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Post by Being Alive on Jun 23, 2022 10:33:37 GMT
Interesting...I tried listening to the score again but just think every song is terminally dull, days nothing, and sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes.
I'm not saying I wanted this to be high art - there's space for big commercial stuff like this - I just think the actual 'musical' elements (book and score) are severely sub what we should accept from a big West End musical.
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Post by ceebee on Jun 23, 2022 11:10:29 GMT
Interesting...I tried listening to the score again but just think every song is terminally dull, days nothing, and sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes. I'm not saying I wanted this to be high art - there's space for big commercial stuff like this - I just think the actual 'musical' elements (book and score) are severely sub what we should accept from a big West End musical. But this show is, first and foremost, about the effects, experience and immersion in that sweet spot between stage and screen. For that, it is almost unique. Only "Life of Pi" comes close in terms of the fusion. |
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Post by David J on Jun 23, 2022 11:17:03 GMT
Interesting...I tried listening to the score again but just think every song is terminally dull, days nothing, and sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes. I'm not saying I wanted this to be high art - there's space for big commercial stuff like this - I just think the actual 'musical' elements (book and score) are severely sub what we should accept from a big West End musical. But this show is, first and foremost, about the effects, experience and immersion in that sweet spot between stage and screen. For that, it is almost unique. Only "Life of Pi" comes close in terms of the fusion. I'd say the visuals in Life of Pi is better. I found the projections in BTTF too murky. And I didn't really need to see Doc do that stupid running up the spot thing to show he's going up the clock tower. For a big budget musical that felt unnecessary |
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 23, 2022 11:28:17 GMT
Interesting...I tried listening to the score again but just think every song is terminally dull, days nothing, and sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes. I'm not saying I wanted this to be high art - there's space for big commercial stuff like this - I just think the actual 'musical' elements (book and score) are severely sub what we should accept from a big West End musical. But this show is, first and foremost, about the effects, experience and immersion in that sweet spot between stage and screen. For that, it is almost unique. Only "Life of Pi" comes close in terms of the fusion. But did it need to be a musical if it's all about the effects, experience and immersion? There's a good play experience in there somewhere, with the songs from the movie if you had to (I get that he needs to sing at the dance it's a plot point) - turn it into a 'theatrical experience' like Harry Potter and it'd be infinitely better than what you have now. |
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Post by danb on Jun 23, 2022 12:06:21 GMT
It just didn’t land for me. Firstly, only Goldie was allowed to create a character (perhaps thats why his song came across best?) because everyone else was just doing an impersonation of their movie equivalent. Whilst George McFly was a fantastically realised version of Crispin Glovers George McFly, it still felt a little hollow. Some of the effects were great…some not so much. The clunky car on a stick bit at the end was cringeworthy. The music forgettable. Yes it was all shiny & flashy, but I don’t think I could sit through it again.
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Post by David J on Jun 23, 2022 12:54:55 GMT
I'd say anything within reason can be adapted into a musical and this could have been amazing with the right amount of imagination and talent. This just doesn't have that unfortunately.
And I must say for a high budget musical, it felt like a lot of the production values felt second to the car. Second rate copies of scenes from the film
Take the scene with George McFly is spying from the tree and he is not even high off the stage so he and Marty on the ground are level. Moments like that make me think, wow with all the money and technology you've put into this you couldn't stage that better. Or if it's too difficult to show him falling from the tree, use some imagination and do the plot point differently and not follow the film exactly.
I'm mean they had to do the bully chase sequence differently, and whilst its not revelatory it was a highlight because they deviated from the film
Or even Goldie's number 'Gotta Start Somewhere', another highlight except all they had for a set was this golden frame against a dark backdrop. Couldn't think up something better than that.
And if you've seen any QDOS/Crossroads pantos in the past decade the flying car isn't that impressive. Seeing it turn upside down alone is cringeworthy.
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Post by aingidh on Jun 28, 2022 20:04:34 GMT
Mark Otoxby has announced he will be leaving the show at cast change, so that rules him out of taking over from Roger as Doc.
