Loved the review TP! I love lots of detail - it's not boring at all - next best thing to actually being there

Indeed thanks to everyone who has contributed reviews, photos, links etc in the thread - much appreciated

Thanks!

Popped up to Sheffield on my day off to see how things were shaping up in the new venue. Happy to report that Mr Mead is in fine fettle, despite a few technical difficulties that occurred on the first night, apparently.

On the afternoon of my visit (Thursday), there was an abundance of dry ice, so bad that it was difficult to see the action on stage. As Chitty flew, and Lee uttered the immortal line, "I can't see through the fog!" my neighbour in the front row called out, "neither can we, love!" As we were laughing at this, someone noticed the conductor - he was immersed in the dry ice, so much so that he couldn't even see his own music stand, never mind the orchestra, and was making frantic swimming movements with his hands! By now, the entire front row was in hysterics, and how Lee and Carrie held it together and carried on singing, I don't know, as they could clearly see all that was going on.

For some reason the bed for the children didn't appear in the Hushabye Mountain scene, so they improvised, with Lee telling them to "sit here" while he sang to them. It worked!

Thanks A/Liz! I'm sitting here chuckling at the thought of the poor conductor waving his arms about in the smoke!

Trust that bloomin' Sheffield to make trouble! I'm loving the fact that it's just a short taxi ride away from my house to the show for a fortnight. (Still not confident with public transport but can recommend the Supertram, getting off at either the Cathedral or Castle Square stops, for any visitors.

Love this tweet from Michelle Collins, aka The Baroness:

"Well apparently @ChittyMusical is the most successful family show in the uk at the moment according to @TheStage!"

Great news!

Great stuff! Well done to all concerned!

Lovely article to promote Chitty in Wimbledon:-

LINKY THING

Lee certainly hasn't let the fame and success go to his head.

Who is ready for Wimbledon?
I am really hoping to get to this one.

"Doing the double" today!

WhatsOnStage have posted a video of Carrie Hope Fletcher singing 'Lovely, Lonely Man':-

LINKY THING

Lovely vocal from Carrie, but I'm not keen on the piano accompaniment, which sounds a bit discordant at times. The other thing that jarred was the laughter at the end. They should have cut that bit out, because it's completely at odds with the song.

I'd like to see one of these vids with Lee singing Hushabye Mountain!

A periscope vid of backstage at Chitty was done yesterday (by the two Spies), which includes a bit with Lee...who is topless! There are links on the Meadaholics Facebook page:-

LINKY THING

*THUD*

Graziella had a great idea and so we've been doing a bit of a twitter/facebook petition drive for a video of Lee singing Hushabye Mountain - it's only fair since Carrie has her vid of LLM.

Result:

David Nelson ‏@touringdave Jul 23
So many tweets about @leemeadofficial singing Hushabye from @ChittyMusical I will mention to management

Please add your tweet to the request if you can. Tweet @touringdave @ChittyMusical @WhatsOnStage

Power to the Lee-fans!!!!

Oh and there's a fab new review from JaneW plus the radio interview with Wandsworth Radio on the website.

Lee was on Radio 2 this morning (the Chris Evans show). Here's the 'Listen Again' link (which I'm listening to) - Lee's bit starts at 1h 48mins:-

LINKY THING

The first song pla*** on the show is...Living On A Prayer! Memories of the ADWD semi-final!

Nice little chat with Lee (via phone).

I have just lost my last 2 postings on this topic this morning, so third time lucky.

Any Dream Will Do..9 years on. How fabulous to witness Lee at last immersed and enthusiastic in a lead musical theatre role,last evening at Wimbledon. I felt quite tearful with pride at points!

Of course, when I went to the Box office on the first day of booking last October, I can't have known that despite sitting in row F of the Stalls where there is supposed to be a rake, we would have in front of us two 6ft 4 or 5 in men with large heads. Who blocked a lot of our view. VERY annoying!! However, nothing was going to stop us enjoying this stunning show and Lee's performance. Couldn't see during Hushabye Mountain, so I just closed my eyes and listened to that hone*** voice instead!

SO hot in there!!- so.all credit to the cast, who were obviously far hotter, and who had already performed the matinee. Lee's forehead was dripping perspiration and those curls vv damp by the finale! (When he did his usual looking surprised and relieved at whooping, cheering and a standing ovation!!)

I was particularly amazed in two scenes, as to how much he has honed his dancing and acting skills; during The Ole Bamboo and the pierrot (clown) scene, where his body language (mime), made me forget it was Lee.

