BACK TO THE FUTURE Reviews- Page 7

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 6/11/24 at 12:31pm

We will soon be down to our final OG from Manchester/London.  

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 6/30/24 at 5:43pm

Happy first anniversary to BACK TO THE FUTURE.  

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 8/18/24 at 10:41pm

Saw the tour of BTTF. I see why it makes musical lovers mad. There’s no attempt to craft characters, relationships or a point of view. You’re getting a cartoonish re-enactment of the screenplay. The writing and acting get so hacky in some scenes that it feels like bad sketch comedy.


The show’s at its best when the car’s spinning round the stage while the movie theme plays. The kid behind me was bored but the dads were loving it. One old man was rocking out hard to “The Power of Love.” 
 

Interesting that the plot boils down to gender roles out of a Popeye cartoon. Defenseless Olive Oil mom needs dad to beat up the Bluto-esque sex pest. The emotional climax comes when dad finally throws a punch. Hope unlocking your dad’s violent rage doesn’t backfire Marty.

Updated On: 8/29/24 at 10:41 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/18/24 at 10:45pm

I miss the Libyan nationals sub plot

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 8/18/24 at 11:18pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "Saw the tour of BTTF. I see why it makes musical lovers mad. There’s no attempt to craft characters, relationships or a point of view. You’re getting a cartoonish re-enactment of the screenplay. The writing and acting ge tso hacky in some scenes that it feels like bad sketch comedy.


The show’s at its best when the car’s spinning round the stage while the movie theme plays. The kid behind me was bored but the dad’s were loving it. One old man was rocking out hard to “The Power of Love.”


Interesting that the plot boils down to gender roles out of a Popeye cartoon. Defenseless Olive Oil mom needs dad to beat up the Bluto-esque sex pest. The emotional climax comes when dad finally throws a punch. Hope unlocking your dad’s violent rage doesn’t backfire Marty."

 

it really doesnt pretend to be anything but what you describe

and any theatre that older males attend and enjoy is not a downside for the industry

perhaps they will be enticed to try out other live shows

if you want serious theatre go see a musical like Lempicka

 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 7:03am

Mezzo, I'll acknowledge the show isn't for me. I’m not the target audience.

But this thread has been rather disingenuous in comparing it to Lempicka. There are plenty of adaptations of popular films, that have taken the time to adapt librettos to the stage and write songs that develop characters and relationships. There's no reason Back to the Future's producers couldn't have made the effort that Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Full Monty, Beetlejuice or even the messy Heathers did.

Updated On: 8/19/24 at 07:03 AM

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 10:37am

I feel like the Broadway cast really elevates the material because it didn’t feel cartoonish or hacky at all when I saw it in January. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 1:10pm

I hope to hear good word of mouth before I buy tickets when the tour comes to SoCal this holiday season.

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 1:20pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "Mezzo, I'll acknowledge the show isn't for me. I’m not the target audience.

But this thread has been rather disingenuous in comparing it to Lempicka. There are plenty of adaptations of popular films, that have taken the time to adapt librettos to the stage and write songs that develop characters and relationships. There's no reason Back to the Future's producers couldn't have made the effort that Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Full Monty, Beetlejuiceor even the messy Heathers did."

You hit the nail on the head for me.  I hated, hated, hated what I saw in Chicago the other night, and it's because of how lazy and how ill-suited for musical theatre the material presented on stage is.  I've seen worse productions, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a book and a score that I despised so much for its lack of effort.  This musical is my enemy now!

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 4:44pm

ChiDoc said: "MrsSallyAdams said: "Mezzo, I'll acknowledge the show isn't for me. I’m not the target audience.

But this thread has been rather disingenuous in comparing it to Lempicka. There are plenty of adaptations of popular films, that have taken the time to adapt librettos to the stage and write songs that develop characters and relationships. There's no reason Back to the Future's producers couldn't have made the effort that Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Full Monty, Beetlejuiceor even the messy Heathers did."

