BACK TO THE FUTURE Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 12:12am

[BETTY22]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 3:35pm

What time does New York Times review post? 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 3:52pm

Not sure. However, Matt Wolf's 2021 of the London production was not negative and not exactly glowing.  

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 4:02pm

Might we see a NYTs review something akin to Jesse Greens & juliet review which I'm liberally paraphrasing as " OK I admit I liked it" ?

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 4:03pm

Will reviews have a substantial impact on this show? 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 4:24pm

Dom P said: "Will reviews have a substantial impact on this show?"

Reviews aren't having a substantial impact on ANY show these days. If they did, Kimberly Akimbo would be selling 8 times a week at the Booth...

New York New York was largely panned, but it was doing about the same level of middling business before the reviews came out anyway.

Updated On: 8/3/23 at 04:24 PM

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:03pm

Very true. Very true.

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:09pm

Thankfully,it's a much different situation than when Clive Barnes of the NY Times (not so much at the Post) and Richard Eder's reviews had an impact.  Here in Philadelphia which eons ago was a tryout town and we actually had a dedicated team of critics. These days they use stringers,out of town opinions or general assignment reporters. Local TV and radio news broadcasts air mainly promo pieces now 

[Huss417]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 6:38pm

I am also really interested in how the reviews will be for this. I don't think I was the target audience but have to say the majority of the theatre were really into it.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:02pm

Chicago Tribune:

Review: ‘Back to the Future’ on Broadway is on a race for jokes and leaves the story behind

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/ct-ent-back-to-the-future-broadway-review-20230804-6i5bikjaqnf4roiijjbjm3nvha-story.html

"Frenetically paced, relentlessly comedic and visually chaotic, “Back to the Future” is aimed squarely at middle America; at the performance I saw, it was very clear many had never before been inside a Broadway theater. God bless it for that — not everything should have to be Stephen Sondheim or “Parade,” and “Back to the Future” is an iconic American film with the kind of pre-awareness drawing power that will put plenty of butts in seats whatever some churlish critic writes — but the show still misses opportunity after opportunity to make people actually feel."

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:14pm

Oh my! Don't know what to expect with the rest of the reviews.

 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:34pm

 

Updated On: 8/3/23 at 09:34 PM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:38pm

Talkin Broadway. - Mixed

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/world/BacktotheFuture.html#:~:text=Without%20their%20tremendous%20skill%20and,the%20level%20of%20serviceable%20time%2D

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:48pm

I’d rate that review as much better than mixed. I mean the last two words are: “That’s entertainment!”  
 

It’s a positive review though not what I’d call a rave. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:01pm

Theatremania is negative:

Review: Back to the Future: The Musical Is Stuck in the Past

Broadway’s latest screen-to-stage transfer gives audiences more of what they seem to want — which is what they already know.

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-back-to-the-future-the-musical-is-stuck-in-the-past_1710869/

"the story mostly remains unmolested, with chunks of dialogue transported wholesale to the stage. Somehow, I remember it being funnier. Perhaps the visual medium of film compensates with sight gags. But onstage, it becomes apparent just how few jokes are in Gale’s script.

The actors seem to understand this is a problem in musical comedy and betray their anxiety with muggy performances — cartoonishly contorting their faces while delivering inexplicably goofy line readings in a desperate effort to squeeze humor out of an unfunny script."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:02pm

Hollywood Reporter is positive:

‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ Theater Review: A Fun, Faithful Stage Adaptation Hits Broadway

The Olivier-winning musical version of the hit 1985 film arrives in New York, complete with a flying DeLorean.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/back-to-the-future-the-musical-theater-review-a-fun-faithful-stage-adaptation-hits-broadway-1235548700/

"It’s a terrifically fun and amusing story that works nearly as well onstage as it did on film, although the original songs, as is so often the case with these adaptations, mainly come across as superfluous. Not that they’re all that bad, mind you. Some of them are quite catchy, such as the 1950s girl group homage “Something About That Boy,” the inspirational “Gotta Start Somewhere” and the amusing “21st Century,” the last performed by Doc and the ensemble with a sort of Devo-like thing happening. The musical numbers, featuring lively choreography by Chris Bailey, are generally rousing but, as you can probably tell by the song titles, the lyrics are strictly of the generic variety."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:04pm

Deadline is mixed:

‘Back To The Future: The Musical’ Broadway Review: Johnny B. Goode Enough

https://deadline.com/2023/08/back-to-the-future-musical-broadway-review-deadline-1235453191/

"With a cast directed (by John Rando) to exaggerate every joke, gesture and facial expression – only the always reliable Roger Bart, who plays the eccentric genius inventor Doc Brown, has the chops and instincts to nail the over-the-topness, just as he did in Mel Brooks’ The Producers [Editor’s Note/Disclaimer: Bart is the nephew of Deadline columnist Peter Bart] – Back To The Future gradually settles in to an enjoyable-enough thrill park ride, with its special effects, video projections and lighting finally paying off in the final 20 minutes of its nearly three-hour running time. "

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:05pm

B from Entertainment Weekly:

Back to the Future: The Musical review: The show doesn't quite hit 88 mph on Broadway

 

The show stalls out at times, but not when Roger Bart's Doc Brown is behind the wheel.

