That flying car you’ve always wanted? It’s finally here, sort of

Nothing against the director or the producer or the actors or even Spring Mountain Ranch State Park itself, all of which will contribute, we’re sure, to a lovely evening of theater as Super Summer Theatre kicks off its 2015 season with “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

But, oh boy, can’t wait to see what they do with that car.

It’s an understandable, if perhaps not fully expected, reaction when talking about a musical fantasy about a classic car that can do some amazing things. But those who might be more into things like great music and lyrics and a fun plot shouldn’t be dissuaded, because director Phil Shelburne promises that the show will feature those, too.

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” opens Wednesday and will be presented at 8:05 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturday through June 27 at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, 6375 State Route 159, about 10 miles west of the 215 Beltway. Tickets are $12.95 in advance or $20 at the gate, and children ages 5 and under are free. (For more information, call 702-594-7529 or visit supersummertheatre.org.)

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is based on the 1964 children’s story, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car” by Ian Fleming, more widely known as the creator of James Bond. (For anyone who didn’t know that, the name of the story’s main female character, Truly Scrumptious, would be a tip-off.)

The story revolves around a car purchased and renovated by an eccentric inventor that takes the play’s characters on some marvelous adventures. Included in the tale are, Shelburne says, a leading lady who’s “a high-class woman with a very strong feminist (attitudes) in a more chauvinistic social time,” kids with active imaginations, some bad guys who ultimately are overcome and trips to other lands.

Fleming’s story was adapted into a now-classic 1968 movie starring Dick Van Dyke (co-written by Roald Dahl, whose own children’s stories include “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). A stage musical premiered in London in 2002, and a Broadway adaptation followed three years later.

Shelburne says his P.S. Productions actually was scheduled to present “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” four years ago, but the rights “got pulled. So we just had to wait for it to become available again. So it did, and we jumped at the chance to have an opportunity to try to perform (it) out there at the park.”

“I love ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ ” he says.”I grew up with it. As a kid, it was probably one of my favorite musicals that was ever filmed. I love the music. I love the story. It’s just a lot of fun to have an opportunity to try to present it on the stage.”

Also, Shelburne says, “I was just enamored about the possibility of building the car.”

Shelburne says the musical audiences will see over the next three weekends is “the one they used for the U.K. tour.

“I actually thought it kind of swings a little bit closer to the movie, and it’s scaled down a little bit in size so it makes it, perhaps, a little more manageable.”

Still, Shelburne says the musical — the music and lyrics are by Richard and Robert Sherman — is a complex one to produce.

“There are multiple locations. The car has to fly, float and drive. There’s a motor bike sequence. There’s just a lot of gadgetry in the show, and providing a show like this out at Super Summer Theatre without access to a flying system or much wing space or anything like that is an extraordinary challenge, actually.”

From a technical standpoint, “I would say it’s probably, hands-down, the hardest show we’ve attempted,” Shelburne says.

The musical also features a “pretty hefty cast,” he says. “There’s a number of children in the show. Then, there’s a lot of singing and dancing.” (Choreography is by Tracey Corea. and Shawn Martin is assistant director.)

But, Shelburne says, “it’s the other stuff that has become extraordinarily complicated.

So how does one create a flying magical, car? Good question, Shelburne answers.

“We had to spend an awful lot of time figuring out, with our budget, how would we possibly create this car, and basically we built a car. We really did, all the way from the ground up. It’s a fully drive-able, operating car (with) complete body work detail.

“It comes off the ground. Its wings open. It drives and goes back and forth, 360 degrees around, and its wheels rotate up and it has a propeller in the back.”

In fact, Shelburne — who didn’t want to give away too much ahead of time but did admit last week that he and set designer Daniel Wright were still dealing with a few unexpected snags — says the concept and design of Chitty has been in the works for months, although most of the work on it took place over the past month or so.

Ultimately, he says, “I think it will be the most expensive prop we’ve ever made.”

Did the thought ever cross his mind that maybe something like,“Annie” would’ve been easier?

“I think that came up quite a few times,” he says, laughing. “I kept wondering (whether) we wanted to do ‘The Fantasticks,’ just five people in a box.”

But don’t worry about all of that. Shelburne says Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the car, will be ready in all of its fantastical glory by opening night. The family-friendly show is “great,” he adds, with “great Sherman brothers music. Everybody loves the title tune. Everybody knows the tune.”

“I think it’s just a very fun, universal story,” Shelburne says.

And that car? If all goes well, he jokes, “it’s going to be great.”

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280, or follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.