Great Scott!

Well isn't this an interesting turn of events - one of those projects which you think "Nah, that would never work" is having its world premiere in Manchester at the moment: Back to the Future The Musical, currently playing at Manchester's Opera House.

The Opera House has housed a few musical debuts in the past recently, notably & Juliet, and Ghost, and those have both done pretty well. Will Back to the Future do the same? Guess only time will tell.. (I will try and make as few time puns as possible....!)

The show is of course based off the film of the same name, one of the BIGGEST and most iconic films of all time..... and I haven't seen it.
Yeah I know, you can start digging my grave, but just know that this review will be coming to a newcomer's perspective.

Before going into the review itself, I want to get something out of the way; the Opera House was BOILING!! And no, that's not because the DeLorean steamed a bit too much... it was so hot, I was thinking I would have to strip to my bra if it was socially acceptable. So seriously OH, turn it off (like a light switch... Points if you get the reference..)

ANYWAYS...…..

The story follows teenager Marty McFly who accidentally travels from 1985 back to 1955 by means of a DeLorean-converted-time-machine created by his eccentric friend Doc Brown. Now stuck and trying not to cause a paradox in the space-time continuum, Marty now has to find Doc so they can send him..., well..., Back to the Future.

This production goes all out, especially in set, lighting and effects - you can definitely tell that this is where they spent a lot of the budget on, even though it means you can sometimes wonder what the hell you're watching on occasion. The highlight in that department is definitely any scene involving the DeLorean. I have no idea how they did some of the things they did with that car, especially at the end.

Onto the performances, it was lead by Olly Dobson as Marty, who was loveable from the word go, had incredible vocal chops and had hair that could match Steve Harrington himself.
Playing Doc Brown Broadway legend Rodger Bart, and you can tell he was having a blast with this completely bonkers (for the most time) part!

In fact, that's the best way to describe a lot of the casts performance, from whichever angle you pick, from Cedric Neal (Chess) as Goldie Wilson, to Hugh Coles as George McFly, to even Aidan Cutler as the bully Biff Tannen. Everyone just looked as if they were having the most fun they ever had in their entire life.

The film includes a couple of classics everyone recognises, from Johnny B. Goode to The Power of Love, and while the new numbers from composer Alan Silvestri and lyricist Glenn Ballard are fun in their own right, apart from Gotta Start Somewhere, Something About That Boy and Cake And Eat It Too (the latter because its just hilarious), they don't really stand up to the numbers from the film. But you know what does? The score. Oh boy THAT SCORE! It sent chills up the spines of each member of the audience.

To be honest, Back to the Future: The Musical, is kind of what I expected. It's flashy, fun and doesn't take itself too seriously; so if you are hoping to see it, come in with an open mind, and then I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

But I will say this, TRY not to get too rowdy or excited so it turns into bad theatre etiquette - this isn't a panto guys! When I saw it people were cheering a bit at the iconic moments etc etc, but not too far - I have heard reports of it going a bit overboard though so please be considerate to those around you.

And just because there isn't an announcement about phones does not mean you should whip them out every chance you get and start filming. It's still disrespectful to everyone on stage, not to mention illegal. Thank you as well to the ushers as OH who were trying their best to get theatre etiquette order back on form on a Saturday night.

I don't want to end on a theatre etiquette rant though, so as before, if you think you would enjoy this, or want to see how one of the most iconic films of all time works on stage, then go and check out Back to the Future: The Musical.

Note to self: go to HMV at the weekend. You have a very important DVD to buy...!