Posted: 3/1/23 at 11:19am
I’m so excited for Casey. The only disappointing thing is that they probably won’t record a Broadway cast album with him since they’ve already recorded the London cast.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 11:20am
Sutton Ross said: "signorafosca2 said: "I should have been more specific. It’s a FUN and well produced show, but truly just a one-time thing. I think it’ll be more enjoyable in the much larger Winter Garden. Not trying to **** in the soup, truly."
Can you imagine someone telling a complete stranger to not see a show, not to live with their regrets, back tracking and then telling them ONLY TO SEE IT ONCE?
" My God" - Daveed Diggs
Love this casting so much, so excited for this!"
🤷🏻♂️ I mean, I stated pretty clearly the first time that I was going to be seeing it twice, which is something I’m not looking forward to. This is a message board, not a newspaper. Apologies for sharing opinions! People on this board are always frustrated with people having opinions who haven’t seen the show but then also get mad when people who have seen it say something they don’t like. Grow up!
Everyone’s taste is different and it’s nice to see good actors like Casey Likes land on their feet; unless the show gets a new score and trims 20+ minutes off the 2:45 runtime I’m still dreading seeing it again.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 1:21pm
CATSNYrevival said: "I’m so excited for Casey. The only disappointing thing is that they probably won’t record a Broadway cast album with him since they’ve already recorded the London cast."
Not necessarily true. Some musicals that started in London and transfer to Broadway do cast recordings for both shows. Ex. Cats, Les Miz, EVITA, Chess, etc. It just depends on what they do. Don’t just automatically assume there won’t be a cast album for the Broadway production. We just have to wait and see.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 1:33pm
Yeah, considering that & Juliet got a Broadway cast album as well (which I enjoy but didn't think was necessary per se, considering it's jukebox songs without changing the arrangements or anything all that much between versions), I'd say it's fairly possible.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 1:36pm
Dylan Smith4 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "I’m so excited for Casey. The only disappointing thing is that they probably won’t record a Broadway cast album with him since they’ve already recorded the London cast."
Not necessarily true. Some musicals that started in London and transfer to Broadway do cast recordings for both shows. Ex. Cats, Les Miz, EVITA, Chess, etc. It just depends on what they do. Don’t just automatically assume there won’t be a cast album for the Broadway production. We just have to wait and see."
I think there only being one recording is more of the exception than the rule, as your examples show. I know there are others but Phantom is the only show jumping to mind as having only the London recording whereas there are many ready examples of dual recordings.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 2:46pm
What could also happen is they could record some singles instead of a full album. I don't think that will happen but it is still a possibility. What will most likely happen will be they either will or won't record a Broadway cast album.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 2:50pm
I don’t know. This show just looks like the epitome of bad musical theater to me.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 2:55pm
If the score is being revised substantially, that would also be a reason for re-recording the album. Especially as it relates to future licensing. If not, I wouldn't expect a new album. The vast majority of listeners frankly won't know the difference, and Casey Likes obviously isn't a name/voice that sells anything, as we know from his most recent show.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 2:58pm
chrishuyen said: "Yeah, considering that & Juliet got a Broadway cast album as well (which I enjoy but didn't think wasnecessaryper se, considering it's jukebox songs without changing the arrangements or anything all that much between versions), I'd say it's fairly possible."
I do like that we got a Broadway cast recording so I can listen to Lorna sing those songs on repeat as opposed to the London cast-I feel so bad saying that but her voice is out of this world!
Posted: 3/1/23 at 3:00pm
hearthemsing22 said: "chrishuyen said: "Yeah, considering that & Juliet got a Broadway cast album as well (which I enjoy but didn't think wasnecessaryper se, considering it's jukebox songs without changing the arrangements or anything all that much between versions), I'd say it's fairly possible."
I do like that we got a Broadway cast recording so I can listen to Lorna sing those songs on repeat as opposed to the London cast-I feel so bad saying that but her voice is out of this world!"
Yeah definitely! Like if I had my way, there would be a cast album for every cast, but alas that isn't how the world works.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 3:08pm
Big difference with & Juliet is its score = pop songs by a writer with an existing record label connection (Atlantic) and thus a relatively easy chance at a Grammy; Max Martin and Atlantic might have put the money themselves. That, and there's also a different lead producer calling the shots for Broadway than there was for London.
But who knows! Alan Silvestri & Glen Ballard might be able to work the same magic should they want to. They certainly have their own notable connections.
Updated On: 3/1/23 at 03:08 PM
Posted: 3/1/23 at 3:10pm
chrishuyen said: "hearthemsing22 said: "chrishuyen said: "Yeah, considering that & Juliet got a Broadway cast album as well (which I enjoy but didn't think wasnecessaryper se, considering it's jukebox songs without changing the arrangements or anything all that much between versions), I'd say it's fairly possible."
I do like that we got a Broadway cast recording so I can listen to Lorna sing those songs on repeat as opposed to the London cast-I feel so bad saying that but her voice is out of this world!"
Yeah definitely! Like if I had my way, there would be a cast album for every cast, but alas that isn't how the world works."
