The original United Artists motion picture Chitty Chitty Bang Bang first hit the cinema screens in 1968 and has been a firm family classic ever since. Based on a story by Ian Fleming, the movie began life as a personal dream of James Bond producer, Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

As with all his film projects, ‘Cubby’ Broccoli surrounded himself with the very best British talent available to ensure the success of Chitty, which at the time was publicised as the largest and most expensive musical ever filmed in England.

The director, Ken Hughes, who had also adapted the screenplay with prolific children’s author Roald Dahl, led the British film crew. The Sherman brothers, fresh from major success with the Disney studios, provided the score and songs, earning an Oscar nomination in the process.

‘Cubby’ Broccoli’s original plans for the enchanting tale of the magical car always included a possible stage version, but not until now has stage technology allowed the dream to become a reality. The producers of the stage musical, headed by the Broccoli family, were faced with the challenge of finding the director who could assemble the very best of British theatrical talent to create the largest stage musical ever seen in London’s West End. Their search led them to Adrian Noble, the Artistic Director of the RSC.

When asked about the adaptation (by Jeremy Sams), Adrian Noble says that the film ‘is definitely the show’s starting point. Roald Dahl’s screenplay had moved things on a long way from Fleming’s original and I think that we have moved things on further still. We have been bold, both added to and cut from the film, developing and reducing certain scenes and characters.’

The breathtaking locations of the film were captured (but not recreated) on the stage of the London Palladium to meet Adrian Noble’s desire ‘to engage the audience’s imagination’. Designer Anthony Ward explains that, working closely with Noble, ‘stylistically a new world has been created for Chitty on stage’. You will believe a car can fly and it is that respect of the design which brings greatest pride to Ward. ‘I am delighted every time I see the car fly. It is wonderful that three companies came together to make it work so well (Howard Eaton Lighting, Delstar, and Stage Technologies). It is terribly exciting and takes my breath away every time.’

Gillian Lynne had to find a way of staging the famous musical set pieces from the film, which were originally shot in short bursts of just 16 bars. Her greatest challenge was to ‘make the same numbers interesting and exciting but with steps where the cast can sustain four minutes of intricate showy stuff and still look fresh’. Having worked with Noble on The Secret Garden, Lynne says that the artistic team knew each other so well and ‘were not afraid of each other’s ideas’. Perhaps that inspired ‘Teamwork’, one of the new songs written by the legendary Sherman brothers who were on hand to create new musical numbers for the show. Producer Fred Zollo says ‘one of the most remarkable experiences of my life was being present in our very own living room at the creation of a brand new Sherman brothers soon-to-be classic song’.

New orchestrations by Chris Walker ‘provided a different take from the film so that they sound completely fresh’ says Musical Director Robert Scott. He also added that ‘audience familiarity was a definite help to the show, so many people genuinely say that Chitty was their favourite film as a child. It is amazing to hear people clapping along from the first notes of the overture and singing all the words as they leave the theatre.’

Adrian Noble is a passionate believer in quality theatre for the whole family. ‘I want to be amazed’ he says ‘by all the elements - singing, dancing, acting, costumes, scenery, lighting design, everything - I want them to be astonished, to fall in love with the experience and return to the theatre again, not just to see Chitty but to see any show’.

There is no doubt that Adrian Noble has achieved these aims and made Chitty the most Fantasmagorical stage musical in the history of everything!