Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

It is sixty years since Ian Fleming's story about a magical flying motor car first flew off the page but, thanks to the 1968 film, children have been growing up enthralled by the exploits of its fantasmagorical automobile ever since. This week, the touring version of the much-loved family favourite drops in at Norwich Theatre Royal and, judging by last night's opening performance, it has lost none of its magic or appeal.

Heading the magnificent cast on this leg of the tour is Adam Garcia as amiably eccentric widowed inventor Caractacus Potts. As a consummate singer and dancer, Garcia certainly does not put a foot wrong, amiable and charming as father to Jeremy and Jemima (played tonight by Ayrton English and Jasmine Nyenya). The Potts' windmill is also home to Grandpa, the bumbling retired Army officer brought to life wonderfully by Liam Fox. But it is the chance meeting with the delightful Truly Scrumptious (Ellie Nunn) that really sets the wheels in motion, laying the groundwork for Caractacus to restore the rotting hulk of that famous old racing car, and allowing the real magic to begin.

This truly scrumptious version of Jeremy Sams' stage adaptation is directed by Thom Sutherand, and delivers its two and a half-hour ride in a show that seems to fly by in the blinking of an eye – such is its magnetic hold on the audience. Presented as a story, a romance, an adventure, a comedy and a song and dance spectacular, Garcia and the cast take us on a trip to Vulgaria which is packed with spectacle and surprises. Adam Stafford and Michael Joseph (as Vulgarian spies Boris and Goran) are absolute comedy gold – their hilarious routines have me laughing uncontrollably as they blunder their way through their one job - to steal the car, yet end up stealing the show. Their antics are usurped only by the rank and regality of Martin Callaghan and Jenny Gayner as the childless Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria, whose aversity to children is so extreme that the mere mention of the word turns the Baroness bilious. And yet, their evil love for each other is somehow rather touching (in an over-the-top, pantomime-villain kind of way, obviously).

Charlie Brooks' appearance as The Childcatcher may be brief, but she certainly uses the time effectively, clearly relishing the opportunity to be evil, and sniffing out the two young Potts as they go to ground in the Baron's castle. However, she is effectively countered in her villianry by the gallantry and heroics of The Toymaker, played by John Macaulay.

But the real star of the show is, undoubtedly and unashamedly, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang itself, and as Caractacus and Truly and the children climb aboard, and as the car sprouts wings and begins to fly, there is an audible gasp from the audience. Such a spectacle I cannot remember before at Norwich Theatre Royal. How it is done is still beyond my technical comprehension, but if it is magic then so be it. To borrow and subvert the tagline from that famous Superman movie, “You will believe a car can fly”.