goldberg machines and a levitating miniature plane, blimp and (for that irresistible dash of bathroom humor) outhouse.

This makes the experience of attending this production, which has been a huge hit in London and is based on the rather cheesy movie musical of the same title from 1968, like hanging out for two and a half hours at the Times Square branch of Toys "R" Us, a convenient two blocks from the theater. Since orchestra seats for "Chitty" cost a C note, doing show and store in the same day is not recommended except for the rich and reckless."

______________________________________________________________

"The performers, especially Mr. Esparza, sometimes try to create the impression of real and spontaneous feelings, a noble but doomed attempt. There is some mechanically efficient dancing (choreographed by Gillian Lynne, of "Cats" fame), though the audience probably prefers the battalion of real live dogs that dash across the stage in the first act. And, yes, the car really flies, though not with the greatest of ease, and you fear for the safety of its occupants.

Cranky grown-ups will be most diverted by the performances of Marc Kudisch and especially Ms. Maxwell, who play the child-loathing Baron and Baroness of the empire of Vulgaria and who have been given some appealingly ripe dialogue. Ms. Maxwell - who sports Victoria's Secret-style costumes, sticky-bun hair coils and the most inventive comic timing in town - does the best variation on Marlene Dietrich's Teutonic world-weariness since Madeline Kahn in "Blazing Saddles."

The real star, of course, aside from the car, is Mr. Ward, who has created sets and costumes that look as expensive as they no doubt are, a rarity among Broadway musicals at the moment. Although all those machines devised by Caractacus don't really do anything, they at least look like fun. The Potts's windmill of a home is a place most children would surely love to inhabit.

And for numbers set in a candy factory and in the blighted land of Vulgaria, Mr. Ward has devised some breathtakingly monumental scenic effects. Their imagery naggingly recalls the cold, futurist milieus of movies like "Modern Times" and "Metropolis," in which machines rule the universe. As "Chitty" so cheerfully testifies, that future has arrived."





http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/04/29/theater/reviews/29chit.html?8dpc

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 10:22 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 10:24pm

Hm.

Well, that's the big one.
Basically that Raúl is trying, and not particularly succeeding, I suppose. Damn it.

... probably the best he could've squeezed from this all, though.

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 10:24 PM

[ShuQ]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 10:35pm

I pretty much agree with all of these....I wasn't as crazy about it as Broadway.com but Talkin' Broadway hit it right on the nose for me.

ESPECIALLY w/ the Baron/Baroness comments.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:01pm

The AP's Kuchwara is Mixed:

"Actors often worry about appearing on stage with those perennial scene-stealers: children and dogs. In "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which opened Thursday at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, even the show's kids and canines are upstaged by its title character, a flying red-and-gold motor car that gets the audience positively giddy with delight.

The automobile is quite something, a technological marvel that, yes indeed, does float high above the stage in this gargantuan musical, a huge show that actually fits quite snugly into the mammoth Hilton, one of Broadway's biggest houses.

In "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," a theme-park musical with an English accent, more is more, even when the story becomes less and less. It's cheery, relentless and constantly in motion.

______________________________________________________________

"Along the way, Caractacus, played by a game Raul Esparza, has a mild romance with Truly Scrumptious (a winsome Erin Dilly), a woman of sweet determination and a very pretty voice.

Jeremy Sams' meandering book plods along with a minimum of laughs until those Vulgarians, portrayed by a hammily robust Marc Kudisch and a delightfully comic Jan Maxwell, make an extended appearance in Act 2. Their excesses are funny. Unlike the Childcatcher, a Nosferatu-like fellow who is genuinely scary (Kevin Cahoon in fine spectral form), you actually like these villains.
_______________________________________________________________

Yet designer Anthony Ward, who did both the sets and the lavish costumes, has delivered a parade of inventive, visually stunning scenery. From a windmill home base for Caractacus, his two children and his father (the ever reliable Philip Bosco) to a gleaming candy factory to a sparkling fun fair to a grim dungeon that recalls "Les Miserables" at its gloomiest, the sets never stop.

Neither does the show. Except for the airborne antics of that flying car, which director Adrian Noble cagily restricts to the first and second-act finales, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" remains resolutely sugarcoated and earthbound."




AP REVIEW

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 11:01 PM