Originally printed in Gair Rhydd
Back To The Future: The Musical at London’s Adelphi Theatre is another instalment in the series of unusual pairing with theatre of beloved cultural institutions. Just down the road is Great British Bake Off The Musical, not far off is Only Fools And Horses, and Peaky Blinders, though only all-dancing and not so much all-singing, came to Cardiff in March. Yet this adaption of an outright classic film pays dividends to its magic.
Seeing the original Back To The Future is paramount in any situation, but this should make a decent introduction also. In 1985, cool-as-they-come Marty McFly is unwittingly slung back to 1955 in a time machine made from a DeLorean. Before he can return, he must persuade his harebrained scientist friend Doc Emmett Brown who will create it to help, evade the ultimate high school bully of cinema, Biff, and save his parent’s relationship – and ergo himself - from being wiped from history. No matter how many times you’ve seen the film, it’s a thrilling, pace-perfect story, not a day over forty. Much news made lately of boisterous, tipsy crowds at London musicals; the story is too gripping to ease your attention on.
There’s big shoes for the cast to fill, but they do a good job of it. Ben Joyce is immediately likeable as Marty, and Oliver Nicholas is a dead ringer for Marty’s Dad, George, sensationally so. It’s quite extraordinary the musical dedicates a song to his introduction as a peeping tom, but it works, capturing yet again the endearingly ridiculous features of the original text. Doc Brown must be the hardest role I feel – rather than recreate the unforgettable stylings of Christopher Lloyd, Cory English brings his own zany characterisation adaptable to any theatrical necessities. The star of the show perhaps is DeLorean; time travel scenes are pulled off brilliantly with a mix of screens, video, revolving stages and careful staging.
The songs are great. Their feel, playing, and lyrics all very well resemble the decade of the scene portrayed. ‘Pretty Baby’ is one of my favourites, a deliberate tribute to the soulful girl-group ballads ten a penny in those days, made even better by Joyce’s evocation of sheer discomfort towards his mother, spinning, whirling, anywhere away from her, fancying him big time. All the most quotable lines are in there. Future Mayor of Hill Valley, Goldie Wilson steals the show with a rambunctious R&B number, ‘Gotta Start Somewhere’, using his diner mop as a microphone. Show opener ‘It’s Only a Matter Of Time’ even riffs on the famous theme.
Towards the end of the musical, it becomes most obvious how great an idea it was to adapt Back To The Future into one. It recreates the dramatic gravitas of Earth Angel and Johnny B Goode with aplomb, the best loved numbers of the original given much expanse to wow audiences. All in all, it’s a testament to the original’s qualities of self-belief and determination that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.
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