Well that's different like if we had a cast recording for every replacement cast of say, Six or Wicked or something that's not very realistic.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 3:16pm
ALSO: Can we talk about John Rando's career for a moment? What a strange thing. Starts out in plays. Wins a Tony for his brilliant first Broadway musical (Urinetown). Directs some HUGE flops (Dance of the Vampires, Wedding Singer, Gettin' the Band Back Together, Mr. Saturday Night) and a regional production that never should have moved to Broadway on that scale (On The Town). Plus directs some marvelous shows at Encores and regional theatres (Gents Prefer Blondes, Superman, The New Yorkers, Pirates at Barrington).
He has no visual design sense when working on a large scale, imho, which cripples him on Broadway but makes him ideal for smaller regional theatres and concert stagings. But that's not really an issue here since the visuals include iconography and were already worked out in London.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 3:42pm
Slight difference
&Juliet- GREAT songs
Back to the Future- utterly dreadful ones.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 4:33pm
The best thing that ever happened to Casey Likes is that the producers of Almost Famous didn’t drag it on for 6 months in hopes of building an audience. He will be great as Marty McFly, although I still have no interest in seeing it. Since everyone seems to think that the score should cos, seems to me that this would have probably been better as a juke box musical.
Posted: 3/1/23 at 11:24pm
Songs are serviceable. Tech and specials affects where the show shines.
But even the songs become memorable on multiple listens..just like any other musical with original music. I mean I left hamilton not knowing most of the words to the songs, until I listened to it multiple times afterwards. Also, don’t think Bttf songs were written to stand.on their own. Just to be song on stage. Plus you do have the 3 songs rom the movie. So it is not like you won’t know any songs at all.
Updated On: 3/2/23 at 11:24 PM
Posted: 3/2/23 at 12:07am
“Slight difference
&Juliet- GREAT songs
Back to the Future- utterly dreadful ones.”
yet one I wanted to gauge my eyes out (&juliet) and the other I had a smile on the entire time (back to the future).
Posted: 3/2/23 at 1:32am
BorisTomashevsky said: "Nathaniel Hackmann is playing Biff. According to his Pimpernel bio on the Engemann Theatre website."
Looks like that the bit about BTTF has been removed from his bio.
Posted: 3/2/23 at 3:07am
The Distinctive Baritone said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Nathaniel Hackmann is playing Biff. According to his Pimpernel bio on the Engemann Theatre website."
Looks like that the bit about BTTF has been removed from his bio."
It definitely has. He didn’t expressly say the title or character name but it was obvious. Guess it was too obvious…
Posted: 3/7/23 at 1:05am
Personally, I thought it was the most fun musical I have seen in about a decade. And I thought the score fit perfectly within the context of the musical in the same way the mediocre score fits into the context of Book of Mormon.
Posted: 3/7/23 at 12:16pm
Agreed. I had a great time at it in London.
Posted: 3/12/23 at 1:43pm
Ok. so some of you did a great job of predicting Casey Likes for Marty. So where do you see, or hope, they go for Lorraine and Goldie? The next two big cast members. i would. expect there will not be a special announcement for these roles but we will be announced with the entire company. I would assume early May about when rehearsals begin
Posted: 3/16/23 at 1:00pm
Creating Back to the Future: The Musical to be released July 6
Premiering at the Manchester Opera House in February 2020 to rave reviews―including a notice from The Guardian that the show “sets a new standard of spectacle,” Back to the Future: The Musical brings the classic 1985 film to life on the theatrical stage. Featuring music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and a book by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale (adapted from their original screenplay), the show stars Tony Award–winner Roger Bart as Doc Brown and Olly Dobson as Marty McFly. Creating Back to the Future: The Musical offers fans of the film franchise and lovers of musical theater an engrossing and entertaining look at the birth of a new theatrical classic. With unprecedented access to cast and crew, author Michael Klastorin (Back to The Future: The Ultimate Visual History) pairs exclusive, in-depth interviews with previously unpublished photography; excerpts from Bob Gale’s personal journal; and a foreword by Gale to reveal and detail the years long process, and the creative ingenuity and technical innovation, that went into the show’s West End premiere.
https://amzn.eu/d/dKsXSKP
Posted: 3/22/23 at 9:51am
Liana Hunt is Lorraine, Jelani Remy is Goldie Wilson / Marvin Berry, and Nathaniel Hackmann is Biff.
“The ensemble includes Merritt David Janes (Strickland), Mikaela Secada (Jennifer Parker), Amber Ardolino, Will Branner, Victoria Byrd, Brendon Chan, Kevin Curtis, Nick Drake, Samuel Gerber, Marc Heitzman, Kimberly Immanuel, Joshua Kenneth Allen Johnson, Hannah Kevitt, JJ Niemann, Becca Petersen, Emma Pittman, Jonalyn Saxer, Blakely Slaybaugh, Gabi Stapula, and Daryl Tofa.”
https://ew.com/theater/back-to-the-future-the-musical-broadway-cast-reveal/
Posted: 3/22/23 at 11:09am
This is just an observation: in this evolving world it is interesting which shows have leaned into an incredibly diverse company and which haven’t. There’s space for every type of cast on Bway, but nowadays it’s kind of surprising to see 5/6 white principals of a big musical.
