Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Mayflower Southampton & Tour’24/25

[longinthetooth]

Apparently Bradford dates postponed until September while the continue mending Chitty.

[theatrefan2007]

Jul 5, 2024 15:47:13 GMT longinthetooth said:

Apparently Bradford dates postponed until September while the continue mending Chitty.

I’m hoping the Belfast dates aren’t rescheduled. I’m meant to be seeing it on 24th July.

[theatreliker]

What actually happened?

[robertb213]

Jul 5, 2024 17:20:24 GMT theatreliker said:

What actually happened?

The car mechanism was damaged in transit between Bromley and Milton Keynes, according to the press email I got.

[firefingers]

Jul 5, 2024 17:23:50 GMT robertb213 said:

Jul 5, 2024 17:20:24 GMT theatreliker said:

What actually happened?

The car mechanism was damaged in transit between Bromley and Milton Keynes, according to the press email I got.

Nearly. The car's flying system (which is pretty much a crane but smarter) was being loaded at Bromley by fork lift and went tits up and fell off the wagon, which massively bent and deformed the arm that supports the car. And I mean really bent. Like right off a big chunk of steal and make a new one level levels. 

[jj9692]

Chitty has been fixed and the tour is resuming next week in Belfast.

Although the first 3 days of performances have been cancelled and have been replaced with 2 extra matinee. So it starts on the Friday instead of the Tuesday. Had to swap my opening night tickets to the Wednesday the following week.

[Being Alive]

Amazing news they've managed to sort this - there was real discussions last week that the whole tour was going in the bin - very pleased that wasn't the case.

[theatrefan2007]

Glad it’s resuming the tour but gutted now because I could only see it on the 24th because I’m away on holiday the day after. I’m hoping that Dublin might be announced at a later date but I doubt it will.

[aingidh]

Saw this at Belfast tonight and loved it! Such a fun, feel-good show. Belfast Grand Opera House also has a policy in which alcohol cannot be taken into the auditorium (I think due to NI's strict licensing laws) and never have I ever seen a better-behaved audience. Other UK theatres take note please!

Agree with everyone who says Ellie Nunn was the standout, she has such a gorgeous voice and really suited Truly. Very strong company all-round and the production values overall are great, especially for a tour going to weekly venues.

Overall a very sweet night out!

[theatrefan2007]

Jul 30, 2024 21:54:55 GMT aingidh said:

Saw this at Belfast tonight and loved it! Such a fun, feel-good show. Belfast Grand Opera House also has a policy in which alcohol cannot be taken into the auditorium (I think due to NI's strict licensing laws) and never have I ever seen a better-behaved audience. Other UK theatres take note please!

Agree with everyone who says Ellie Nunn was the standout, she has such a gorgeous voice and really suited Truly. Very strong company all-round and the production values overall are great, especially for a tour going to weekly venues.

Overall a very sweet night out!

I was gutted when the date I had originally booked was cancelled and couldn’t go to it. Guess I’ll have to wait until the next tour to catch it.

I go to the Grand Opera House all the time and I’m yet to experience a bad behaved audience. Yes there’s been occasions when people’s phones go off and there are some having a sneak peak on their phones and of course very minimal people taking pics and vids but compared to what I’ve read on the bad behaviour trend I haven’t yet witnessed any rowdy audience members.

[emeraldbaudelaire]

We are set to see it as a family day out tomorrow afternoon at the matinee, hoping that the potential loomingnportests and supposed road blocks don't hold us up or cancel the show.

I have been advised to journey out early to male sure.

[emeraldbaudelaire]

It is a three star from me. The car flying was magical and amazing but I feel like there was something lacking on Saturdays performance. I found that Adam's vocals were very low in the mix and didn't blend with the ensemble or Ellie's vocals well.

I cannot explain what I mean but there seemed to have a different type of sound to his microphone than the rest. It felt like it wasn't as clear as the others.

The sound situation in general wasn't great at times with a lot of lost lines because of this.

Another thing I noticed was some missing set pieces that were present in the trailer for the show. Usually the Childcather would lure the children into an disguised ice cream cart cage though this wasn't present in the Belfast performances and she merely lead them off stage hand in hand.

[PhantomNcl]

Aug 5, 2024 12:39:26 GMT emeraldbaudelaire said:

It is a three star from me. The car flying was magical and amazing but I feel like there was something lacking on Saturdays performance. I found that Adam's vocals were very low in the mix and didn't blend with the ensemble or Ellie's vocals well.

I cannot explain what I mean but there seemed to have a different type of sound to his microphone than the rest. It felt like it wasn't as clear as the others.

The sound situation in general wasn't great at times with a lot of lost lines because of this.

