Back To The Future previews- Page 9

[Skip23]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 3:30am

Now for a public service announcement.

 

No, you shouldn't judge a show if you haven't seen it.

 

But - and this is my opinion for what it's worth - and I've seen just about everything, and it's largely a forgettable show.  Music is bland, you're constantly comparing the production to the movie and it always comes up short, the effects are fine, but not earth-shaking.  Really - I didn't come away with many positive memories.  And sorry to say - you're not missing much.  But the audience plotzed!  So what do I know?

[Voter]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 5:15am

EDSOSLO858 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Is this opening tonight instead of August 3?
I must have missed that change - unless it’s a promo and they’re opening in the past, lol. "

Reviews come out on August 3. They decided to do the red carpet and afterparty for tonight’s gala performance instead."

Everyone in the cast is calling today “opening”, leaving a lot of ticket buyers who got tickets for advertised opening feeling like they got screwed 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 7:56am

I guess the producers wanted to have a party that wasn’t rained on by terrible reviews. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 12:28pm

Prurient question. Is there eye candy in the scene with Marty and his mom? Michael J. Fox stumbled about in his CK briefs. Production photos from the London and Broadway productions show Marty safely wrapped in a blanket.

[lapinitsa]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 1:38pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "Prurient question. Is there eye candy in the scene with Marty and his mom? Michael J. Fox stumbled about in his CK briefs. Production photos from the London and Broadway productions show Marty safely wrapped in a blanket."

He loses the blanket at one point. Whether you find that an eye candy moment or not is a matter of taste.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 2:49pm

I was there last night. Thrilling to see Michael J Fox and Steven Spielberg in the audience. 

The show is fun. Fast and silly with some magnificent special effects.

The audience eat it up - but it also was an audience of invited "special guests."

Has a movie to stage musical ever been a big hit. I know Legally Alone, Pretty Women and Mean Girls all ran a few years 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 2:54pm

BETTY22 said: "I was there last night. Thrilling to see Michael J Fox andSteven Spielberg in the audience.

The show is fun. Fast and silly with some magnificent special effects.

The audience eat it up - but it also was an audience of invited "special guests."

Has a movie to stage musical ever been a big hit. I know Legally Alone, Pretty Women and Mean Girls all ran a few years"

Legally Alone...never heard of that one LOL 

Updated On: 7/26/23 at 02:54 PM

[angoradebs]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 2:57pm

BETTY22 said: "Has a movie to stage musical ever been a big hit. I know Legally Alone, Pretty Women and Mean Girls all ran a few years"

Little Shop of Horrors. Hairspray. Waitress. The Producers. Spamalot. Billy Elliot. Probably lots more, especially if you count Disney

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 4:33pm

Skip23 said: "Now for a public service announcement.



No, you shouldn't judge a show if you haven't seen it.

But - and this is my opinion for what it's worth - and I've seen just about everything, and it's largely a forgettable show. Music is bland, you're constantly comparing the production to the movie and it always comes up short, the effects are fine, but not earth-shaking. Really - I didn't come away with many positive memories. And sorry to say - you're not missing much. But the audience plotzed! So what do I know?"

 

You've seen "just about everything"?  Does your husband work in the area??

 

[Skip23]

Posted: 7/26/23 at 5:04pm

JSquared2 said: "Skip23 said: "Now for a public service announcement.
No, you shouldn't judge a show if you haven't seen it.
But - and this is my opinion for what it's worth - and I've seen just about everything, and it's largely a forgettable show. Music is bland, you're constantly comparing the production to the movie and it always comes up short, the effects are fine, but not earth-shaking. Really - I didn't come away with many positive memories. And sorry to say - you're not missing much. But the audience plotzed! So what do I know?"

You've seen "just about everything"? Does your husband work in the area??
 
"

YES!  And I drain his bank account just so I can afford these damn tickets!!!

 

 

Updated On: 7/26/23 at 05:04 PM

[NiceWork2]

Posted: 7/27/23 at 3:17pm

I did notice  a  minor change in the show, which apparently happened sometime in the last 2 weeks between the Sat, July 15 show and the Wed, July 26 show.   At the beginning of ACT 2, the big visuals are slightly differently before Brown's dream dance sequence.   Roger Bart pulls a string on a visual of a big light bulb.   I don't remember that from the other 2 earlier shows.   Odd that they would make a minor change like that so late in previews.   There did seem to be more bubbles in the show as well in the air, but that might be my imagination or just something that varies from performance to performance.

[broadwayghost1]

Posted: 7/27/23 at 4:52pm

I was there the same night.I thought the show was cute, the ending was great. Once was enough for me.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/27/23 at 10:00pm

JJ Niemann just made his Marty McFly debut tonight! Did anyone here see it?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/27/23 at 11:53pm

Yes, but now the question we all want answered: "How was Amber Ardolino?"

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 1:16am

broadwayghost1 said: "I was there the same night.I thought the show was cute, the ending was great. Once was enough for me."

