Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Puts on the Brakes in London

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is just kicking into gear on Broadway, but its West End counterpart is closing down. The musical will end its run at the London Palladium on September 4.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the musical adaptation of the 1968 movie of the same name, centers on an eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts, who invents a flying car. Though Potts is happy just using the special car for family trips, others have more sinister aims. 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. The show was directed by Adrian Noble and choreographed by Gillian Lynne.

The musical opened at the London Palladium on April 16, 2002 to mostly positive reviews. Nicholas de Jongh of The Evening Standard wrote of the tuner: "The epic musical is beautifully calculated to enthrall the young with its fairytale weirdness and offer adults the seductive chance of a second-childhood in its amusing company."

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang continues to run at Broadway's Hilton Theatre. It is also scheduled for a U.K. tour, which will begin on December 9 in Sunderland.