Differences between productions

**WARNING: This article may contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t yet seen the musical!**

The following differences have been compiled from multiple audience observations and comments found online.

## Broadway Production

### General variations

Either subtle alternate variations used regularly or one-off ad-libs or deviations from the script.

* Doc said “al dente” instead of “that’s amore” when testing out the equipment for simulating lightning on the model

### Opening Night vs. First Preview

Either scripted differences, ad-libs, or other changes which were observed during at least one of the previews.

* During My Myopia, the tree no longer moves across the stage and no longer has fabric in its opening, allowing George to hang out of it more visibly
* When Marty arrives at Doc’s lab for the first time in 1955, Doc has reverted to saying, “You’re selling subscriptions to the Saturday Evening Post”
* A numeric keypad was added to Doc’s chair in 21st Century
* The Lou’s Cafe set now starts coming in at the end of Teach Him a Lesson instead of after the blackout
* Homeless Guy said “Crazy, drunk pedestrian” (similar to the character in the 1985A timeline in *Back to the Future Part II*) instead of “What’s a guy gotta do to get some sleep around here?”
* One of the saxophones in the The Pinheads’ Horn Section was replaced by a trumpet

### Broadway vs. West End (Y2)

Differences which appeared between the different productions.

* The pre-show projection no longer includes the hashtag before the Back to the Future The Musical logo and the design has been updated slightly. During previews, the logo was also updated from blue to a full colour version (red, orange, yellow).
* The animation shown during the Overture starts at the Winter Garden Theatre and includes the Statue of Liberty before zooming out to show the globe and flying to Hill Valley
* The Town Theater and Essex Theater can be seen either side of the Hill Valley Courthouse in the Hill Valley Town Square set
* Wherever We’re Going has a new ending and Marty and Jennifer stay at the front of the stage as the set changes into the McFly house
* Marty hangs up his skateboard in the kitchen instead of Jennifer taking it away
* During Hello, Is Anybody Home?, Linda has her Prince CD and Walkman references back
* Dave enters the stage dancing and has drive-thru intercom effects added to his final “Do you want fries with that?”
* Lorraine appears from behind the fridge door
* When Lorraine is filling her glass with vodka, Linda slides her glass towards the bottle as though she wants some but Lorraine refuses and slides it back to her
* Dave sticks fries up his nose to make George laugh instead of putting an orange slice in his mouth
* When talking about Old Man Peabody, Doc mutters something about him having a dog called Sherman
* At the end of It Works, the DeLorean Girls are stood either side of Doc instead of being positioned around the car.
* The Barn set has been updated to include a bigger timber frame and lower bails of hay
* When Marty arrives in Hill Valley in 1955, the Texaco Guys and Cigarette Girls appear frozen as though they are part of billboard advertisements
* During Cake, a doctor appears to join in singing the line, “And even doctors say they’re good for you. So good for you.”
* DDT Guy sprays DDT on the bouquet of flowers and then takes it offstage
* The ‘reengineered food from the farm’ in Cake is now a large tub of Cheez Whiz instead of a tin of Spam
* Slick is now chewing on a matchstick in some scenes, similar to Match in the movies
* There are a few changes to Gotta Start Somewhere, e.g. a large “Welcome” sign, different reprise, lots of choreography involving moving the benches around (“benchography”)
* At the end of Gotta Start Somewhere, in addition to his gold apron, Goldie is now wearing a gold hat, has gold on his shirt, and doesn’t get his gold broom until near the end of the song
* The tree outside Lorraine’s bedroom is completely different and initially appears stage right, with Marty entering from stage left
* The second line in My Myopia has been updated, initially “Way up here I’m safe and sound” instead of “I’ll keep my focus on the ground” but later replaced with “Fifteen feet up off the ground” during previews
* When Marty arrives at Doc’s lab for the first time in 1955, Doc says something else instead of, “You’re selling subscriptions to the Saturday Evening Post”
* Dave and Linda have swapped positions on the photograph, with Linda now on the left hand side (to Marty’s right).
* Since the set for Doc’s lab is now bigger, the portrait photographs of the scientists are larger and varying in size
* Doc and Marty no longer do their “Wait, what?” routine after Marty says things are heavy
* When Doc and Marty go to find the DeLorean in the barn, they come from around the side of the bails of hay instead of climbing over them using a ladder
* The Hill Valley High School set is now more similar to the front of the school in the movie
* The Hill Valley High School Fight Song has additional lines and new choreography, including three nerdier looking cheerleaders holding boards which say GO BULLDOGS on one side and WOOF WOOF on the other.
* Lorraine, Betty and Babs no longer have their chat where Lorraine says, “Lorraine Klein. Doesn’t that sound divine?”
* The Enchantment Under The Sea dance poster on the school lockers is much larger
* Lorraine now drops her books when she sees Calvin/Marty instead of falling backwards into the lockers
* The front of Doc’s chair in 21st Century now lights up and it doesn’t appear to have any numeric keypads on either of the arms
* A dinosaur is now included in the background animations during 21st Century
* Doc says something like, “You know if I’m speaking Italian, things are going well” after testing out the equipment for simulating lightning on the model
* After Doc thanks Goldie for climbing up the Clocktower to attach the cables to the clock, he says he “gets dizzy just looking” that high instead of saying he’s “agoraphobic”
* *Mr. Sandman* can be heard playing on the radio in Lou’s Cafe before Marty writes the letter
* After Marty writes the letter to Doc in Lou’s Cafe, the photo of him and Linda is projected onto the cafe doors instead of the window
* Marvin no longer makes a smoking reference when saying they’re going to take a break and The Starlighters are no longer smoking
* Reginald no longer makes his “chocolate sauce” joke
* The photo of Marty and his siblings is projected above the front door to the school after he says his goodbyes to his parents
* After travelling back to 1985, the DeLorean now travels from stage left to stage right and the Homeless Guy’s bench is on the other side