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Post by Matt on Jun 28, 2022 21:37:04 GMT
Mark Otoxby has announced he will be leaving the show at cast change, so that rules him out of taking over from Roger as Doc. I would have loved him to take over if Roger left. I’ll be surprised if Roger does another year, he’s been with the show/in the UK for a long time now, maybe he wants to go home? Also, would be a good break if he’s to open it on Broadway too. I had a dream the other night that Jason Manford took over the part 😅. |
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Post by LaLuPone on Jun 28, 2022 22:38:34 GMT
I had a dream the other night that Jason Manford took over the part 😅. You mean a nightmare! |
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Post by Matt on Jun 28, 2022 23:16:02 GMT
I had a dream the other night that Jason Manford took over the part 😅. You mean a nightmare! For real, if Roger leaves then I can see them putting a well known person in the role. Not a celebrity stunt casting, but someone in MT who may be known for other things, someone like Jason Manford 😅. |
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Post by fluxcapacitor on Jun 29, 2022 15:52:33 GMT
But this show is, first and foremost, about the effects, experience and immersion in that sweet spot between stage and screen. For that, it is almost unique. Only "Life of Pi" comes close in terms of the fusion. But did it need to be a musical if it's all about the effects, experience and immersion? There's a good play experience in there somewhere, with the songs from the movie if you had to (I get that he needs to sing at the dance it's a plot point) - turn it into a 'theatrical experience' like Harry Potter and it'd be infinitely better than what you have now. This has been my issue with this show from the start. I'm a big Back to the Future fan, and I think what they've accomplished on stage visually and creatively is incredible at times. But I just don't understand why it needed to be a musical. It should have been an experience - the movie, live, on stage. With a live orchestra playing all the music, and - of course - all the songs from the movie itself done live. I really enjoyed those elements when I saw it, but it never needed to be a musical, and - in my opinion - it suffers from being shoehorned into one. Almost as if the medium they chose is actually at the expense of the show. I'm actually quite peeved that it keeps winning "Best Musical" awards when the musical elements are easily the weakest, and it is simply not actually a very good musical as written. It makes me wonder if a new category of awards is needed - 'Best Spectacle' or similar which could award shows that use technology and visuals to create effects, experience and emersion like ceebee says; because that's why it's winning these awards - not because it's actually a good musical, but because all the other elements are so effective. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 29, 2022 21:43:08 GMT
I agree that this show winning Best Musical is a joke.
I disliked the leads in Moulin Rouge a lot, but that should have won Best Musical over this.
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Post by inthenose on Jun 29, 2022 22:37:30 GMT
I disagree, I view a musical as the sum of its parts. It's a musical, there are more than enough songs - which vary in quality in my opinion - and anyone booking it thinking it was a straight play or laser effect Vegas style extravaganza would be equally disappointed. It's Back to the Future: The Musical, because it's a musical.
I haven't seen MR yet (nor do I plan to, if I'm honest) to compare, but they are both stage adaptations of popular film IP's. I know I'd rather watch an evening of original music (Johnny B. Goode and The Power of Love aside) than a jukebox musical of songs I'd rather hear the original artists sing at home on Spotify.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2022 5:51:47 GMT
I disagree, I view a musical as the sum of its parts. It's a musical, there are more than enough songs - which vary in quality in my opinion - and anyone booking it thinking it was a straight play or laser effect Vegas style extravaganza would be equally disappointed. It's Back to the Future: The Musical, because it's a musical. I haven't seen MR yet (nor do I plan to, if I'm honest) to compare, but they are both stage adaptations of popular film IP's. I know I'd rather watch an evening of original music (Johnny B. Goode and The Power of Love aside) than a jukebox musical of songs I'd rather hear the original artists sing at home on Spotify. I agree, it annoys me when people say X musical isn't a musical because of the songs (or at least in their opinion). That might mean it doesn't make a good cd, or a concert but a musical(like you say) is the sum of its parts. Its everything involved in bringing the show together and I think it shows a massive disrespect to people like set, lighting designers etc to so easily dismiss their work. In fact designer's seem to get dismissed so easily and its nice to actually have some shows (BTTF, Frozen, Moulin Rouge). embrace design possibilities at the moment after so much minimalism. It's the same with actresses in musicals, people focus so much on just the voice and not the acting, it's not best singer. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 30, 2022 8:03:47 GMT
Back To The Future is a musical. One that has won awards. So suck it up slackers and make like a tree.