Another thing I noticed was some missing set pieces that were present in the trailer for the show. Usually the Childcather would lure the children into an disguised ice cream cart cage though this wasn't present in the Belfast performances and she merely lead them off stage hand in hand.

The 'extra' bits of set depend on the size of the theatre and the presence/steepness of a raked stage.  Our stage was too steeply raked, so they couldn't use the windmill set (as it kept sliding forward) or the childcatcher's cage, and the stage wasn't wide enough for the full proscenium.

[emeraldbaudelaire]

It's a pity as there's been some truly great performances at the Opera House.

I can't fault the cast my issues were mainly with sound etc. But I guess that can be hard to gage at certain performances.

It's a shame that after the extensive renovations that the theatre still can't house a full touring set, the performances were fantastic but some of the spectacle lacked with those missing pieces.

[theatrefan2007]

Aug 5, 2024 20:37:05 GMT emeraldbaudelaire said:

It's a pity as there's been some truly great performances at the Opera House.

I can't fault the cast my issues were mainly with sound etc. But I guess that can be hard to gage at certain performances.

It's a shame that after the extensive renovations that the theatre still can't house a full touring set, the performances were fantastic but some of the spectacle lacked with those missing pieces.

I don’t think the renovations focused on the stage or backstage area. I do kinda get what I mean though. The first time I saw Sister Act most of the set was taken out and did look a bit cheap, but I think this was just made by the producers for some of the smaller theatres that the tour were visiting but I do think they could’ve kept the full set they had in 2022 for some of the bigger theatres in 2023 and I think it would’ve fitted in the Grand Opera House. Still I do think they would have enough room for the set piece for the childcatcher that you mentioned.

[jj9692]

Oh I was wondering why there was no cart for the child catcher in Belfast. Hadn’t seen the trailer so didn’t realise there was meant to be one. But the way Charlie Brooks was playing the Childcatcher like a demented Bjork (I’m certain she took inspiration from Kristen Wigg’s impression on SNL) leading them off holding hands in her ice cream disguise kind of worked.

Also I saw Chitty twice in Belfast and I agree with Adam Garcia vocals, or level of sound. It was as if his microphone and everyone else’s microphones were registered to 2 different shows. His levels were so far down compared to everyone else’s. But it was only when they were singing. But in fairness I don’t think he has a strong enough voice to get up over everyone else.

Also regarding Belfast size. It is unfortunate that they don’t have the stage/backstage space for the bigger shows. Although I am sure there are things in Sister Act, (as already mentioned, and only other recent show I can think of that falls into the cut down category) that were missing in the 2024 leg of the tour that were there when it was there in 2023. The rickshaw chase was there when it was in Belfast in 2023 with Sandra Marvin, but gone this year with Landi.

[theatrefan2007]

Aug 6, 2024 8:45:04 GMT jj9692 said:

Oh I was wondering why there was no cart for the child catcher in Belfast. Hadn’t seen the trailer so didn’t realise there was meant to be one. But the way Charlie Brooks was playing the Childcatcher like a demented Bjork (I’m certain she took inspiration from Kristen Wigg’s impression on SNL) leading them off holding hands in her ice cream disguise kind of worked.

Also I saw Chitty twice in Belfast and I agree with Adam Garcia vocals, or level of sound. It was as if his microphone and everyone else’s microphones were registered to 2 different shows. His levels were so far down compared to everyone else’s. But it was only when they were singing. But in fairness I don’t think he has a strong enough voice to get up over everyone else.

Also regarding Belfast size. It is unfortunate that they don’t have the stage/backstage space for the bigger shows. Although I am sure there are things in Sister Act, (as already mentioned, and only other recent show I can think of that falls into the cut down category) that were missing in the 2024 leg of the tour that were there when it was there in 2023. The rickshaw chase was there when it was in Belfast in 2023 with Sandra Marvin, but gone this year with Landi.

I saw Sister Act both times when it was in Belfast and noticed there was no rickshaw chase. I thought it might have been down to the lack of the cast as there was a few covers and swings on when I saw it but now that you mentioned it they might have cut it entirely. There was a few other things they changed in the second run in Belfast, like having the pope from the orchestra pit to the stage. Don’t why they made these changes for because they manage to do it in the first run.

[jj9692]

Aug 6, 2024 10:11:01 GMT theatrefan2007 said:

Aug 6, 2024 8:45:04 GMT jj9692 said:

Oh I was wondering why there was no cart for the child catcher in Belfast. Hadn’t seen the trailer so didn’t realise there was meant to be one. But the way Charlie Brooks was playing the Childcatcher like a demented Bjork (I’m certain she took inspiration from Kristen Wigg’s impression on SNL) leading them off holding hands in her ice cream disguise kind of worked.

