Opening night review of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Sunderland Empire

Slick, energetic, and gloriously fun, the production with a fantasmagorical machine as its biggest star delighted the packed audience on its opening night.

Based largely on the famous 1968 film, the show is packed full of familiar tunes and lovable characters as the plot rattles along at breakneck speed to ensure as much of the original action as possible is included.

Ore Oduba gives a fine performance as a singing and dancing Caractacus Potts (Image: Phil Tragen)

This time, the central role of madcap inventor Caractacus Potts is played by Ore Oduba, who has carved out a new career in musical theatre since he was crowned Strictly Come Dancing champion in 2016.

Oduba's Potts is warm and witty and he tackles the songs with confidence, but really comes into his own in the dance numbers - he's particularly dynamic in Me Ol' Bamboo, which received one of the biggest ovations of the night.

Opposite him is Ellie Nunn, who gave a poised and polished performance as Truly Scrumptious. An accomplished singer, her exceptional vocals were a standout and she certainly had the audience under a spell at times.

The child actors were outstanding. The role of the Potts children, in our show, were played by Gracie Cochrane (Jemima) and Roshan Thomson (Jeremy)with such confidence, you would think they had been acting for years.

Shout out also to the local young talent drawn from a Sunderland dance academy who were superbly uplifting as they danced and sang their hearts out in their scene, proving that teamwork really can make a dream work.

Much of the comic relief was provided by Adam Stafford and Michael Joseph as bumbling 'superspies' Boris and Goran as they attempted to steal the remarkable car for their country, Vugaria. They get along so famously as a superb double act, with a definite pantomime element and more than a few risque double entendres thrown in for the grown-ups.

Martin Callaghan and Jenny Gayner sparkle as the Vulgarian Baron and Baroness in several scene stealing appearances (Image: Sunderland Empire)

Speaking of double acts, Martin Callaghan and Jenny Gayner sparkle as the Vulgarian Baron and Baroness. Gayner, in particular, almost steals the show with her deliciously vampish over-the-top performance, full of flirty asides directed at the audience - a tour de force.

Charlie Brooks - best known as the vilanous Janine from Estenders - copes really well with the iconic Childcatcher role, delighting in her wickedness and relishing the Sunderland audience's boos. Liam Fox is a marvellously avuncular Grandpa Potts and John Macaulay a sympathetic Toymaker.

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But, of course, the star of the show is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang herself. The biggest cheers of the night are reserved for our fine, four-fendered friend, and the audience clapped and sang along with gusto to the title song.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the undoubted star of the show (Image: Sunderland Empire)

And don't ask me how a car can fly, as Chitty does on the Sunderland stage. I was as spellbound and baffled as the rest of the audience. Magic is my best guess.

This show is style, it's elegance by the mile - but above all, it's great fun.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at Sunderland Empire until Sunday, April 27. Tickets available online now at ATGTickets.com/ Sunderland