First Think, THEN Ink.

As previously stated, I'm something of a Broadway Geek when it comes to it, but I'm also a Movie Musical Geek. There have been a lot of stage productions that got the big screen treatment, not all of them have excelled compared to the original, but certainly quite a few have.

"West Side Story" won just about every Oscar it could, despite all of the dubbing of vocals for most of the lead characters.

"1776" gave the world Howard da Silva as Ben Franklin, who was sadly missing from the Original Broadway Cast album. And "Chicago" took Best Picture even though the Broadway revival is still rolling right along.

Madonna as "Evita" was, let's be honest, stunt casting. Mamma Mia! was just taking advantage of the popularity of ABBA, so the movie version was more of that, only with folks like Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, singing. Of course, this summer we're getting a Sequel to that film, so who knows where this is going? And we're all awaiting Ariana Grande and Dove Cameron who are seriously rumored to play the roles that Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated on Broadway when "Wicked" comes to a theater near you, late December, 2019.

But there have been some occasions when it goes the opposite direction: a film spawns a Broadway version. The first time that I personally remember it was "Singin' In The Rain," which got a staged version in 1985. Ironically, a revival of that show was set to star Derek Hough in the role Gene Kelly originated on the screen this season. The problem? One of the show's main producers was Harvey Weinstein. It looks like if that revival will happen, it won't be in 2018.

Concluding its run on the Great White Way TODAY is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which, seemed to want to draw a bit from both the Gene Wilder 1970s version and the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton 2000s attempt. It'll go on tour later this year.

And there's a whole host of Disney examples, from Mary Poppins to Beauty and the Beast, to The Little Mermaid to the still running The Lion King and Aladdin The Mouse is just mining its existing material and making you buy it again and again, additionally with their live action film versions of their original animated features. Coming in 2019... "The Lion King".

But, there's one more film that I must mention that became a Broadway sensation. It was a motion picture about a race car, an inventor, a daughter of a candymaker and a couple of kids thrown in the mix. Add in a wild tale about a fictional country where children were not allowed and poof! You have a story of Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang!"

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" the film, was very loosely adapted from the children's novel by Ian Fleming. Yes, our old 007 author has returned from Day 11. And, when you look at the concept of this film from the right angle, all of the Bond elements are there. The fancy gadget, that magnificent automobile that could float on the sea and soar through the sky, the exotic location of the country of Vulgaria, and needing to infiltrate the government of said country to provide the people with a greater good.

There was even a Bond Girl to make the formula complete: The daughter of a candymaker who gets entangled with the inventor when he attempts to sell his sweet treats to her dad and comes to dote upon his two young motherless children. And yes, she had a "Bond Girl" style name: Truly Scrumptious.

Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman wrote the music for "Mary Poppins," and they probably thought they were onto another supercalifragilisticexpialidocious hit when they coined the word "fantasmogorical" for this production. And they did, after all, have their male lead from "Mary" here: Dick Van Dyke tried to get through another stab at doing a Brit accent (he really only tries about half the time, here). And the female lead was the understudy for Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady, so that connection is closer than you might have guessed. Sally Ann Howes took over for Julie when she left the production and joined the cast of "Chitty" as Truly... in fact, she was the second choice after Ms. Andrews turned down the role.

The problem with "Chitty" was pretty simple. The story just wasn't that solid. Fleming's book told a different tale, and though there were some parallels, the production seemed to lack focus or even a point of view that was relatable. Whose story is this? The Inventor? The Woman? The Kids? The CAR??

Back when the soundtrack album was created for the film, in order to place the platter with standard songs, they were edited to clip out the incidental dialogue that might have led into the opening bars of a tune and removed the instrumental portions that were dance breaks. It's a shame because some of these songs are really great and effective, like "Chu-Chi Face", where the King and Queen of Vulgaria proclaim their love for each other, even as he seems intent on getting her "out of the way". And then there's "Lovely Lonely Man," which gives you a peek into the tony world of our chocolatier's daughter.

But I've selected another track from the disc. One that sort of shows off just how unrealistic the story turned out to be. An impromptu picnic was arranged for Truly, Charactacus Potts (get it? He's a "Crack Pott" Inventor?) and his kids at the beach. And despite only knowing this lady for a very short time, they sing, with kindness and with a shocking amount of discipline for children of that age about how much they care for her. Calling this stilted, in the context of the film itself, is quite the understatement. But as a stand alone song, it's pretty good. Or at least I think so.

I kind of love all the songs from this soundtrack, but really, I don't like the edited versions heard on the Vinyl and CD. I really appreciate the full length tracks. And that's what I'm presenting, here.

My choice for Day 13 is, in alphabetical order: Adrian Hall, Sally Ann Howes and Heather Ripley - "Truly Scrumptious"