For starters, Bond always had a cool car and, like Potts, was obsessed with gadgets. The bad guys are always foreigners. And even the children's classic is infused with a whiff of sexuality. As names go, Truly Scrumptious ranks right up there with such Bond women as Pussy Galore and Kissy Suzuki.
Truly's name doesn't refer to a verifiable physical attribute, as does, for example, "Goldilocks." Her name reflects how she is perceived by an observer with an avid appetite. You could just eat her up.
It's also interesting to reflect on how much the role of Caractacus was designed around Van Dyke. Two routines - a dance with wooden poles, and a jack-in-the-box number - seem to have been thrown in primarily to showcase that performer's extraordinary physical gifts.
In contrast, the touring show seems to have cast its performers primarily for their vocal prowess. If we must note that the appealing Steve Wilson lacks Van Dyke's grace and plasticity, fairness compels us to add that Van Dyke couldn't hope to match Wilson's floating tenor. He boasts a voice so light and strong it could probably hoist that car all on its own.
In a similar way, Kelly McCormick is a bit chronologically challenged to play the ingenue's role. But you couldn't ask for a Truly Scrumptious with a purer, more refined tone.
Acting honors go to Dick Decareau as Grandpa Potts, who exudes pleasure at being on stage, and to Oliver Wadsworth, whose Child Catcher was so creepy, he scared even me.
My yen for dance was satisfied every time the female members of the chorus took the stage. These supple, leggy wonders dazzled in the big candy-factory number ("Toot Sweets") and at a birthday party for the Baron, inexplicably set in Brazil ("The Bombie Samba").
Not everything works. Let's just say that some of the British accents are on par with those in the film. "Act English," in which two Vulgarian spies try to impersonate the quintessential Englishman, was probably funnier in the U.K., where the show originated.
Some of the more overt comic scenes featuring the spies and the Vulgarian rulers go as flat as the tires on Truly's motorcycle.
There are times when the production seems about to careen over a cliff, with the audience trapped inside. And then, just like Chitty itself, it improbably achieves liftoff.
if you go
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang runs at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center's Hippodrome Theatre, 12 N. Eutaw St., through Jan. 18. Show times: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. $20-$65. 410-547-7328 or france-merrickpac.com.
