Back to the Future is one of the most iconic films of all time. Decades after it’s release it’s arguably more popular than ever. One of the things that has helped keep it so popular is that the original creators have been very selective with any adaptations, spin offs or sequels that may water down the brand and risk ruining so many people’s childhood memories of what has to be the ultimate 80s movie.
That’s why when it was announced there would be a stage adaptation of the first movie of the trilogy and that it would also be a musical, Back to the Future fans were both nervous and excited in equal measure of whether the show would do justice to the film.
Fortunately I’m happy to report that the musical succeeds in pretty much every way…pretty much. I’ll break things down further as this review goes on, but it delivers everything you could hope for from the show. Does it have great music? Yes. Does it bring the characters you know and love to the stage? Yes. Does it stay true to the original film…mostly with some intriguing changes.
If you’re not a fan of the film I’d guess you probably won’t be a fan of the stage show. It’s a pretty faithful adaptation with the characterisation of each part played to mimic their film equivalents. This isn’t like a lot of shows or remakes of movies where new actors give their interpretation of old characters. No no, you go there for memories of Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox and that’s what the new cast invoke.
The set design and effects in the show are probably the best I’ve ever seen on stage. The use of projection to give a sense of the time machine racing up to 88 miles an hour are spectacular, and the sets are big and elaborate to make it feel like you’ve stepped into the screen and are in Hill Valley.
I wrote an in-depth article previously (which you can read here) that went over all the changes between the stage and film versions of the show, and so whilst I won’t retreat that here, super fans of the film will notice a few very significant changes. The biggest of which are the change that other than the DeLorean every other scene that uses a car in the movie has been changed. This may not sound a big deal, but it makes for quite a few changes. The good news is that even when there are changes the show instantly gets back on track and picks things up where you’d expect it to in the plot of the film.
The songs and music of the show is perhaps the only part of the show I wasn’t always crazy about. Nothing is bad at all, but it’s kinda a Frankenstein of a musical in the music department. You have he John Williams Back to the Future theme sounding all epic and John Williams like. This comes up in the show in all the places you’d expect it to, to add the feel of the film. Fortunately they didn’t add lyrics to the iconic theme…that would have taken things too far. Then you have songs that appear in the film like Johnny B Goode and the Power of Love. These are as great as you’d expect them to be and made more elaborate in the stage version. No issues there.
But it’s the original songs created for the show which are the mixed bag. They are ok, and give you a sense of the time period settings of the show and add to characters that are smaller in the film such as Mayor Goldie Wilson or Marty’s sister Linda, but you’re less likely to come away talking about the new songs than you will be just shouting about that the movie came to life on stage.
But that is just about the only downside I can nit-pick at if push came to shove. Oh that and there’s also a weird moment where Doc has a dream about the future and when the dream ended both Doc and Marty could see the dancers from Doc’s dream in the following scene. That was odd and slightly out of place, but even with something like this the show has such a sense of fun that it gets away with it.
Conclusion
If you’re a Back to the Future fan and haven’t seen it on stage you need to correct that. If you are worried it will in any way ruin your love of Back to the Future don’t as it will likely make you love it all the more.
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