BACK TO THE FUTURE Reviews — Page 7

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

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

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

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.

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 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!

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 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 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.

Call_me_jorge said: "Flux Capacitor Ltd Liability Co

Linda McFly Scenery Ltd Liability Co

Does anyone know what’s up with these two new SEC filings? They’re for $2.7 and $2.09 million, respectively."

I think the producers are raising funds to set up partnerships for renting out some unique set elements of the show to regional and local productions.