The Big Bang

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The Big Bang

Review: M-CHS production stands out as one of Cortez’s finest, most elaborate performances
Sam Green/Cortez Journal

Caractacus Potts, (Kaleb Burris) and Truly Scrumptious, (Kourtney Partington) fly away in the Friday night performance of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
The crowd-pleasing Childcatcher (Kyle Miller) leaps out from the birthday cake to round up the children in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
The Potts family and Truly Scrumptious (Kourtney Partington) go to a picnic.
The inventors help Grandpa Potts (Sean McLaughlin), far right, during a recent performance.
Wearing a brown top hat, Lord Scrumptious (Landin Taylor) tries out a candy whistle invented by Caractacus Potts (Kaleb Burris), far right, during “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” on March 20.
Nicholaus Sandner

The Big Bang

Sam Green/Cortez Journal

Caractacus Potts, (Kaleb Burris) and Truly Scrumptious, (Kourtney Partington) fly away in the Friday night performance of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
The crowd-pleasing Childcatcher (Kyle Miller) leaps out from the birthday cake to round up the children in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
The Potts family and Truly Scrumptious (Kourtney Partington) go to a picnic.
The inventors help Grandpa Potts (Sean McLaughlin), far right, during a recent performance.
Wearing a brown top hat, Lord Scrumptious (Landin Taylor) tries out a candy whistle invented by Caractacus Potts (Kaleb Burris), far right, during “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” on March 20.
Nicholaus Sandner
Flying car takes center stage

In the months leading up to the Montezuma-Cortez Drama Department’s staging of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” theatre director Nicholaus Sandner knew that a flying car could take the production to a new level.
Figuring out how to design such a machine proved daunting even for the ultra-creative Sandner, who struggled to envision a concept that would be safe, reliable and aesthetically pleasing.
After much, the director contacted his father-in-law Les Schmitt, a Farmington resident with knack for designing unique contraptions. In the days after their initial conversation, Schmitt and Sandner set to work on the car, which first required a frame, steering column and body.
While designing the car’s frame and steering column proved somewhat easy, figuring out a way to power the engineless machine was somewhat more difficult. After much contemplation, Schmitt came up with a solution.
“He came up with the idea of running (the car) with a drill,” Sandner said. “It’s powered by one 20-volt drill battery, and it spins a little wheel that sits above the back tire and propels it forward and backward.”
Once the car’s frame, steering column and power mechanism were in place, Sandner and the students began building and painting the car’s body. Before headlights, mirrors and other bells and whistles were added however, the students decided to take the vehicle for a test drive.
“Before we built all the stuff on it, David Gonzales-Overton and I drove it into school just to make sure it worked,” said actor Kaleb Burris. “It was a lot of fun.”
In addition to designing the car itself, Sandner and Schmitt had to figure out a way to make the vehicle fly. After some thought, the pair decided to use a pneumatic lift, four pneumatic pistons and a metal frame capable of lifting the car into the air.
“An M-CHS alum, RC, sits under the frame and pressures the whole thing up,” said Sandner. “He can dip the front and the back at different intervals.”
Thanks to the ingenious device, the car, which holds up to four people, moves up and down above the stage at rapid intervals, thereby creating the illusion that it is flying.
When asked about their off-the-ground experience, actors and actresses smiled and agreed that the car provides a wild ride.
“The flying freaks me out,” said Burris. “Every time I go onto the flying board, I make sure that I have a seat belt.”
As for the department’s future plans for the car, Sandner said that he has no intention of taking it apart and might even use again.
“We’re going to keep it,” said Sandner. “It’s too cool to take apart. You may see it in another production in the future.”

A final weekend

Showtimes
MARCH 27: 7 p.m.
March 28: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
*Shows will take place at the M-CHS Theatre