Such eccentric enthusiasm displa*** when he drives the car!

Could watch it all again today.. btw, saw some Ladies I recognise from past concerts etc outside Nando's and then in the front rows.Sorry, don't know your names, only your faces.

There were about 50 at the stage door when we left- wish I could have joined them but my daughter had to be at work this morning so we had to leave.

Anyone else who goes between now and the end of the run- enjoy!!!!

Good review, Sue!

Also, Lee did another backstage Periscope chat last night. Again, looking hot and sweaty (and eating chocolate! ).

There's a link to it on the Meadaholics Facebook page:-

LINKY THING

Lee as Elphaba?

Sue it was a joy to come on here and read your review.
I managed to get to see Chitty at Wimbledon as well.

I went to the Wednesday matinee and then again on Saturday.
I did manage to see it during Lee's first week in Milton Keynes but when I saw it in Wimbledon it was obvious just how much the whole cast had grown into their roles.
Lee can't tell us that he can't dance after this show. If he does his next role will be Pinocchio.
Now Chitty was never my fave film. Maybe because my son loved it when he was young and we watched it far to much for my liking.
This stage production is so different. Lee brings a depth of character to Caractacus Potts. He is no longer the zany self obsessed inventor.
Lee shows Potts as a family man/single father that would move the earth to provide that very best for his children.
That brings an extra profoundness to the role and when he sings Hushabye Mountain you feel both his love and his pain.
Then we see the wonderful zany side of Potts in the musicbox scene.
Has there ever been such an adorable clown? His dancing timing and precision are impeccable.
This is turning out to be my favourite show so far.

I would love to read a few more reviews on here since I can't see it again until September.

Thank you Joan for your lovely review. It really is a brilliant show
isn't it, and our Man is an absolutely amazing Potts.

Nice review, Joan!

Lee and Shaun have just been on BBC Radio Wales. Nice interview, which should be available to listen again after 4pm.

Nice interview.

There was also a photo tweeted of Lee and Shaun at the radio studio.

LINKY THING

An article about 'Woofstock', an event to raise awareness and money for a dog rescue charity. The article includes a nice pic of Lee, Shaun and Michelle, with a cute little dog!

LINKY THING

Lee ready for tonight's show (and looking rather dapper):-

Lee Mead ‏@leemeadofficial · 1h1 hour ago

Potts time!! :)). This is my dresser Claire Bear :)

LINKY THING

Lucky, lucky lady! The mind boggles .......

Loving this - a chocolate Chitty!

LINKY THING

Lee did an interview on BBC Radio WM today, from the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Listen Again link:-

LINKY THING

Chitty chat starts at 1h 12mins, and Lee's interview at 1 h 39 mins.

Lee is still claiming that he can't dance!

Although it sounds as if he struggled last night according to this tweet.
Well, that was a mission but got through the show with a swollen ankle. Ice packs on!

Popped along to the midweek matinee on Thursday. As you all probably know, our trips are rarely without incident, and this one certainly didn't disappoint.

Having made the trip to Brum "fairly" often when Lee was in Aladdin , the train journey from Euston was, shall we say, familiar to us. Curly Liz and I were in our pre-booked seats in Coach C, whilst AnnieB was in B (nothing personal, she assured us!). We said we would look after her stuff and put it on the rack overhead. Just over an hour later, as we went through Coventry, it was time to get ready. I started gathering our bits and pieces together, Curly put on her lipstick and Annie came down the train from her carriage to make sure we didn't leave her bag on the train when we alighted (as if!). The train pulled in to the platform, we all piled out and looked for the way out. As we walked along the platform, I suddenly realised something wasn't quite right. Yep, we had got off at the wrong station - Birmingham INTERNATIONAL, not New Street. Panic ensued. What to do? The obvious - our train was still in, get back on it, quick! Too late, muffed it - the guard had blown his whistle and the doors were locked, so we had to watch as it sailed off into the wide blue yonder (aka Brum).

Trains are very frequent from Brum Int'l, thank goodness, but we had a bit of a dilemma as our tickets were Virgin and technically only valid for the train we had just left - but we decided to jump on the next train, whatever company it was, and just hope there wasn't a ticket collector on board. Luck was with us, another train came along within ten minutes and we arrived in Brum not a great deal later than planned. The funny thing was, though, that each of us had individually got it wrong!