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Post by fluxcapacitor on Jun 30, 2022 9:54:33 GMT
I disagree, I view a musical as the sum of its parts. It's a musical, there are more than enough songs - which vary in quality in my opinion - and anyone booking it thinking it was a straight play or laser effect Vegas style extravaganza would be equally disappointed. It's Back to the Future: The Musical, because it's a musical. I haven't seen MR yet (nor do I plan to, if I'm honest) to compare, but they are both stage adaptations of popular film IP's. I know I'd rather watch an evening of original music (Johnny B. Goode and The Power of Love aside) than a jukebox musical of songs I'd rather hear the original artists sing at home on Spotify. I agree, it annoys me when people say X musical isn't a musical because of the songs (or at least in their opinion). That might mean it doesn't make a good cd, or a concert but a musical(like you say) is the sum of its parts. Its everything involved in bringing the show together and I think it shows a massive disrespect to people like set, lighting designers etc to so easily dismiss their work. In fact designer's seem to get dismissed so easily and its nice to actually have some shows (BTTF, Frozen, Moulin Rouge). embrace design possibilities at the moment after so much minimalism. It's the same with actresses in musicals, people focus so much on just the voice and not the acting, it's not best singer. I don't think anyone's saying BTTF isn't a musical. It clearly is. The argument is just that many people - myself included - feel it didn't need to be a musical. To reference inthenose's point, I agree that anyone booking it expecting a Vegas-style extravaganza might be disappointed, but that's because they've shoehorned it all into a musical form. Had they not set out to do that, and instead developed - from the ground - an extravaganza "Back to the Future LIVE ON STAGE" experience I think it would have been all the better for it. They wouldn't have needed to drop in forgettable songs which don't add anything to the show every few minutes, and could have concentrated all their efforts and funds instead on evolving the effects even more than they have. See the new Abba show: they built something unique which really stands out without trying to conform it to anything which already exists. I've explained it before, but in my opinion (and I don't think I'm alone) the new musical aspects are the weakest in the show and actually drag down what is otherwise a brilliant production. If anything, it's the opposite of what you're describing above. Rather than dismissing all the other aspects (set, lighting designers etc.) I fully recognise that their work is what makes this show worth seeing. It's a musical which wins "Best Musical" because of all the other elements; and despite the traditional "musical" elements (book, lyrics, music) which alone just aren't very strong. |
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Post by Matt on Jun 30, 2022 14:38:48 GMT
Aidan (Biff) is leaving at cast change.
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Post by inthenose on Jun 30, 2022 14:43:50 GMT
Aidan (Biff) is leaving at cast change. Not the actor's fault (he was fine), but Biff's song was the one time when I saw it where I actually rolled my eyes and thought - "oh now it's his turn for a song". It stopped the show's momentum and added nothing, and felt like an excuse to try and cram in all his ("mondegreen") one-liners from the film. |
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 30, 2022 15:46:48 GMT
Back To The Future is a musical. One that has won awards. So suck it up slackers and make like a tree. Just because it is a musical doesn't make it a good one necessarily... And as I've already made the point, the new musical category was pretty slim pickings this year (to the point they nominated Drifters Girl which got 2-3 stars pretty much universally.) It's a great spectacle, its just the wrong art form for the piece... |
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2022 15:53:10 GMT
I can only see it lasting another six months really. The Adelphi is always high on peoples list when bringing new productions into town and the second it starts to flag it’ll be out to make way for something else.
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Post by inthenose on Jun 30, 2022 17:20:52 GMT
Back To The Future is a musical. One that has won awards. So suck it up slackers and make like a tree. Just because it is a musical doesn't make it a good one necessarily... And as I've already made the point, the new musical category was pretty slim pickings this year (to the point they nominated Drifters Girl which got 2-3 stars pretty much universally.) It's a great spectacle, its just the wrong art form for the piece... Fair enough. The only thing I would question is how well commercially it would've done as a play. If it wasn't a musical, it almost certainly wouldn't have happened at all. Which is fine if you didn't enjoy it, but bad for those who did. Harry Potter is really the only comparison I can think of which has been successful. And HP as a brand is infinitely more popular, profitable, relevant and recent than BTTF. As for the arena tour "extravaganza" option, War of the Worlds is really the only profitable example of a similar ilk I know of. They usually always flop - it's the very reason Lord of the Rings didn't get financial backing. Because it wasn't Cirque and guaranteed a return. "Walking with Dinosaurs", "Batman Live" et al all lost absolute fortunes. |
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Post by inthenose on Jun 30, 2022 17:21:52 GMT
I can only see it lasting another six months really. The Adelphi is always high on peoples list when bringing new productions into town and the second it starts to flag it’ll be out to make way for something else. I agree. I've never understood why though as the Adelphi is a dreadful theatre, my least favourite. |
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2022 17:34:06 GMT
I think its just the science of having 1400 seats in a very central location. The lack of FOH space is abysmal and my original seat for BTTF was like a trick in a funhouse.
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Post by inthenose on Jun 30, 2022 17:44:25 GMT
I think its just the science of having 1400 seats in a very central location. The lack of FOH space is abysmal and my original seat for BTTF was like a trick in a funhouse. There's not a good seat in the house. The Dominion is also dreadful. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 30, 2022 17:54:35 GMT
Back To The Future is a musical. One that has won awards. So suck it up slackers and make like a tree. Just because it is a musical doesn't make it a good one necessarily... And as I've already made the point, the new musical category was pretty slim pickings this year (to the point they nominated Drifters Girl which got 2-3 stars pretty much universally.) It's a great spectacle, its just the wrong art form for the piece... I was just joshing. |
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