Back to the Future the Musical

During a question and answer session at a 2004 DeLorean convention, Bob Gale said that "It seems like Back to the Future would make a great Broadway show. So someday, maybe that'll happen. That's something I'd like to see."[4] In February 2012, it was first revealed that a musical adaption of the 1985 film Back to the Future was being developed[5] and had been explored for around eight years prior.[2] Workshops for the musical took place in 2014, in July in London and the following month in Los Angeles, with the intention to open the show in the West End in 2015,[6] in time for the 30th anniversary of the film.[7]

The movie achieved success at the box office, taking over $380 million.[8][9] It follows Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time in a DeLorean[10] to 1955.[11] He meets his future parents in high school and accidentally attracts his mother's romantic interest.[12] Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents-to-be to fall in love,[13] and with the help of scientist Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd), he must find a way to return to 1985.[14] Back to the Future marked the start of a successful franchise, ultimately becoming a trilogy,[15] with the total income for the three films taking over $936 million.[16]

Jamie Lloyd initially was scheduled to direct the show,[17] but withdrew from the project in September 2014, citing creative differences with Bob Gale.[18] Lloyd's withdrawal from the production was expected to delay the world premiere until at least 2016, and a new director was sought.[19] The delay in production marked several other departures of the original creative team including Soutra Gilmour withdrawing as designer,[20] Jon Clark as lighting designer,[20] Alan Williams as musical supervisor[20] and Andrew Willis as skating consultant.[21][22][23]

While discussing the project, writer Bob Gale said the stage version would "retell our story on stage in a brand new way".[24]

The Guardian reported that fans of the film franchise gave the play glowing reviews, saying it is "a wonderful tribute to the film" and "The final action sequence alone was worth the price of admission. This is the new standard of spectacle, I feel like people are going to be talking about this for a long time."[33]

The Ensemble included Oliver Ormson, Rhianne Alleyne, Amy Barker, Owen Chaponda, Jamal Crawford, Nathanael Landskroner, Bethany Rose Lythgoe, Cameron McAllister, Alessia McDermott, Laura Mullowney, Katharine Pearson, Jemma Revell, Jake Small, Justin Thomas and Mitchell Zhangazha.

• Official website