#### Costume changes

* Marty McFly now appears to wear Nike Bruins instead of Nike Cortez
* Clocktower Woman now wears a silk scarf
* Linda McFly has a different design on her knitted sweater
* Betty and Babs have different outfits
* Cheerleader sweaters now have a bullhorn and pom pom motif which says “Cheers” instead of a bulldog motif
* Ensemble varsity jackets now have the initials H and V instead of 55 on the front
* The Pinheads’ Backing Singers now wear fishnet tights and silver boots
* The Pinheads’ Horn Section now have a flux capacitor motif on their jackets

#### Track changes

See Original Broadway Cast for full ensemble tracks.

* B’Boy now appears dressed in a yellow tracksuit in It’s Only a Matter of Time
* Slick is now played by the same actor as Dave McFly (again)
* Cigarette Girls are now played by the same actors as Betty, Babs and the Teacher
* Pretty Baby Girls are now played by the same actors as Betty, Babs and Clocktower Woman
* Sam Baines is now played by the same actor as Strickland
* Lunch Lady is now played by the same actor as Clocktower Woman
* Janitor is no longer played by the same actor as Lou’s Cafe Guy
* Craig is no longer played by the same actor as 3-D
* Uncle Huey is now played by the same actor as 3-D

## West End Production

### General variations

Either subtle alternate variations used regularly or one-off ad-libs or deviations from the script.

* When Doc asks who’s Vice President of the Unites States, Roger had been known to say any of the following: Daffy Duck, Pepé Le Pew, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat
* Doc uses different expressions when telling Marty that his siblings may never be born, including saying doodly-doo, barking like a dog, and making the clapping-in-front-of-the-mouth sound
* For the first performance with the 2023/24 cast, Doc threw the scarecrow over his head backwards to Marty before Future Boy

### Year 3 Cast vs. Year 2 Cast

Differences which appeared when the cast changed.

