Marc Kudisch Wins Role of the Baron in Chitty

The cast of the upcoming Broadway mounting of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is shaping up. First, Jan Maxwell won the role of the Baroness and now Broadway.com has learned Marc Kudisch has been selected to be her loving husband, the Baron Bomburst.

Kudisch is currently starring as the Proprietor in the Tony-winning revival of Assassins. He is scheduled to leave the show on June 13 to perform in the Los Angeles Opera mounting of A Little Night Music, but he will likely return to Studio 54 if Assassins extends through October, as expected. Kudisch earned a Tony nomination for his supporting work in Thoroughly Modern Millie and has also appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, The Wild Party, The Scarlet Pimpernel, High Society, Beauty and the Beast and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Among his other theatrical credits are the off-Broadway musical The Thing About Men, the Encores! mounting of No Strings and the national tour of Bye Bye Birdie he reprised the role of Conrad Birdie in the ABC television version of the musical.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the musical adaptation of the 1968 movie of the same name, centers on an eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts, who has a flying car. Though Potts is happy just using the special car for family trips, others have more sinister aims, including the Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria, who are desperately trying to steal the automobile.

Adapted for the stage from Ian Fleming's original text by Jeremy Sams, the musical Chitty features a score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who wrote the film's songs. Adrian Noble directs and Gillian Lynne choreographs. The musical, which was a hit in London, will begin previews at Broadway's Ford Center for the Performing Arts on March 29, 2005 in preparation for an April 28, 2005 opening.

No casting has been officially confirmed for the Broadway production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.