WATCH: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang big break sets eight Highland youngsters centre stage alongside Adam Garcia and Elaine C Smith for ‘truly scrumptious’ musical stage appearances at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
It was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s very own Caractacus Potts who advised his wide-eyed offspring: ‘Never say no to adventures. Otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.”
A gang of eight children from an Inverness-based performing arts school were never going to shy away from the promise of adventure when a professional theatre company offered supporting roles in a stage extravaganza that opens tonight at Eden Court Theatre.
Taking the stage with their fine, four-fendered friend and musical stars including Adam Garcia and Elaine C Smith, the dedicated young members of Performers UK - playing the ‘urchins’ - will be part of a ‘truly scrumptious’ production of perhaps the most famous and fantasmagorical musical of all time.
It promises to be an unforgettable week with the thrill of performance in the evenings fitted in around daily school work.
Rehearsals at their Bank Street base have gone brilliantly, and Enrica Ross, co-founder of the 10-year-old multi-discipline performance school with Victoria Rollo and Amanda Chisholm, told how the incredible opportunity came about.
“We were contacted by the resident director of the UK tour who, I understand, had contacted three performing arts schools in the area,” Enrica explained.
“We were asked to submit a video audition, with 15 children per group performing some of the original choreography.
“We were lucky enough to be chosen and they picked the eight children from our 15 they wanted for the show.
“It is amazing. They are working with the likes of Adam Garcia, the Australian stage, television, and film actor, and Scotland’s very own Elaine C Smith.
“It will be amazing for these children to have this on their CVs, between the ages of nine and 13 - a part in a UK tour at that age is just incredible.
“Working with these professionals and learning how a professional company works backstage is tremendous for them and just sets them in such good stead for the future.
“A lot of them have performed with Eden Court with amateur companies around them like Starlight and Inverness Musical Theatre, but it is a very different environment working with a professional company.”
In stage performance terms, preparation time was whirlwind
“By the time we got everything sent over from the company, we had about four weeks to put it all together. The eight of them have absolutely knuckled down.
“They just love it and are like sponges at that age, taking everything in.
“Our choreographer Heather Davidson is the one bringing it all together and has put so much effort in.
“I think anyone who goes to see it will be surprised that these are Inverness kids who do this for the love of it, not trained professional performers.
“They are doing every performance and it is a professional contract, so they do get paid at the end of it, which is an added bonus.
“For a lot of them, it is their first paid job and we’re just so super-proud of them.”
Garcia (Wicked, Kiss Me Kate, Coyote Ugly) takes the role of the eccentric and loveable Caractacus, while Smith (Rab C Nesbitt, Two Doors Down, Burds Eye View) is sure to go down a storm - in a cacophony of boos - as they dreaded Childcatcher.
Emerdale’s Liam Fox is Grandpa Potts.
Directed by Thom Southerland (Titanic, Parade), choreographed by Karen Bruce (BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, The Bodyguard) and designed by Morgan Large (Newsies, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat), it promises to be a slick and thrillingly entertaining take on Ian Fleming’s timeless children’s tale and hit 1968 film, with all the well-known musical sing-a-long favourites to delight the audience.
“We’ve all got tickets to go and see the first show and we’ll be quite emotional seeing them up there,” Enrica said.
“The parents have done a lot as well, taking them to all the extra rehearsals, with a whole week of it coming up at Eden Court dropping them off and picking them up, late nights, with school the next day.
“But they will be in their element and love every single bit of it - and so they should.
“It will be a great experience and it feels just amazing to be able to offer this to them.”
“These opportunities don’t often come up. To be a part of something like this, and to perform with these stars, you’d usually have to live in London.
“To be up here in the Highlands and have our performers experiencing it, we’re so grateful and so proud of them for stepping up to the mark and getting in.”
