Signal Mountain Playhouse: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This past Friday night we were whisked into Ian Flemming and Roald Dahl's world of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Having grown up watching Dick Van Dyke play Caractacus Potts in the 1968 movie,  I was both excited and curious as to how a children's theater would handle a story about a car that not only drives, but floats and flies as well.

Overall the theater group handled the story very well, singing so many of my favorite songs and providing lots of comic relief in the form of the Vulgarian spies in the first act (they were hilarious!).

The play took place at the Signal Mountain Playhouse – an outdoor amphitheater where a different play takes place every summer during the month of July. This was our first time to attend, but last year they did Peter Pan and the year before that was The King and I.

With two little ones under the age of five, we weren't sure how the night would go. But since we had had success with staying up for July 4th fireworks, we thought we would give it a chance. The boys did pretty well. Jack got a little antsy during the second act (it helped that he was already familiar with the movie), and we just kept giving Isaac snacks so he wouldn't be fussy.

Jack enjoyed the show, but was not a fan of the Child Catcher. All week he has told me how much he did not like the bad guy who took children. My favorite parts of this version of the story were the two spies in the first act and the "Doll on the Music Box" scene from the second act.

If you are interested in attending a play at the Signal Mountain Playhouse, here are some logistics you should be aware of:

The play is only on Friday and Saturday nights during the month of July and tickets cost $15 for adults and $5 for kids. Tickets go on sale at 6pm the night of the show. Daniel got in line at 5:30pm and said that the place was about 3/4 full by the time he left. When you buy your tickets, you also set up your camp chair in your desired spot (we had center seats with a great view).

The show doesn't start until 8pm, so we were able to eat dinner between the time of purchasing our tickets and the start of the show. You can bring food and drinks into the amphitheater – you could even bring a picnic while you wait for the play to start. There is also a snack bar – popcorn only costs $1.

We did not get back to our car until about 10:30pm, so if you take little ones, be aware that it is a very late night for them!

We had a lot of fun and I look forward to attending future shows. After restraining myself from singing along during the play, I've been singing my favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs all week!