Roger Bart to play Doc Brown in Back To The Future musical

Posted on | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

The new West End musical adaptation of Back To The Future welcomes Roger Bart among its cast. The Tony Award-winning American actor is set to portray the iconic Doc Brown when the show premieres at the Manchester Opera House on 20 February 2020 and he will likely reprise the role for the anticipated London transfer to a yet-to-be-confirmed venue.



Promo shots of BTTF © Phil Treagus


American actor and singer Roger Bart joins cast of Back To The Future

It has just been confirmed that Roger Bart, who is perhaps best known for his Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning performance as Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999, Ambassador Theatre on Broadway), is set to make his UK stage debut as he takes on the role of Doc Brown in the forthcoming musical, Back To The Future. 

Bart will join the previously announced Olly Dobson as Marty McFly, Cedric Neal as Goldie Wilson, Hugh Coles as George McFly, and Rosanna Hyland as Lorraine Baines.

Forward to the past — A look into Roger Bart's acting credits

In addition to starring in the award-winning You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Bart's other notable stage credits include the roles of Carmen Ghia and Leo Bloom in The Producers, Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein, Tony in Disaster!, and Xanthias in The Frogs. 

The highly prolific Broadway star is also no stranger to film and television and has most notably lent his voice to the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules as the singing voice for Young Hercules ("Go the Distance") and has also starred in such films and televisions series as The Stepford Wives (2004 remake), American Gangster, Hostel: Part II, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Law & Order and its spinoffs, 30 Rock, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spinoffs, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and most recently in the hit Netflix series, A Series of Unfortunate Events.

About the Back To The Future musical plus creative team information

Back To The Future is directed by Urinetown's John Rando and is based on the 1985 cult-classic film of the same name, which starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The plot of the musical remains the same as teen Marty McFly accidentally gets entangled in time travel and must now ensure that his parents fall in love or else he will cease to exist.

The musical features a book by Bob Gale plus lyrics and music written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri. It will include the songs "Johnny B Goode" and "The Power of Love", both of which were featured in the original major motion picture, alongside new numbers like "Gotta Start Somewhere."

The Back To The Future team is completed by set and costume designer Tim Hatley, lighting designer Hugh Vanstone, sound designer Gareth Owen, video designer Finn Ross, illusion designer Paul Kieve, choreographer Chris Bailey, and musical supervisor and vocal arranger Nick Finlow. Orchestrations are from Ethan Popp while dance arrangements are from David Chase.

Does Back To The Future have a future in the West End?

Ticketing information for the West End transfer of Back To The Future The Musical along with performance dates and a London venue are expected to be announced sometime in the near future, no pun intended.

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By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

Ephram is a jack of all trades and enjoys attending theatre, classical music concerts and the opera.