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

Saw this again this afternoon in Row F of the stalls and mind still blown with the ending with the car even on my 3rd visit!

We had the alternate Marty: Elliott Evans who we really liked, he played the role well and was suited to the part and believable as the time travelling Future Boy, he had great rapport with Cory English as Doc.

Great to see Jay Perry as Goldie, loved him in 'Sylvia' at The Old Vic and he is a joy to witness on stage; his big number "Gotta Start Somewhere" is superb. Also enjoyed Sarah Goggin as Lorraine Baines she was fun to watch in the "Pretty Baby" number and preferred her as the Mum to Amber Davies who I saw in June.

Good participating audience who laughed and clapped along at the right moments and were very well behaved around my section which is always a joy!

darreno yes Grace Swaby-Moore is definitely one to watch. I was disappointed that Courtney Stapleton was going to be off when I saw Beauty and the Beast at the Palladium because she’d been so good as Belle on tour, but Grace was also fantastic, she has an absolutely killer voice.

Ahhh, THAT'S what I'd seen her in before!!! Superb.

Somewhere around 3 stars. Positives would be the money spent on making it look good, the talent onstage, the special effects, the story (which obviously is adapted) and the warmth of a Christmassy audience enjoying themselves (especially the American sat next to me who kept wooping at everything, not sure if there's a need for that).

Ultimately though the musical adaptation component is trash. Like, really terrible. We don't need Back To The Future to be Sondheim but we probably do need the songs to actually say something. Almost all of them are the classic example of stopping the show for a song, and then we continue on unaffected. Almost none of the moments justified musicalisation, and when they did (the dreamers song, act 1 closer etc) the song offered just lacked a certain quality. It's the sort of show that you probably do actually want a couple of hummable numbers from - they didn't manage that. None of them were clever or interesting, none offered new perspectives. This would have suited Hairspray style stuff (similar era I guess) with some witty and earwormy songs. But it was just dross.

Like the opening song as far as I recall was about Marty wanting to be a rockstar. This doesn't really have anything to do with the rest of the plot other than the random inclusion at the end of him suddenly becoming a rockstar. There could have been a link between him struggling to find success as a musician (what's the point of playing guitar?, maybe his parents are repeatedly dismissive of this) and him finding success getting his parents to have their kiss through his guitar playing. Setup, payoff, maybe the same motif or a reprise of a section of the song. 

Where was the song where he expresses the insane terror of your own existence being wiped out by your own actions? Imagine a song where the father meaningfully talks about being unconfident, being a goofy teenager, being the butt of everyone's jokes. I dunno, there seems to be some obvious wins in the story that they've just not gone for.

It feels like a big waste of potential, it's success based on spectacle onstage, decent people doing it and a recognisable brand to get you in the door. The kids in the audience whom I presume haven't seen the film were getting agitated by mid-Act 2. The actor playing Marty was also basically exploding out of his purple underwear, like I don't want to objectify anyone but I've never seen anything quite like it on a stage, good for him. Not enough to save the show though, sadly.

I got around to seeing this show last week. Both Elliot Evans as Marty and Stephen Leask as Doc were on. They have such a great rapport on stage, great performances from both. Elliot in particular was amazing, such energy and wonderful stage presence. He’s clearly loving every minute!

One thing I’ve always found unfair is when there are alternates in the cast, they always have smaller biographies in the programme when they usually perform every week and there are hardly ever any production photos of them. Let’s hope one day this could change.

Does anyone know if there is a specific day of the week for the alternate Doc?

Monday is definitely an alternate Marty day.

If anyone is interested, I noticed this clip online. It features Elliot Evans as Marty and Stephen Leask as Doc. It’s great to see them in the roles. Starts about 5:22 into the clip.

Got a good rush, so here today. Unsure how it will be, loads of kids and loud Americans...

Cut your losses and run boy!! 🤣🤣🤣

‘It Works’ is as good as it gets.

2nd half was much better. Effects are great, 2 leads are great but the songs are so, so poor.

**1/2