6 Mar 2025
Earlier this year, we highlighted the launch of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s UK tour, a revival that brought the classic back to stages nationwide. Running from April 2024 through May 2025, the tour has now concluded after more than a year on the road, leaving behind a renewed affection for one of Britain’s best-loved musicals.
From the outset, critics praised the show’s magic. The Gazette & Herald wrote they “can confidently say this one is a show that shouldn't be missed. [...] It was clear that this was a West End-standard show that took comedy, creativity and class in its stride.”
Adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams, whose book expands on the world of the 1968 film while deepening the villains’ comic menace, the show has been commended for its vitality. As BroadwayWorld UK observed, the production “manages to honour the much-loved scenes from the film while also expanding the narrative to give the Vulgarian villains a larger role and increase the fantasy feel”. The result is a version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that feels faithful and fresh in equal measure.
At the centre, of course, is the titular car itself. “Part polished wood, part shining steel and fully extraordinary, Chitty enchants audience members from the moment she appears, and when her wings unfurl and she soars and dips her way through a starlit sky, it’s a true piece of theatrical magic,” wrote BroadwayWorld UK. Chitty’s ascent is still the scene that audiences wait for, and it delivers.
The production team contributed equally to the production’s success. BroadwayWorld UK praised Morgan Large’s as “beautiful,” and Charlie Brooks’ casting as the Child Catcher was singled out as “a sinister, reptilian performance”, true to the musical’s original characterisation (BroadwayWorld UK).
At the same time, her casting marked a notable shift. WhatsOnStage described her take as “an enjoyably pantomimic performance… [that] undoubtedly lacks the menace more usually associated with the role,” observing that this modern adjustment “feels much more aligned with contemporary mores,” softening the character’s darkness in favour of broader family appeal.
BroadwayWorld UK further remarked on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s humour being “broader than the film too, occasionally taking on a pantomime quality, delighting children without ever alienating the adults,” highlighting the story’s ability to endure not simply as nostalgia but as a living piece of theatre: reimagined for appeal across generations.
The successful conclusion of this tour reaffirms why great theatre should be cultivated such that it continues not only to survive but to soar.