* There’s now a table which collapses behind the shelves which fall over during the opening scene
* Wherever We’re Going has a new ending and Marty and Jennifer stay at the front of the stage as the set changes into the McFly house (same as Broadway)
* Marty hangs up his skateboard in the kitchen instead of Jennifer taking it away (same as Broadway)
* Dave sticks fries behind his upper lip to look like a walrus to make George laugh
* There are a few choreography changes to Gotta Start Somewhere (which has now reverted to its original key)
* The second line in My Myopia has been updated to “Fifteen feet up off the ground” (same as Broadway)
* The Enchantment Under The Sea dance poster on the school lockers is much larger (same as Broadway)
* Lorraine now drops her books when she sees Calvin/Marty instead of falling backwards into the lockers (same as Broadway)
* The Lou’s Cafe set now starts coming in at the end of Teach Him a Lesson instead of after the blackout (same as Broadway)
* After Doc thanks Goldie for climbing up the Clocktower to attach the cables to the clock, he says he “gets dizzy just looking” that high instead of saying he’s “agoraphobic” (same as Broadway)
* Marvin no longer makes a smoking reference when saying they’re going to take a break and The Starlighters are no longer smoking (same as Broadway)
* Reginald no longer makes his “chocolate sauce” joke (same as Broadway)
* Homeless Guy said “Crazy, drunk pedestrian” (similar to the character in the 1985A timeline in *Back to the Future Part II*) instead of “What’s a guy gotta do to get some sleep around here?” (same as Broadway)

#### Costume changes

* Marty McFly (at least when played by Elliott Evans) now appears to wear Nike Air Force 1 or Nike Court Vision Low shoes instead of Nike Cortez or Bruins
* Cheerleader costumes and ensemble varsity jackets have been updated (similar to Broadway)

#### Track changes

See West End Cast (August 2023) for full ensemble tracks.

* B’Boy now appears dressed in a yellow tracksuit in It’s Only a Matter of Time (same as Broadway) and is played by the same actor as Reginald
* Slick is now played by the same actor as Dave McFly (again, same as Broadway)
* Cigarette Girls are now played by the same actors as Betty, Babs and The Pinheads’ Keyboardist
* Asbestos Guy is no longer played by the same actor as Dave McFly
* Texaco Guys now includes the same actor as Dave McFly instead of Reginald
* Pretty Baby Girls no longer includes the same actor as Babs
* Sam Baines is now played by the same actor as Strickland (same as Broadway)
* Lunch Lady is now played by the same actor as The Pinheads’ Keyboardist
* Craig is now played by the same actor as Janitor and Lou’s Cafe Guy
* Uncle Huey is now played by the same actor as 3-D (same as Broadway)

### Year 2 Cast vs. Original Cast

Differences which appeared when the cast changed.

* Clocktower Woman is standing on the bench when she enters the stage.
* The end of Wherever We’re Going has a slightly different melody.
* Biff now refers to candy rather than peanut brittle, though this was reverted back to peanut brittle later.
* Updates to Hello, Is Anybody Home? including cutting some of Linda’s lines, removing the Prince CD and Walkman references, and some of Dave’s lines were also removed.
* Lorraine’s second “There was something about that boy…” towards the end of Hello, Is Anybody Home? was cut, just before Marty jumps off the table.
* Following the first time travel sequence, Marty is blasted towards the front of the stage by the expelling rear vents.
* Red Thomas’s lines in Cake were updated.
* Lou’s cafe scenery now comes in during Cake and the cafe staff dance behind the counter
* Lorraine is now fully dressed when she’s at her bedroom window during My Myopia
* The ending to My Myopia was updated
* Marty now says “I can’t believe he’s still here” in reference to Strickland instead of “Didn’t that guy ever have hair?”
* Strickland no longer says “Nice haircut, Brown” and Doc doesn’t reply with “You too”. For at least one performance Strickland said, “It’s been a long time.” and Doc replied “Not long enough” before the interaction was removed completely.
* Some minor choreography changes throughout
* New costumes, including more glittery DeLorean girl jumpsuits and new dresses for theEnchantment Under The Sea

#### Track changes

See West End Cast (August 2022) for full ensemble tracks.

* DeLorean Girls now include the actor who plays Babs instead of Jennifer Parker
* Slick is now played by the same actor as D. Jones Guy and Uncle Huey
* Pretty Baby Girls are now played by the same actors as Betty, Babs and The Pinheads’ Keyboardist

### Press Night vs. First Preview

Either scripted differences, ad-libs, or other changes which were observed during at least one of the previews.

