Back To The Future: The Musical’ on the West End is another instalment in the series of unusual pairings of popular culture and musical theatre. This hit in London’s Adelphi Theatre came after a long trend of unlikely shows, from Great British Bake Off The Musical, Only Fools And Horses, and Peaky Blinders. Yet, this adaption of an outright classic film pays dividends to its magic.
Seeing the original ‘Back To The Future’ film is paramount in any situation, but this should make an ample introduction. In 1985, the cool-as-they-come Marty McFly is unwittingly slung back to 1955 in a time machine made from a DeLorean sports car. Before he can return, he must persuade the harebrained scientist Doc Emmett Brown to help evade the ultimate high school bully of cinema, Biff, and save his parent’s relationship, thus saving himself from being wiped from history. No matter how many times you’ve seen the film, it’s a thrilling, pace-perfect story, not a day over forty. With much news made lately of boisterous, tipsy crowds at London musicals, the story is too gripping to want to drop your attention.
There are big shoes for the cast to fill, but they pay homage to the original cinema legends. Ben Joyce is immediately likable as Marty, and Oliver Nicholas is a dead ringer for Marty’s Dad George, sensationally so. It is quite extraordinary that the musical dedicates a song to his introduction as a peeping tom, but it works to capture the endearingly ridiculous features of the original text. The role of Doc Brown must be the hardest to master. Rather than recreate the unforgettable stylings of Christopher Lloyd, Cory English brings his own zany characterisation, adaptable to any theatrical necessity. The star of the show perhaps is the DeLorean; time travel scenes are pulled off brilliantly with a mix of screens, video, revolving stages, and careful blocking.
The songs from this musical perfectly match the non-musical original. Their feel, playing, and lyrics all very well resemble the decade of the scene portrayed. ‘Pretty Baby’ is one of my favourites, a deliberate tribute to the soulful girl-group ballad Ten-a-Penny of older days, made even better by Ben Joyce’s evocation of sheer discomfort towards his mother, spinning, whirling, anywhere away from her. All the most quotable lines are in there. Future Mayor of Hill Valley Goldie Wilson steals the show with a rambunctious R&B number, ‘Gotta Start Somewhere’, using his diner mop as a microphone. Show opener ‘It’s Only a Matter Of Time’ even riffs on the famous theme, making the show even more authentic.
Towards the end of the musical, it becomes most obvious how great an idea it was to adapt Back To The Future into a West End hit. It recreates the dramatic gravitas of Earth Angel and Johnny B Goode with aplomb, the best-loved numbers of the original given many expanses to ‘wow’ audiences. All in all, it’s a testament to the original’s qualities of self-belief and determination: if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.