The opening is everything I expect of a musical with a full-blown cast dancing their hearts out and singing ‘Only A Matter of Time’ in front of the iconic Clock Tower of the story.
I am wary at first – for me, another musical based on a film lacks originality. That thought is quickly blown away with the brilliance of the lighting and special effects supported by an astounding magic trick which left us all amazed. Add that to a talented energetic cast and you have a hit show.
Marty is a college student who dreams of being a pop star, when he is blasted accidentally back to 1955 in a car time transporter invented by his friend, Doc. The production has the advantage of a brilliant plot line which, like the audience for Greek tragedy, we all know. It follows the Grandfather Paradox: if you go back in time and kill your grandfather, how can you exist in order to go back in time? The creators of the original Back to the Future film script, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, conceived a brilliant take on this: what happens if a young man goes back in time and his mother falls in love with him and not his father? This allows for glorious incidents of farce on stage where the audience and Marty McFly know his secret, but no one on stage does, each misinterpreting him in their own way.
The underlying narrative of incest is a theme the original film script writers had a hard time selling (they were rejected 40 times). In the show, we watch as, back in 1955, his infatuated mother tries to seduce her son in her girlhood bedroom singing ‘Pretty Baby’. She is backed by three pink Beverley sisters types who just happened to have come through the window. Most of the main players are supported by such exuberant ensemble singers in private situations, a musical trope lampooned in the show when Doc answers Marty’s question about who all the singing and dancing girls are in his workshop: Doc replies, ‘They just show up when I start singing’.
We are told by Glen Ballard (music and lyrics with Alan Silvestri) in the programme that the gestation period from film to musical was fourteen years, ‘the longest in the entertainment phylum’ – but boy, it was worth the wait. The script is snappy, the songs exactly right to move the story along. The lyrics are pitched perfectly to play up to the characters (‘My Father Doesn’t Have A Spine’, sings Marty about his cringingly submissive dad). Not all of them are especially memorable, but are so enhanced by the energy of the 21 strong cast in their dance numbers that it is easy to overlook.
A standout performance is given by Orlando Gibbs as Marty’s father played in true dorky style reminiscent of Jim Carry, tics and all. He turns weak and clumsy into an art form: ‘Humble pie is my favourite dish’, he says at one point, and part of the development of the plot is to see how he overcomes his ‘loser’ mentality and becomes a stronger man. C.J. Borger plays the ebullient mayor and Marvin Berry (a Chuck Berry type band player) brings the stage alive as he rock and rolls his way through the jive set. Despite Caden Brauch making his debut on the West End stage, he owns the role of Marty and confidently struts his stuff on the stage. Cory English’s portrayal of the eccentric but kindly Doc Brown is spot on.
The set with its array of special effects is the star of the evening. The Adelphi stage is surrounded by blue neon lights on the side walls and ceiling, the stage is bathed in multi-coloured light. The set flows seamlessly, morphing from the town square, to Marty’s family kitchen, to a barn, Doc’s workshop and the travel in the car (spectacular).
It is thanks to the tenacity of the collaborative team who pulled this together that the Adephi now has a sure-fire hit on its hands.
Bookings up to January 2026
Running Time 7.30:
Cast: Caden Brach, Cory English, Orlando Gibbs, C.J. Borger, Sarah Goggin, Alex Runicles, Talia Palamathanan, Liam Mc High, Patricia Wilkins, Billie Bowman, Lee Ormsby
Illusion Designer: Chris Fisher
Lighting Designer: Tim Lutikin
Book: Bob Gale
Co Creators/Producers: Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis
Music and Lyrics: Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri
Director: John Rando
Choreographer: Chris Bailey
Executive Producer Colin Ingram