MUSIC & Lyrics join West Yorkshire Playhouse for a fantasmagorical Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, creating fun and frights for all.

On press night, the show is suspended for ten minutes without explanation, later found to be a technical hitch.

This removes the cast’s sparkle for the first half.

The star in this Sherman Brothers’ musical is a former racing car whose highly polished and varnished body can actually fly!

It had been lovingly restored by Caractacus Potts, a charismatic Jason Manford who radiates scatty warm-heartedness.

He and his children, Jeremy and Jemima, played on press night by Henry Kent, 10, and Darcy Snares, 9, are joined for a beach picnic by Charlotte Wakefield’s Truly Scrumptious who is just that – truly scrumptious. She sings Lovely Lonely Man beautifully.

We see the car floating like a boat in the sea until they all escape, after being stranded at high tide.

The baddies are Baron and Baroness Bomburst. Phill Jupitus and Claire Sweeney ring out every drop of nastiness from the pair who set their avaricious eyes on Chitty and use comic baddies Boris and Goran (Sam Harrison and Scott Paige) to aid their search.

The smarmy aristocrats celebrate the baron’s singing and dancing birthday party with a perfectly timed performance of Chu-Chi Face.

They employ Jos Vantyler’s evil-eyed Child Catcher to snatch Jeremy and Jemima and scare the watching kids.

The audience love numbers such as Truly Scrumptious, Hushabye Mountain and the popular title song played by a live orchestra conducted by Musical Supervisor, Stephen Ridley.

Sets, designed by Simon Higlett, blend in with Simon Wainwright’s video projections to make a show which goes out with a bang bang.

* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at the Lowry until Sunday, January 15. For tickets, telephone 0843 208 6005 or visit thelowry.com. Star rating: * * *