It's a big risk to take a perfect movie, add original songs, and bring it to the stage. We tried to keep our expectations low so as not to be too disappointed... and it worked! The show is great. The theater transforms into an immersive experience of the movie with a combination of countless sets, excellent 80s wigs, a tripped out Delorean, innovative screen usage, and special effects that bring it all to life. The songs are good, and integrate well into the story, but nothing to write home about there. Instead, what stood out to me is that during the climactic scene, when Doc sends Marty back to the future, the show evoked the same moment of anxiety that I still get when I re-watch the movie even though I know how things turn out.
The cast is amazing, channeling the iconic characters from the movie: Roger Bart as Doc, Casey Likes as Marty McFly, Nathaniel Hackmann as Biff, and especially Hugh Coles as George McFly. Winter Garden Theatre An uproarious farce of marital and extramarital relationships with plenty of gags to go around. The play takes place in 1920s England at a family cottage. It opens with Sylvia (Laura Bell Bundy) primping and posing so as to be in the perfect seductive position for when her lover Beau (Eric McCormack) comes downstairs. We learn that she has secretly sent a telegram the night before to tell her husband (Clarke, played by Alex Moffat) that she is in love with Beau. Later we learn she has also sent the same telegram to Beau's wife (Marjorie, played by Lilli Cooper). The telegram is the clunkier predecessor to the text message - there is no rescission or recovery once sent, and in this case the recipients may not be reached by a second telegram or phone call. A good setup for a farce. And then we find out that Clarke and Beau are brothers. And that Beau has another lover. And other revelations that I won't reveal. Suffice to say, chaos ensues.
The physical comedy throughout is delightful and the play is laugh-out-loud funny. One particularly fun gag was the nod to excessive cigarette smoking typical of the time period. Wherever the actors are on the set, they can find a cigarette and a lighter or a place to strike a match - the creamer (dual purpose!), the stairwell banister, the fireplace mantel, and countless tchotchkes. Everyone in the cast is great, but Bundy, Moffat, and Cooper give standout performances. The Hayes Theater |
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