Review: Back to the Future – The Musical

A blast to-and-from the past, which delights devotees but lacks a tune you can hum

I have been a theatre-lover from a very young age, which has been a gift in many respects but has come somewhat at the expense of the film education that most young people undergo by default. Such it was that it took until the summer of 2021 for me to watch the classic movie Back to the Future (and its two sequels) – but I was able to do so with all the childlike enthusiasm of the 8-year-old I should have been.

I was, therefore, an unusually recently-informed attendee when Back to the Future: The Musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre on London's Strand: watching with the devotion of a new convert.

The production is in many respects exactly what you might hope and expect it to be. Remarkably true to the trajectory of the film's plot, with some small, appropriate updates (the cause of the threat to Doc's life which sends Marty racing into the past is considerably less provocative in this version), one of the great joys of the production are the homage performances.

Most of the performers give great comic renditions of individual characterisations lifted straight from the film. This is perhaps most strikingly the case with George McFly and Biff Tannen – played by Hugh Coles and Aidan Cutler. While requiring a different kind of skill to making a role one's own, this directorial choice recognises what an audience wants from a show like this – and it's done well. Only Roger Bart as Doc plays a different version of the mad scientist to the one familiar from Christopher Lloyd – and his many knowing quips to the audience and apparent cheeky ad-libs generate exactly the response Bart is expertly playing to.

Alas, the only aspect of this show which detracts from its brilliance is ‘The Musical’. While the ensemble choreography is great, and energetically performed, and the live band too, none of the songs are memorable, despite the world-class singing of the likes of Cedric Neal as Goldie Wilson. Nor do the songs add much to the storytelling, which feels like it would do just as well – if not better – without the interruption.

The design, though, is fantastic, and sets, costumes, lighting and videography all combine to lead to a glorious climax in which the DeLorean emerges, Great Scott!, as the true star of the show.

Back to the Future: The Musical is currently booking until 3 July at http://www.backtothefuturemusical.com