From April 3-5 Union University’s Department of Music presented the musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in the W.D. Powell Theater but later moved performances to the Hartley Recital Hall.
The musical began at 7 p.m. and was set to show in the Penick Academic Complex (PAC) building. However, it was relocated to Jennings Hall after the partial collapse in the PAC ceiling.
The musical, based on the 1968 musical film, tells the story of a widowed father, Caractacus Potts, and his two children who go on an adventure to protect a flying car that Potts designed. The musical involves fantastical elements and is set in the European countries of England, France and a fictional city called Vulgaria.
This production starred a variety of Union students involved in previous theater projects as well as students in Union’s music department. The play also featured young boys and girls from the Jackson community.
“My favorite part is seeing it all come together and seeing our students come alive and really blossom on stage. Especially when they first do a show, they really come out of their shell and then it just kind of changes them and changes the way they continue on in life,” Kate Rawls, associate professor of music and musical director of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” said.
“I was excited to bring my own interpretation to this character,” Andrew Richardson, freshman digital communications major who played Caractacus Potts, said. “I just love the movie and so getting to play Dick Van Dyke was equal parts, exciting and terrifying because you have such massive shoes to fill.”
Though the cast and crew were satisfied with the results of the play, Rawls admitted that they faced major challenges.
“We didn’t get a dress rehearsal because of tornado warnings, so I had to send them all home,” Rawls said. “The opening night is when the ceiling collapsed in, and we were midway through our performance when that happened. So, I had to dismiss the audience and then had to figure out how they would continue doing the show and how to get our stuff.”
Not all of the set pieces and props were able to be retrieved for the Jennings shows; some had to be left in the PAC.
Hope Bitter, a senior digital communications major, worked as the lighting technician for the musical. She has operated the lighting for two theater productions in the past, both of which took place in the W.D. Powell Theatre in the PAC.
“The biggest challenge was the fact that we had to transition over to Jennings, because we went from a whole bunch of lights and different cues to just five sets of lights,” Bitter said.
Rawls revealed that for her, seeing the way the cast worked together despite the sudden venue change was what made the show most special.
“I think the most moving thing for me was how the cast banded together when we had to move locations. They just moved everything, they took care of putting everything in place and organizing everything, and I didn’t have to worry about that. I could worry about the overarching things, which is one of the main reasons why we still have a show,” Rawls said.
“This cast is just so talented. We got, I think, the perfect cast for this show. So, they really did bring the movie to life in a way, I don’t think the movie could in places,” Richardson said. “From what we could, what we had, I think we captured a lot of the original magic of the source material.”
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