Already this season, families have journeyed to Oz together. This week and next, they'll watch a special car take wing to rescue an old man from some family-phobic villains. And soon they'll be able to see the return of a red-haired orphan, a collection of singing cats, athletic performers leading them on a jungle adventure.

For sure, the touring Broadway season is bringing plenty of for-mature-audiences fare to South Florida -- Avenue Q and Dame Edna's latest extravaganza spring to mind. But it is also a season full of shows that several generations can enjoy together, a key, say the artists who create touring theater as well as those who run family-friendly South Florida companies, to igniting a love of theater and building future audiences.

This week at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang begins a long trek to more than 25 cities around the United States. The stage musical is based on the 1968 movie about an eccentric inventor/single dad, his two kids and their flying car. Though the show played both London and Broadway (former Miamian Raúl Esparza starred as the inventor, Caractacus Potts, in New York), for a time it looked as if the musical might not tour the United States at all.

''The issue we had was flying the car,'' says director Ray Roderick, who also adapted the script. ``We had to be able to load the show in two days, so it could play one or two weeks, versus taking two weeks to load it in for longer runs. We solved that, and then because of the way the scenery would move around it, we took another look at the storytelling and created a revised script, with a new opening and using iconic moments from the movie.''

What makes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang more intriguing for adults than many shows aimed strictly at children are the metaphoric aspects of its story, which Roderick sees as a reflection of Europe under siege in the 1930s and '40s. Its villains ''disappear'' children, in cahoots with the way-creepy Childcatcher. Roderick has tried to dial down the Childcatcher's scariness by making his presence more fleeting, choosing to focus more on how the little Potts family works together to triumph over evil.

Roderick was juggling lots of elements during the show's two-day technical tuneup in Fort Myers last week. Getting the car's complex technology to work perfectly was key.Mike Bauder, who oversees Chitty, says stagehands were ''dumbfounded'' when they watched the car's flight sequence with all the lighting effects in place. It is all in service of re-creating the movie's magic onstage, Roderick says, so families can share it.

''It's so valuable for kids and families to have that right here, right now experience together,'' Roderick says. ``They can laugh together, cry together and be amazed together.''

Annie lyricist and director Martin Charnin has watched that family bonding happen ever since his Tony Award-winning show opened on Broadway in 1977. He, too, has worked with uncounted dogs and kids through the years, personally directing 10 different Annie companies.

Though his show, which returns to South Florida for a run at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in early December, is set during the hard times of the Depression, Charnin believes it remains relevant to multiple generations.

''I am amazed at how prescient the show is, but it has always seemed to resonate politically and emotionally,'' Charnin says via e-mail. ``The audience often stands in the lobby at intermission or at the end of the play, wondering if the musical has been rewritten the night before, to accommodate current events. It hasn't.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@