Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Of course in his oh-so-jaded-way, Jonathan had to call it "S**tty S**tty Bomb Bomb."  I don't think he's seen it - it's just kinda required to be negative about shows you're not directly involved with.  Well, I couldn't even rustle up someone to take with me, but I had a really good time.

Robert over at Playbill says his 9-year-old loved it.  Couldn't quite manage to see the show through those eyes, so the theme park experience (as per Michael at the AP) might not have been enough to make me walk out actually humming the stupid tongue-twister theme song (which of course is available online - since some idiot reserved chittychittybangbang.com, the production is stuck with www.chittythemusical.com - go there and the music starts playing.  And I'm a sucker for flying cars - plus I had a crush on Herbie the Love Bug for years.  And I'm a Raul Esparza fan.  But still.  I needed more.

I got more from Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell as the Baron and Baroness Bomburst, respectively.  The slightly lukewarm applause the humans got in the first act turned to cheers in the second when the couple went so far over the top they were higher than the flying car.  Although Maxwell has you ready to eat out of her hand from her very first scene - don't miss the "oops" moment.  And eventually, Esparza gets close to the level he achieved in Taboo with his "Teamwork."  

Oh!  That was Philip Bosco as Grampa Munster, just noticed it in the Playbill.  I guess it's Eleven Angry Men now.  The kids ensemble is great, and the large animal cast is pretty unforgettable.  And although it irritates me when the set gets a hand, it was pretty spectacular.  And everything flies, eventually.  Even the outhouse.

And how about this - you can now eat and drink in the theater!  An expensive novelty, but I guess there's certain fathers that will only bring their kids to Broadway if they can drink beer during the show.

On the BroadRay scale of value, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is worth bringing lunch to work for a couple of weeks to see.  Not up to the skip dinner for 2 nights level of Sweet Charity, but not bad at all. And of course I'm taking about the discounted price - if you're not up to the herd at TKTS go to ticketmaster and use code BTELE to save $25 on weeknights and have them waive the service charge - $75 is still a lot of moolah but it's something. Good til July 2, 2005.