* At Lou’s cafe, Biff was seen putting ear wax in George’s Cheerios instead of mustard.
* Doc was seen already wearing the brain wave analyzer and appeared to be listening to a cactus instead of having a phone conversation with someone about Scottish hamburgers before Marty arrives at his lab for the first time in 1955.
* Doc said “Bonjour!” to Lorraine when she turns up at his lab carrying her French text book.
* Slick did a backflip after Biff shouted “Spread out!”
* When replying to Strickland calling him a slacker during the George McFly Day scene, Biff responded, “That’s right sir, I am the king of the snackers” rather than “king of the slackers”
* When Reginald makes his “chocolate sauce” joke, one of the other Starlighters says, “You didn’t really say that” to which Reginald replies, “Do I ever lie?” and they all reply, “erm… YES!"

### West End vs. Manchester

Differences which appeared between the different productions.

* The pre-show projection now transitions between the Back to the Future The Musical logo and information about not taking photos and videos instead of showing the current location, weather, date and time
* There’s now an animation while the Overture plays which starts at the Adelphi Theatre before zooming out to show the globe and flying to Hill Valley
* Marty now stays standing centre stage after hooking up to the amplifier in Doc’s lab instead of getting blown back into the chair
* There’s no longer a TV for George to watch in the McFly kitchen
* During Put Your Mind to It, George now asks “Who’s Dick Jagger?” and says he wants to be Dick Jagger rather than saying “I’m sorry, I don’t want to jag her” and that he wants to be Spider-Man (note: Spider-Man wasn’t in a comic until after 1955) or a “big metal chicken”
* When Doc plays back the video camera footage in his lab in 1955, it’s now projected instead of the audience just hearing the audio while Doc watches it on TV.
* After For the Dreamers when Marty asks Doc if he needs anything he now responds with something like, “Only more time. There never seems to be enough.” while he previously said something like, “Thanks Marty, you’ve given me everything I needed.”
* George’s latest novel is now called *Back to the Future 4* instead of *Back to the Future Part II*

## Manchester Production

### General variations

Either subtle alternate variations used regularly or one-off ad-libs or deviations from the script.

* TODO

### Press Night vs. First Preview

Either scripted differences, ad-libs, or other changes which were observed during at least one of the previews.

* The song Good at Being Bad was cut.
* Marvin Berry no longer calls his brother Chuck Berry during Johnny B. Goode.

## Notable differences between the musical and the movie

* Marty calls at Doc’s lab before the band auditions in the afternoon instead of earlier in the morning before school
* Goldie Wilson hasn’t actually been elected as mayor until the updated timeline at the end of the musical
* Marty and the Pinheads are auditioning for Hill Valley’s Annual Celebration Day instead of the school dance
* Biff is at the McFly house to deliver the two cases of peanut brittle he sold George (in reference to a deleted scene) rather than because he’s borrowed and wrecked George’s car
* Dave McFly works at McDonald’s instead of Burger King
* The McFly family eat meatloaf instead of Uncle Joey’s parole cake, which can be seen in the fridge
* Doc becomes the world’s first time traveller before Marty arrived at Twin Pines Mall and there’s no mention of Einstein
* Doc dies due to radiation poisoning instead of being shot by terrorists
* Marty doesn’t wear a radiation suit and therefore doesn’t appear to George as Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan (the Darth Vader reference comes later with the lightsaber)
* Since Marty doesn’t drive the DeLorean away from the Peabody Farm, he also doesn’t run over one of the pine trees, which means Twin Pines Mall is no longer Lone Pine Mall when he returns to 1985
* Marty breaks George’s fall out of the tree outside Lorraine’s bedroom window instead of preventing him being hit by Sam Baines’s car
* We don’t see Lorraine’s siblings, so there’s no reference to Baby Joey being behind bars
* There’s no skateboard chase; the cafe scene where George asked Lorraine out was merged with the school canteen scene… George gets his chocolate milk there instead and Biff ends up in the laundry basket covered in meatballs instead of manure
* Biff and his goons throw Marty into a dumpster instead of locking him the trunk of the car
* Marty’s 4x4 Toyota truck isn’t mentioned
* George’s new novel is unveiled at the George McFly Day celebrations and is no longer called *Match Made in Space* and its cover doesn’t feature someone wearing a yellow radiation suit
* Twin Pines Mall is still Twin Pines Mall when Marty returns to 1985 at the end of the show, because he never ran over one of the pine trees when he travelled back to 1955