Our author was given free access to this experience.
“Great Scott!” My expectations were quite neutral when I entered the theatre to watch Back to the Future: The Musical. Before the start of the show, I was excited and curious whether I would encounter most of the funny scenes from the movie and whether the cast could pull it off and mimic the quirky Doc Brown and sweet Marty McFly. I love the movies and characters, but the last time I watched the films was more than 10 years ago.
I sat down with a friend in the lower half of the dress circle, about five seats down from the middle - the view onto the stage was fantastic. I didn't pay attention to those sitting around me, I just hoped that it wouldn’t be someone who would spill any drinks or talk through the whole show.
The first scene in Doc Brown’s lab is very similar to the original movie. I was wondering beforehand if they would include that scene and, if so, how they would pull it off on stage. They manage it well – instead of an exploding giant speaker like in the movie, you see a sparking speaker, and thankfully nothing actually gets set on fire.
Olly Dobson, aka Marty McFly, is quite the doppelganger of Michael J. Fox, even down to the voice. Roger Bart playing Doc Brown is even wackier than the original Doc. Many of his scenes are quite slapstick in comparison to the film, creating a different feel, so you’re not just watching a replica of the movie.
Some of the top hits from the movie like “The Power of Love”, “Johnny B. Goode” and “Back in Time” are also in the musical. The vibe of the stage performance of Power of Love from the audition scene, with Marty and his band the Pinheads playing the guitar, was incredible. I loved that scene from the movie and the stage performance came so close to the original. Listening to the 50s and 80s hits and seeing all these scenes from the movie play out on stage made me feel nostalgic.
I was so intrigued by the show I didn't pay too much attention to the person next to me. I just continued watching the performance...
But, at the interval, my friend just looked at me star-struck and asked if I noticed who was sitting next to me. I said I didn’t as I was so gripped by the show, but just that he was a very tall muscly guy. She said, “It’s Terry Crews!” I’m bad with names so didn’t even know who that was until I finally looked. Then I was a little star-struck as well.
After the interval I had a little smile on my face and continued to enjoy the musical.
One of the funniest moments is when Marty McFly’s mother makes advances on her own son in the bedroom scene. It really made me laugh, as did watching Marty’s father's flirting skills – or rather, his lack of them.
But hands down, my absolute favourite part is the flying DeLorean at the end of the musical. I could not believe that something like this was possible on stage – it looked so real and blew me away. I think the special effects in Back to the Future: The Musical are the best I’ve seen in any musical.
In hindsight, watching the movie in the early 2000s created a good distance between the movie and the show. Because I only remembered the top scenes from the movie, It was refreshing seeing them unravel on stage. It allowed me to avoid comparing the movie too closely with the show and see it stand on its own merit. A bonus was certainly getting a seat next to a well-known actor. It just goes to show that in London, you never know who you might sit next to.
Book tickets for the Back to the Future musical now so you don't miss out on thie epic stage adaptation of the cult film.