 

https://ew.com/theater/theater-reviews/back-to-the-future-review-musical-broadway/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:06pm

Theatrely is a rave

BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL Soars — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/back-to-the-future-the-musical-soars-review

"Does Back To The Future need to be a musical? Of course not. But it makes for one helluva good night on Broadway. Diehard fans will love it, and new fans will be born — my plus one for the evening had never seen any of the films but is planning her watch party soon. Head to the Winter Garden and buckle in cause this musical will catapult you right to 88mph, and that’s a great place to be."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:06pm

TimeOut is a pan:

Time Out says

The latest movie-to-musical adaptation spins out.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/back-to-the-future-the-musical

Attending Back to the Future: The Musical is a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion, except for the part about not being able to look away. The star is a vehicle: a gull-winged silver DeLorean in whose image the Winter Garden Theatre has been tricked out with gleaming circuitry, and which—re-engineered into a time machine by the wild-haired inventor Doc Brown (Roger Bart)—transports 1980s teenager Marty McFly (Casey Likes) 30 years into the past, where he must help his father woo his mother. Audience members, meanwhile, may long for a device to jump them two hours and 40 minutes into the future.  

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:08pm

Green/New York Times is mixed:

‘Back to the Future’ Review: The DeLorean Crash Lands on Broadway

The addition of 17 songs turns the 1985 sci-fi classic into a big “why?” musical with a big wow factor.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/theater/back-to-the-future-review-broadway.html

"Making material shallower, even if cleverly, is not a great argument for adaptation. It can be defended if some other value is countervailing. For me, the show’s stagecraft and general high spirits come closest to providing that value, but they are too often undone by 1955-ish ideas of Broadway style (cartwheeling cheerleaders, backflipping jocks) and 1985-ish plot points held over from the movie. The Libyans may be gone, but the story still valorizes a peeping Tom and suggests that a white boy introduced “Johnny B. Goode” three years before a Black man actually wrote it. That’s what we call a caucausal paradox."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:10pm

Dueling reviews from NY Stage Review:

4 stars

Back to the Future: Back to Musical Comedy, With Plutonium-Packed Thrills

By Steven Suskin

★★★★☆ Veteran star Roger Bart, new star Casey Likes, and a fabulous flying machine fulfill the promise of this Hollywood fan favorite transformed for the musical stage

https://nystagereview.com/2023/08/03/back-to-the-future-back-to-musical-comedy-with-plutonium-packed-thrills/

 

2 stars

Back to the Future: A Sensory Assault, with Songs

By Elysa Gardner

★★☆☆☆ An adaptation of the hit film offers all the noise and flash of a theme park ride

https://nystagereview.com/2023/08/03/back-to-the-future-a-sensory-assault-with-songs/

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:11pm

Daily Beast:

Review: ‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ Is Perfect for the Movie’s Fans

THE CAR’S THE STAR

“Back to the Future: The Musical” is an amiably rollicking Broadway reanimation of a movie classic, in no mood to address its flaws, which seem—ironically—stuck in another era.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-back-to-the-future-the-musical-is-perfect-for-the-movies-fans

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:11pm

Observer is negative:

‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ Review: The DeLorean Flies, The Songs Sink

A gifted cast is stuck with a hokey book that takes no chances and an abysmal score that drags everything down.

https://observer.com/2023/08/back-to-the-future-the-musical-review-the-delorean-flies-the-songs-sink/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:13pm

Vulture is negative:

https://www.vulture.com/2023/08/theater-review-back-to-the-future-musical-broadway.html

"What Back to the Future does deliver instead of commentary on the original is a beat-by-beat translation of its set pieces. The DeLorean arrives onstage at the same time as Bart’s Doc, and actor and car split the entrance applause. When Marty gets inside and guns for 88 miles per hour, the screens around the stage blur behind him. (I felt right back in that Universal Studios amusement-park ride.) You’ll perhaps notice a V-shaped set of slats in the stage, ready to ignite behind the wheels of the car, and later on, the DeLorean soars into the air for its own “Defying Gravity” moment — turns out the flying cars are here. The stagecraft is well managed (Chris Fisher, of The Cursed Child, is credited with the illusions, while Finn Ross did the video design and Hugh Vanstone the lighting), but watching the climax, where Doc and Marty race to get everything set in time for lightning to strike, I kept noticing how much the musical nearly turned into a movie. The screens, which so dominate the set, provide for cuts between Doc and Marty, the score’s basically the one you know, and the actors are really there only to sit in a car and on a ledge and shout lines you know. When the ledge under Doc crumbles, that’s a screen too. If this is the future arriving on Broadway, it looks way too much like another medium’s past."