Back to the Future the Musical - Opera House MCR / Adelphi

But this show is, first and foremost, about the effects, experience and immersion in that sweet spot between stage and screen. For that, it is almost unique. Only "Life of Pi" comes close in terms of the fusion.

But did it need to be a musical if it's all about the effects, experience and immersion?

There's a good play experience in there somewhere, with the songs from the movie if you had to (I get that he needs to sing at the dance it's a plot point) - turn it into a 'theatrical experience' like Harry Potter and it'd be infinitely better than what you have now.

I'd say anything within reason can be adapted into a musical and this could have been amazing with the right amount of imagination and talent. This just doesn't have that unfortunately.

And I must say for a high budget musical, it felt like a lot of the production values felt second to the car. Second rate copies of scenes from the film

Take the scene with George McFly is spying from the tree and he is not even high off the stage so he and Marty on the ground are level. Moments like that make me think, wow with all the money and technology you've put into this you couldn't stage that better. Or if it's too difficult to show him falling from the tree, use some imagination and do the plot point differently and not follow the film exactly.

I'm mean they had to do the bully chase sequence differently, and whilst its not revelatory it was a highlight because they deviated from the film

Or even Goldie's number 'Gotta Start Somewhere', another highlight except all they had for a set was this golden frame against a dark backdrop. Couldn't think up something better than that.

And if you've seen any QDOS/Crossroads pantos in the past decade the flying car isn't that impressive. Seeing it turn upside down alone is cringeworthy.

I would have loved him to take over if Roger left. I’ll be surprised if Roger does another year, he’s been with the show/in the UK for a long time now, maybe he wants to go home? Also, would be a good break if he’s to open it on Broadway too.

I had a dream the other night that Jason Manford took over the part 😅.

For real, if Roger leaves then I can see them putting a well known person in the role. Not a celebrity stunt casting, but someone in MT who may be known for other things, someone like Jason Manford 😅.

I agree that this show winning Best Musical is a joke.

I disliked the leads in Moulin Rouge a lot, but that should have won Best Musical over this.

I agree, it annoys me when people say X musical isn't a musical because of the songs (or at least in their opinion). That might mean it doesn't make a good cd, or a concert but a musical(like you say) is the sum of its parts. Its everything involved in bringing the show together and I think it shows a massive disrespect to people like set, lighting designers etc to so easily dismiss their work. In fact designer's seem to get dismissed so easily and its nice to actually have some shows (BTTF, Frozen, Moulin Rouge). embrace design possibilities at the moment after so much minimalism.

It's the same with actresses in musicals, people focus so much on just the voice and not the acting, it's not best singer.

I don't think anyone's saying BTTF isn't a musical. It clearly is. The argument is just that many people - myself included - feel it didn't need to be a musical. To reference inthenose's point, I agree that anyone booking it expecting a Vegas-style extravaganza might be disappointed, but that's because they've shoehorned it all into a musical form. Had they not set out to do that, and instead developed - from the ground - an extravaganza "Back to the Future LIVE ON STAGE" experience I think it would have been all the better for it. They wouldn't have needed to drop in forgettable songs which don't add anything to the show every few minutes, and could have concentrated all their efforts and funds instead on evolving the effects even more than they have. See the new Abba show: they built something unique which really stands out without trying to conform it to anything which already exists.

I've explained it before, but in my opinion (and I don't think I'm alone) the new musical aspects are the weakest in the show and actually drag down what is otherwise a brilliant production. If anything, it's the opposite of what you're describing above. Rather than dismissing all the other aspects (set, lighting designers etc.) I fully recognise that their work is what makes this show worth seeing. It's a musical which wins "Best Musical" because of all the other elements; and despite the traditional "musical" elements (book, lyrics, music) which alone just aren't very strong.

Not the actor's fault (he was fine), but Biff's song was the one time when I saw it where I actually rolled my eyes and thought - "oh now it's his turn for a song". It stopped the show's momentum and added nothing, and felt like an excuse to try and cram in all his ("mondegreen") one-liners from the film.

I can only see it lasting another six months really. The Adelphi is always high on peoples list when bringing new productions into town and the second it starts to flag it’ll be out to make way for something else.

I agree. I've never understood why though as the Adelphi is a dreadful theatre, my least favourite.

There's not a good seat in the house. The Dominion is also dreadful.