Also I saw Chitty twice in Belfast and I agree with Adam Garcia vocals, or level of sound. It was as if his microphone and everyone else’s microphones were registered to 2 different shows. His levels were so far down compared to everyone else’s. But it was only when they were singing. But in fairness I don’t think he has a strong enough voice to get up over everyone else.

Also regarding Belfast size. It is unfortunate that they don’t have the stage/backstage space for the bigger shows. Although I am sure there are things in Sister Act, (as already mentioned, and only other recent show I can think of that falls into the cut down category) that were missing in the 2024 leg of the tour that were there when it was there in 2023. The rickshaw chase was there when it was in Belfast in 2023 with Sandra Marvin, but gone this year with Landi.

I saw Sister Act both times when it was in Belfast and noticed there was no rickshaw chase. I thought it might have been down to the lack of the cast as there was a few covers and swings on when I saw it but now that you mentioned it they might have cut it entirely. There was a few other things they changed in the second run in Belfast, like having the pope from the orchestra pit to the stage. Don’t why they made these changes for because they manage to do it in the first run.

Thought it was lack of cast as well, first couple of times in the first week there were a few if not all swings on. But when I saw it the 3rd time the second week with full cast it was still cut.

Pope in the orchestra pit I think depends on the conductor. Male conductor the first 2 times I saw of that run was the pope. Female conductor the 3rd time was a cast member hopping out from the side of the stage.

Sorry for making this about Sister Act 😂

[emeraldbaudelaire]

It's a bit of a shame that what could have been a grander production has had to be scaled down. I remember a few folks being underwhelmed with the previous touring production and with the missing sets it definitely seemed a lot smaller than some of the other tours that have visited GOH.

It's still fabulous that we were able to get it in Belfast and the car mechanics were great. I don't want to sound like I am knocking the theatre at all because it will always be dear to me.

Bedknobs and broomsticks recent visit wowed me with the staging and magic, I'd hoped this production would've been similar, another show that had great production quality was The Addams Family UK tour from a few years back. Those sets were pretty lavish and made great use of the venue.

I don't want to sound like I'm ranting the car still stole the show as it should!

[theatrefan2007]

Aug 6, 2024 21:48:57 GMT emeraldbaudelaire said:

It's a bit of a shame that what could have been a grander production has had to be scaled down. I remember a few folks being underwhelmed with the previous touring production and with the missing sets it definitely seemed a lot smaller than some of the other tours that have visited GOH.

It's still fabulous that we were able to get it in Belfast and the car mechanics were great. I don't want to sound like I am knocking the theatre at all because it will always be dear to me.

Bedknobs and broomsticks recent visit wowed me with the staging and magic, I'd hoped this production would've been similar, another show that had great production quality was The Addams Family UK tour from a few years back. Those sets were pretty lavish and made great use of the venue.

I don't want to sound like I'm ranting the car still stole the show as it should!

I didn’t get to see it as I was originally booked to see it on the first Wednesday which got cancelled and was the only date I could go but I don’t like the idea of it being scaled down. I know the Grand Opera House is small but I would like to think that the stage would be big enough for grand productions without being scaled down. Agree with you but about the theatre being dear to you. I’ve visited many theatres in London, the Opera House in Manchester and the Liverpool Empire but the Grand Opera House is always going to be my favourite theatre, as well as the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

[erik24601]

I mean..... Torquay should be 'fun' this week! What an odd choice for a venue for this.

[theatrefan2007]

Aug 7, 2024 15:04:52 GMT erik24601 said:

I mean..... Torquay should be 'fun' this week! What an odd choice for a venue for this.

Yeah! Looking at pictures at the Princess Theatre isn’t probably an ideal venue for this. You’ll be lucky if the car lifts two feet off the ground!!!

[danb]

Is it built in an old ‘Sealife Centre’ or something? Bonkers looking building 🥴

[unseaworthy]

It's a mad theatre... It's too small for most productions (but great for one night tribute concerts)... The other thing here is that there are very few locals anymore - its all second homes / Air B&B - so its entirely dependent on how well a production is advertised to the tourists. A very tough place to play.

[erik24601]

Very shallow stage, very low proscenium arch, next-to-no backstage area in the wings or dressing rooms, yet ATG still keep booking huge musicals like CCBB, charging full price for tickets and only being able to provide half the production. It was built for the likes of the Jim Davidson summer seasons not musicals.

We mostly pay for the rest of the set to sit in a car park all week. One of my least favourite (if not THE least favourite) venues on the touring circuit (from a production point of view - the team have always been wonderful when we’ve been in there), that I avoid at all costs where possible.