[ ClassicalX ] Theatre preview: Chitty Chitty bang-on

For the next two months the Wales Millennium Centre is home to theatre's most notorious flying car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Invented by 007 author Ian Fleming for his children's story about the fantastic escapades of eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, the musical it gives its name to has been big business since it opened in the West End in 2002, and marks the WMC's longest-running production ever.

A star both multi-talented and family-friendly is required to anchor such an endeavour, and in those stakes you don't get much better than singer, TV presenter and former child star Aled Jones, hoping to imprint his own distinct mark on the Potts role.

'I think he's a lovely man,' says Jones. 'I've sort of changed him a bit. He's not completely wacky – he's eccentric without a doubt – but you can tell he's a loving man, he has a great relationship with his kids; hopefully the way I'm playing Potts is as a very real character.'

The show itself is as magical and ridiculous as one expects any family musical to be, a shenanigan-crammed duel of wills in which Potts and his sprogs face up to the nasty Baron (Edward Peel) and his creepy henchman the Childcatcher (Ian Watkins).

The set takes two weeks to assemble; there are, at Jones' best estimate, '35 [adult] actors, 17 real live dogs and about 27 children' involved. And then there's Chitty itself, the flying car so prodigiously hi-tech that it might as well be fuelled by actual magic.

Really, though, Chitty could be capable of intergalactic travel and the show would still stand or fall on Potts. Jones unquestionably has the lungs, the looks and the heart to pull it off, but here he's taking on a challenge ducked by many an actor: the full song and dance routine of Me Ol' Bamboo, a cheerily nonsensical, insanely athletic tribute to the merits of a good cane, regarded as one of the greatest physical challenges in any musical.

'Most of the other Potts have not done the whole Bamboo,' notes Jones. 'They've just done the beginning and the end, but I thought I might as well try to do it. I look like a sweating wreck and I'd have loved another couple of weeks' rehearsal, but Potts isn't supposed to be an acclaimed dancer: he's a father who's wacky and bit of an amateur. I can relate to that.'

Thu to Aug 30, Donald Gordon Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre, Bute Place, Cardiff Bay, Mon to Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu and Sat 2pm, £10 to £39.50, concs available. Tel: 0870 040 2000. www.chittythemusical.co.uk

Source: metrolife