{"id":88213,"date":"2026-02-12T09:07:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=88213"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:10:15","slug":"theater-news-childrens-theatre-of-long-beach-stages-family-favorite-chitty-chitty-bang-bang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/theater-news-childrens-theatre-of-long-beach-stages-family-favorite-chitty-chitty-bang-bang","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: Children\u2019s Theatre of Long Beach stages family favorite ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complete with flying car, the Children\u2019s Theatre of Long Beach is staging \u201cChitty Chitty Bang Bang\u201d at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre beginning Feb. 21. Based on the 1968 film with Dick Van Dyke, the musical tells of the unexpected adventures of an English inventor, his two children and one amazing vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Mark Lamanna said in a Stage Explorations<\/a> interview that he wanted to bring out the warmth and caring of the story\u2019s \u201cnontraditional\u201d family. Inventor Caractacus Potts is a widower raising children Jeremy and Jemima with their grandfather, though they soon meet a woman named Truly Scrumptious when she nearly runs over the kids in her car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamanna calls the show a \u201cgentle little story that has outrageous humor,\u201d with tunes that are catchy, memorable and joyous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a timeless tale of a family that is looking to be completed again,\u201d adds Michael Taber, who plays Caractacus Potts. \u201cAnd the car is kind of what brings them together and takes them on this magical journey.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace Jewell, who plays Truly, says the stage musical offers a refreshing and \u201cspunky\u201d take on the story compared to the nostalgic and heartwarming film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The set itself reflects the Potts family\u2019s eccentricity, with the children sleeping in a circus caravan in the middle of the home, Lamanna said. The kids also play in an old racecar in a junkyard that they beg their father to purchase and restore before it\u2019s sold to someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie Davis and Anne Gundry, who play two spies from Vulgaria \u2014 a country whose spoiled and tyrannical Baron Bomburst wants the car for himself \u2014 say their characters are the comic relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not the brightest people, but we have good hearts,\u201d Gundry says of Boris and Goran, who make sneaky appearances throughout the play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis, who\u2019s choreographed past shows for the Children\u2019s Theatre, said she admires the company\u2019s spirit of \u201cinclusivity and allowing children to be themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Gundry, who is also a member of the nonprofit company\u2019s board, says it uses methods unusual for children\u2019s theater, such as social-emotional warmups that address the whole child, not just the role they\u2019re playing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s trying to give them coping skills,\u201d she said. \u201cLife is hard, school is hard, families are hard and doing theater is hard. But if you\u2019ve got the emotional skills to deal with it, that really kind of ripples out into the rest of your life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean McMullen, founder and artistic director of the company, says its mission is to bring theater arts to every elementary and middle school in the city, relying on educational grants and even sometimes running programs for free when schools or parents can\u2019t cover fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also relies on volunteers to contribute their time and skills for putting on productions, as well as donations to help sustain scholarships allowing kids to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not only here to teach kids how to act, sing, dance,\u201d McMullen said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to teach them how to be better human beings to themselves and to society. We have a huge mindfulness component.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most of the company\u2019s shows, \u201cChitty Chitty Bang Bang\u201d is being staged in the century-old Ernest Borgnine Theatre, housed in the Long Beach Scottish Rite Masonic Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the last of its kind here in Long Beach,\u201d McMullen said. \u201cIt looks like an old Broadway house because it\u2019s designed by the same designers that were designing vaudeville houses all over America.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And experiencing live theater is also more \u201creal\u201d than staring at a screen, says Lamanna, allowing breathing and laughing with other human beings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can breathe life into a show right in front of you,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd participating is breathing, too, because the actors can\u2019t do it without the energy that the audience brings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all, \u201cChitty Chitty Bang Bang\u201d offers fun for the whole family, Lamanna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to make your heart open,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to make you glad to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children\u2019s Theatre of Long Beach\u2019s \u201cChitty Chitty Bang Bang\u201d will perform Feb. 21 to March 8 at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre, 855 Elm Ave., with shows Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m., then Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $12 to $33. For tickets, visit <\/em>ChildrensTheatreofLongBeach.org<\/em><\/a>. Run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, the production is complete with the flying car.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":88214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32367,6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-88213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-do","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88218,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88213\/revisions\/88218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88213"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=88213"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=88213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}