Six years ago, the Children's Theater company that Foothill was using to produce their musicals went out of business. Ms. Alejandro had recently retired, and agreed to direct Foothill's musical -if- Ms. Davies would co-direct. Ms. Davies had originally had three years of musical theatre training in college. That first year, Foothill produced Annie, Jr.
Fast forward another two years and the musical was Frozen, Jr. Ms. Gavin's second oldest was finally old enough for the musical. With Ms. Gavin's extensive musical and education training, we were so lucky when she dived headlong into co-directing the following year.
It takes almost a year for us to fully pull together our musicals. Saratoga venues are booked in the May timeframe for the following year. We also need to pay initial licensing fees, start analyzing the scripts, build out choreography . . . . All this to say, we usually choose next year's musical just as the current one is ending. Last year, at strike for Wizard of Oz, Youth Edition, we were still mulling through our top 2 or 3 choices. Ms. Gavin looked at Ms. Davies and said: 'I think you should do Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jr. and get it out of your system.'
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a classic musical. Ian Fleming (the author of the James Bond books) originally wrote the story for his three year old son. The music is written by the team that wrote the music for Mary Poppins. Ms. Davies grew up watching these classic musicals, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a favorite for her own car-obsessed children when they were very little. This particular version -- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jr. -- is written so that some number of children play the car, arguably the star of the show. We say arguably because there are so many delightful characters and special features for this show from beginning to end.
All of us, as your directors, are so grateful that you allow us to take your children and your families on this journey every year. It is a labor of love for us, and we know that it is no small amount of effort for you and your families.