Anyway, although late, we made our way to the stage door. We were only half expecting to see Lee, as most of the cast were already in. As we waited, we heard the sound of music (oops, wrong show!) from an open window above us. It was the Chitty cast, doing their vocal warm up, and we could hear Lee's voice soaring above the others. It was just variations on scales, but lovely to listen to. When they stopped, I'm not sure why we hung around, but we did, and all of a sudden ensemble members started coming out of a door further down from the SD, followed by Lee - in his sports kit (the blue & black top he wore in the press ups video, and shorts). I always talk rubbish to him, and found myself telling him of our journey. "That's really funny!" he said, laughing. Then, of course, Meadmush took over (hardly surprising when he's standing in front of you in that gear !) .... oh boy, he looked gorgeous!

The show was - well - the wonderful show it always is. You've all seen it, or read reports of it, so I won't go into detail. However, there was a hiccup. In the scene where the children and Truly are hiding in the Toymaker's house, and the Childcatcher cycles in with the disguised cage behind him, as he rode behind the house the striped curtain covering the cage snagged on something (or got caught in the wheels) and brought the whole thing to a halt. We could see the Childcatcher desperately trying to untangle it, then the main curtain came across, the music stopped and an announcement was made. It was Lee's voice! "Hello everyone, Caractacus Potts here - there seems to be some trouble with one of my inventions. Please bear with us while we sort it out" ... or words to that effect. Of course, as it was the Childcatcher's contraption that had gone wrong, it was anyone but Pott's invention, but that was a minor technical point! Anyway, after a few minutes it was fixed and the show continued on to its happy conclusion.

maggiemay hope you see this I can receive emails but can't send them so if I have missed any news abut Lee perhaps you will be so kind as to send me an email I am hoping this works it may not
cheers acer xx

Hi acer,

Pleased to see your message on here as I have been a bit worried that you
may not have been well, I will email you later this evening.

maggiemay

maggiemay received email thank you so much enjo*** reading it have tried to email a few times get half way through message and page disappears this seems only way I can keep in touch for time being.
cheers acer xx

Thanks for posting that A Liz. It really made me smile
It's easy to get off a stop to soon when all that is on your mind is a to see the flying car and it's driver
Phwar lucky you catching Lee - in his sports kit.
Of course you are Meadmushed thinking of him doing his press ups
I hope to see a few of you ladies over the weekend???

Acer good to see you on here again

Does anybody else want to be asked how many times they've seen the show so they can go "DON'T make me count!"?

I blush to think how many times I was fortunate enough to see Chitty, but I had to smile at "Don't make me count," because I heard that exact phrase on the bus yesterday! A child was misbehaving, and his father actually said those words, then proceeded to count ... unfortunately, he reached "three" but said child continued to transgress, earning I am guessing a smack (they were behind me so I couldn't see), judging from the hysterical reaction. Everyone on the bus was then treated to a screaming toddler for the next ten minutes, while father went through the whole rigmarole of "counting" again.

SPOILER WARNING:







The Baron's just an overgrown child himself which I think answers the criticism in one of the reviews that the revolution at the end is 'too forced'. It only takes a few people to stand up to a spoiled bully, especially one as inwardly weak as the Baron. The Baroness might have been more dangerous but I don't think she could resist getting her husband to herself with none of those rotten toys getting in the way!

Dragging this thread up, because there is a lovely "farewell" tribute to everyone who was involved in Chitty on Twitter by Kathryn Barnes, one of the swings. Direct link to the video:

https://t.co/EANo2DGUSN

Not as much Lee as we would like (of course!), but what there is is well worth looking at! Hopefully some clever soul can edit the Lee bits!

Oh, that is a lovely bit of Lee . . .

We have Sunny-Mead on the job and hope to have Lee's bits edited soon.

Thanks for posting it, A/Liz!

Oh the memories! Thanks for this!

Love the bit where Lee is dancing along the corridor - he can move!

Oh, and the bit where he's wearing a technicolour coat!

Sunny-Mead has done her best and here are Lee's bits from the vid:

ChittyFarewell(Lee'sBits)

You can also use Dropbox:

DropboxChitty

I'm afraid I cannot get either of the links, but thank you Sunny Mead for
all your hard work.

maggiemay, I will ask Sunny-Mead to upload it to youtube. That should work.

Thank you, very much appreciated. x

Lovely memories.
Dancing down the corridor

Apparently, Jason Manford was on Michael Ball's radio show today, and he mentioned that there was a possibility of a return of the show next year to mark the 50th anniversary of the film.

I'd love for Lee to get the chance to be Potts in the WE!