I have felt that of nearly all the shows from last season - Kimberly Akimbo and Sweeney were the exceptions . One and done, which is great for my wallet, less so for my soul.  Seeing this next week 

[BJR]

Posted: 7/29/23 at 9:49am

Well, I will say the crowd is eating this UP.

Over-all, a more entertaining show than I expected andeicopter i certainly better than some stuff. But that score, particularly the lyrics, is pretty abysmal. You could cut the entire score and ti would all still work, cuz what's really carrying it through is the film's dialogue and the effects.

I finally understand why folks freaked out about the helicopter in Miss Saigon. The crowd loses it with the car. Personally, it feels like a theme park.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 7/29/23 at 10:30am

So I don't think I'm seeing this until late September, but the comments in this thread of those who have seen it seem to boil down, for the most part, into two categories. The first consists of those who absolutely loved it, full stop. The second are those who have issues with elements of the show, primarily the score, point out their criticisms but at the end say that they found it incredibly entertaining in spite of their criticisms. </

My guess is that the critics' reviews will be much the same. And as a few of you have said previously, the show is probably critic proof. 

Updated On: 7/29/23 at 10:30 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 7/30/23 at 9:27am

It's hard to say what will be critic proof, but judging by the preview crowd I saw, they were American tourists, many families (you could hear very small kids being noisy in the crowd), and definitely many you wouldn't see at other Bway shows. So, yes, it just might be.

It's worth noting, mirroring what you pointed out, while I found the whole thing entertaining if mostly uninspired and theme park worthy, my date loved it.

[tinmanic]

Posted: 7/31/23 at 4:23pm

RaisedOnMusicals said: "So I don't think I'm seeing this until late September, but the comments in this thread of those who have seen it seem to boil down, for the most part, into two categories. The first consists of those who absolutely loved it, full stop. The second are those who have issues with elements of the show, primarily the score, point out their criticisms but at the end say that they found it incredibly entertaining in spite of their criticisms.
My guess is that the critics' reviews will be much the same. And as a few of you have said previously, the show is probably critic proof."

Well, I'm glad you said "for the most part," because I don't fit either category. I really did not like it.

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/31/23 at 5:24pm

BETTY22 said: "I was there last night. Thrilling to see Michael J Fox andSteven Spielberg in the audience.

The show is fun. Fast and silly with some magnificent special effects.

The audience eat it up - but it also was an audience of invited "special guests."

Has a movie to stage musical ever been a big hit. I know Legally Alone, Pretty Women and Mean Girls all ran a few years"

Off the top of my head: The King and I, My Fair Lady (play and movie), Wonderful Town, Mame, Applause, Cabaret (book and movie), West Side Story (a definite stretch…inspired by play and movies of R&J), Sweet Charity, Promises Promises, She Loves Me ($????), A Little Night Music, Raisin ($????, also a stretch - play and movie)came to mind from a thousand years ago.  Hello, Dolly was  either based on a book or the play by Thornton Wilder.  Then there’s The Wiz and Shenandoah from the mid ‘70s.  Then, On the 20th Century, Grand Hotel, Hairspray, Nine, La Cage and Folles, Little Shop of Horrors.

More recently, the Disney hits, Sunset Blvd., The Producers, The Full Monty, Kinky Boots, Billy Elliott, Spamalot, Matilda, Moulin Rouge, An American in Paris ($????).

A LOT MORE flops, however, especially in the last decade or two.  

Updated On: 7/31/23 at 05:24 PM

[saxpower]

Posted: 7/31/23 at 9:45pm

Given the effects, is it better to sit in the rear orchestra (behind the premium seats) or does the overhang cut enough off the mezzanine is a better idea?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/1/23 at 11:29pm

Just getting back after the show (and dinner).

What a colossal waste of time.  We were so very disappointed. Unjustified musical numbers, boring songs, too much reliance on the original, unneeded & bloated ensemble work and choreo.

I will echo what others have said, the audience was eating it up - which blows my mind, because, yes, we thought it was that bad.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/2/23 at 3:10am

I’m still trying to work out what I missed, cause it could be the worst musical of all time. But the night I saw it in London the audience was behaving like it was the greatest thing ever. 

[BJR]

Posted: 8/2/23 at 8:41am

It certainly did make me wonder how I missed the public's fondness for this material 30 years later. I know it was successful enough to produce two sequels but it still surprised me how folks seemed to be enthusiastic for this more than, say, Beetlejuice.

But again, at elitist as this sounds/is, it isn't your typical Bway crowd, whatever that means now. Very theme park. Leopoldstadt it ain't.

True story: I turned to my date after and said, "When that car was doing it's video game sequence, I could just hear Patti LuPone in my head going, 'I don't know what Broadway even is anymore.' And you know, she's not wrong."

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 8/2/23 at 9:57am

rosscoe(au) said: "I’m still trying to work out what I missed, cause it could be the worst musical of all time. But the night I saw it in London the audience was behaving like it was the greatest thing ever."

This is what I stated last year when I saw it in London also and then started seeing the endless ads on social media.  When I responded that I didn't like it I was flamed with people saying I had no taste and "it's run for years in the UK".  I'm truly dumbfounded how it will do well, I thought people had more taste.