Review # 35: Back To The Future: The Musical (West End)

Great Scott! If my calculations are correct, you ended up at my review of Back to the Future: The Musical which is currently on the West End. Does the iconic film translate well to the stage? Find out in this review. 

Plot: Back to the Future: The Musical is inspired by the famous 1985 film, Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox and Christoper Lloyd. Back to the Future: The Musical takes you back to 1985 when a  young teen named Marty McFly yerns to be a professional music star. After his band audition, his dreams are crushed when he is told he has no future. Things for the rest of the McFly family aren't as great either. Marty's father, George is bullied and belittled by his boss, Marty's mother, Lorriane is a depressed alcoholic, and Marty's siblings also have problems of their own. Meanwhile, Marty meets Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown at the mall, where he shows Marty his latest invention, a time-traveling Delorean that is powered by plutonium. However, after Doc gets radiation poisoning, Doc sends Marty into the Delorean to go get help. However, instead of reaching the hospital, Marty ends up in 1955. With no energy left in the Delorean, Marty tries to seek out a younger version of Doc for help. While doing so, he accidentally ruins his parents' first meeting. Now instead of George, teenage Lorriane develops a crush on Marty and if George and Lorriane don’t get together, Marty and his siblings will never exist. Will Marty find a way to get his parents back together and a way back to 1985? Find out in Back to the Future: The Musical. Other than a handful of changes, such as Doc's "death", Huey Lewis being Jennifer's uncle, and a dream sequence featuring Doc, this musical adaptation stays true to the original storyline. Although the only complaint I have is the dream sequence. It did not add to the storyline and felt unnecessary. It was like the writers wanted to remind you that this is a time-traveling musical. Despite this musical being a bit cornier than the original movie, it still captures the same charm that the movie once did. It's wacky, witty and fun for the whole family. You'll want to come back for more.  

Characters: Although Marty is our main protagonist, I thought the highlights in this show were Doc and George. Doc is a lot goofier in this adaptation, cracking more jokes than he did in the original film. However, I enjoyed the extra small details that gave his character more depth. For example, a younger Doc yerns to be a successful scientist, but struggles with his previous inventions, as all of them, before the time-traveling Delorean turns out to be failures. However, he realizes failure is a part of life, as he notices that other scientists have also failed in the past, giving him hope that one day he might succeed. I also enjoyed Doc and Marty's on-stage relationship in this adaptation. Not only does Marty's presence in 1955 affects his parents but he also affects Doc as he begins to have more faith in himself and comes to realize that he can make a difference and live out his dream. George was another amazing character in the show. Oliver Nicholas, who plays George in the show stayed true to the source material and captured all of George's mannerisms and voice from the original movie perfectly. George's road to self-confidence in the show is also great to see and you couldn’t help to root for him. I could tell the actor had a blast playing this role and it made it more enjoyable for the audience to watch. Marty is a fun protagonist and I loved the references he would make about Back to the Future Part II and other jokes he would make during the show. Marty's charm and positivity brings light to the others such as George and Doc. He brought so much joy to not just the characters on stage but also the audience as well. Other characters to note were Lorriane, Jennifer (Marty's girlfriend), and even Goldie Wilson (the mayor). I adored the fact that Jennifer and Goldie got their own songs and they became more important to the story in this version.  Lorraine's love and friendship with the other members in the cast are adorable to see as well. I only character I wanted to see more of is Biff (George's bully). Maybe have him sing a song of his own, I know he gets one song but it felt like a short reprise of another song that he sings with Lorraine and the rest of the cast about Marty in the act one finale. Maybe the writers could have added a song on why he enjoys bullying George and others (kind of like "Dentist" from Little Shop of Horrors). Other than the lack of Biff, the characters in this musical were just as memorable and fun as they were in the original. 

Songs: At first, I was worried that I was not going to enjoy some of the songs that were featured in this musical. I was not too impressed with the first two songs that were in the show. However, as the show progresses, I found myself enjoying some of the songs such as "Wherever We're Going". "Hello, Is Anybody Home?", "It Works", "Gotta Start Somewhere", "Future Boy", "Something About That Boy", and "Put Your Mind to It". Even though I did not like the dream sequence, I found the song "21st Century" to be upbeat and catchy. The musical also included songs from the movie such as "Power of Love", "Back in Time", and "Johnny B. Goode". The only thing I did not like is the fact that the actors repeated the song titles over and over again during the show, for example, Marty and Doc would constantly say "Put Your Mind to It" or call back to the opening number "It's Only a Matter of Time". As much as this is a nice callback to these songs, I felt like the writers could have done it once or twice instead of constantly repeating them. Other than that, I loved listening to some of these songs, and seeing the actors perform them live on stage made it so much better. 

Sets: The sets in this show were mind-blowing to watch on stage. There was the use of projections, flames, and sparks throughout the show. The sets get really intense when the Delorean is used for some of the scenes. It makes the audience feel as if they are traveling back in time with Marty. Another scene where the sets stand out was Marty and Biff's fight scene at school. It was a comical chase scene and I could tell the actors on stage enjoyed running around and playing with the sets that were featured in the show. Now, I won't spoil the ending, but you'll definitely want to stay for the epic conclusion of the show, the sets near the end are fantastic and incredible. You'll definitely be asking "How did they do that?" 

Overall Back to the Future: The Musical is a must-see musical sensation. As a big fan of the film myself, I found it a bit cheesy but in a good, light-hearted way. Although some fans of the original will be upset that they don't include some iconic moments from the film. For example, Marty does not pretend to be Darth Vader, Marty does not try to order Pepsi free at the diner, and some lines such as "Nobody calls me chicken." is not said. However, the musical makes up for it by adding new moments of its own but don't have to watch Back to the Future to have a good time. I would recommend this musical to everyone as it is fit for the whole family. Back to the Future: The Musical is currently playing on the West End but thankfully it is getting a Broadway transfer this summer. So definitely go see Back to the Future: The Musical!