You hit the nail on the head for me. I hated, hated, hated what I saw in Chicago the other night, and it's because of how lazy and how ill-suited for musical theatre the material presented on stage is. I've seen worse productions, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a book and a score that I despised so much for its lack of effort. This musical is my enemy now!"


ok

maybe take a break

put down the keyboard

take a nice relaxing walk outside

its just musical theatre ppl

no need to declare war or make enemies

the public will vote with their wallets

 

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 8/19/24 at 7:06pm

MezzoDiva47 said: "ok

maybe take a break

put down the keyboard

take a nice relaxing walk outside

its just musicaltheatre ppl

no need to declare war or make enemies

the public will vote with their wallets

"

I was engaging in hyperbole for silliness, but I’ll bite anyway!

It is just musical theatre, but when engaging with it on its terms, I ultimately want to see a good show.  It doesn’t have to be great art or even aspire to great art, but for me, it does have to aspire to be a musical and not just a cash grab lightly-filtered screenplay adaptation with forgettable music thrown in haphazardly.  Did it frustrate me wildly as a fan of musicals?  Yes.  Did I regret that I saw it?  Honestly, I think I would have preferred doing something else with my time.  I found the longer and equally frustrating Lord of the Rings musical at Chicago Shakes to be a better experience because at least it was trying something even if it barely worked.

Is it actually my enemy?  No.  But is this a sign of a troubling trend?  I don’t want to catastrophize, but it worries me!  So now I shall take a walk and put the key board down! 

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 8/20/24 at 6:56am

ChiDoc said: "it does have to aspire to be a musical and not just a cash grab"

For all the faults people may see in this show, the one thing it definitely isn't is a cash grab.  They worked on this show for a very long time and they would have known that the huge production costs would limit the profits they could make.  As for the songs, well I don't think it's fair to say that there was a lack of effort put into them.  I'm sure everyone did the best they could.  The show is presented the way Bob wanted it and he wanted the songs to be the inner thoughts of the characters.  There's no reason why it has to fit the cookie cutter musical mold.

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 8/20/24 at 11:45pm

ChiDoc makes many fair and valid points

regarding another part of this thread my point was that between Back to the Future and Lempicka you can only go see one of them these days

so for some ppl on here it isnt an artistic success but it seems to be a commercial success thus far

is there not room for both 'artistic' and 'commercial' options

but if u want a true example of lazy try Pretty Woman

it makes Back to the Future look avant garde and yet Pretty Woman ran for a year on broadway

 

[OceansJenny]

Posted: 8/28/24 at 10:36pm

Won lottery for this today… I give everything a chance but halfway through I’m thinking how did this make it past the one year mark?? Literally movie to stage, no risks taken. Ugh.

Hey I got to see Roger Bart live and a flying car…!

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 8/29/24 at 6:56am

OceansJenny said: "Literally movie to stage, no risks taken."

You know how people go to the cinema to see favourite movies that are decades old?  It's that, but with live actors.  That was Bob Gale's vision.  Think more comfort blanket than risk taking although one could argue that it was a risk to create such an old fashioned show (albeit with cutting edge effects).

"I got to see Roger Bart live and a flying car…!"

And that's my VFM right there.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 8/29/24 at 9:34am

^And that “vision” just isn’t enough for a lot of people. And that’s ok. I know it must suck reading other people’s negative opinions about your favorite show, but as long as the show makes you happy, why should you care what anyone else thinks? Maybe you could start a BACK TO THE FUTURE Appreciation Thread specifically for you and fans of the show to talk about how much they like it? I think that would be a better use of your time and make you happier than responding to every negative review in this thread. Because as long as the show continues to run, there will always be negative reviews in this thread. Not trying to be snarky, btw. I know tone can be hard to read on a message board! 

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 8/29/24 at 1:24pm

seaweedjstubbs said: "why should you care what anyone else thinks?"

For the same reason that you are commenting on what I think.  There already is another BTTF thread.  I have commented positively in there and the thread just disappears again.