There have been many things seen on the stage of the Gaiety Theatre over recent years, but none may be more stranger than a flying, floating car with a mind of its own.

However, that is exactly what the local theatre company Taylorian Productions will be bringing to the stage, when they open their phantasmagorical musical show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang next month.

The stage version of the much-loved family film will feature a host of Manx stars of the stage, alongside a cast of fifty young singers and dancers.

Tom Dickerson and Laura Pigott star in the lead roles of the eccentric inventor Caratacus Potts and the upper-class, determined Truly Scrumptious. The two Potts children, Jeremy and Jemima, are both played by alternating pairs of Leo Dixon and Daisy Divers, and real-life siblings Harriet and William Shooter.

After finding the car rusting in a garage, and naming it after the noises it makes when it drives, the Potts family and Miss Scrumptious find out that it has a mind of its own and, more than just being a fast car, it can also float, fly and even drive itself, which comes in handy when being pursued by the dastardly baron, played by Chris Caine.

They end up in the land of Vulgaria, where the equally wicked baroness, played by Lisa Kreisky, orders the children caught and imprisoned. That job falls to the wicked and callous Child Catcher, played by Paul Daugherty.

Both Tom and Laura are making a return top the Manx stage after both spending the last year studying and performing in London drama schools.

Tom recently appeared in the Taylorian production of Joseph and His Technocolour Dreamcoat, while Laura is a graduate of the Stage one drama school, and has appeared in many plays and shows over the years.

This musical version features all the classic songs, written by Robert and Richard Sherman, that made the film such a memorable one, such as Toot Sweet, Hush-a-Bye Mountain and the Oscar nominated title song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The company was faced with a bigger task of bringing the car to life.

As Taylorian were one of the first amateur theatre groups in the British Isles to be granted a license to produce the show, all the sets and props, including Chitty itself, had to be built from scratch.

Created alongside the UK-based props company Blue Chilli, they have created a car that will indeed drive itself and take off and soar across the stage.

Show producer Matt James, from Taylorian said that they were looking forward to being able to bring the show to the Gaiety stage, and that they had faced many challenges along the way.

’We are very excited to bring these two shows to the Island for the very first time in August.

’We have an amazing team working incredibly hard behind the scenes as Chitty is undoubtedly the most ambitious, but at the same time very enjoyable show we have produced to date.

’We have 65 cast members from the age of seven upwards who have all worked together as a team and of whom I am incredibly proud of.’

’I would like to personally thank our incredible sponsors, Microgaming Play It Forward,SMP Partners, Isle of Man Post Office, the Arts Council and Manx Radio and the Isle of Man Newspapers for their support, as without them we would not be able to bring the high quality of theatre experience to the Isle of Man audiences.’

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opens on Monday, August 6, until Saturday, August 18, with all evening shows starting from 7.30pm.

In addition,. there are afternoon matinees on Saturday 11, Monday 13, and Saturday 18, starting at 2.30pm

Tickets are priced from £25 for an adult, and £22.50 for children, available from the Villa Gaiety box office, or online form villagaiety.com

by Mike Wade

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