Director Jamie Lloyd Leaves BACK TO THE FUTURE Musical; Show's West End Debut Delayed

The Daily Mail writes that director Jamie Lloyd has "amicably" left the team of the new BACK TO THE FUTURE musical adaptation, just before the show was set to begin workshops in Los Angeles and London. Lloyd and Bob Gale -- screenwriter for the three BACK TO THE FUTURE films -- "disagreed over the production's direction."

For Lloyd, the decision was "just a case of wanting to stand by my vision," he told the Mail. "You absolutely have to believe in it or there's not much point."

Gale will now rewrite the musical and send out a new draft to directors late next year, with hopes for a 2016 bow in the West End. The show had originally been aiming for an opening to coincide with the 1985 film's 30th anniversary in 2015.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Gale is collaborating with the film's director Robert Zemeckis and producer Colin Ingram on the musical version. Also rumored was Roger Bart's participation as 'Doc Brown' in the now-delayed workshops.

The musical adaptation is set to feature the songs "The Power of Love", "Johnny B. Goode", "Earth Angel", and "Mr. Sandman", which all appeared in the film. The film's composer Alan Silvestri will work with Glen Ballard on new numbers for the stage version.

Also in the creative team are set designer Soutra Gilmour, lighting designer Jon Clark and illusionist Paul Kieve.

The 1985 movie starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown. It topped the box office that year and nabbed nominations from the Oscars and the Golden Globes. BACK TO THE FUTURE PARTS II and III soon followed in 1989 and 1990.

The movie centers on Marty, a teenage boy who accidentally gets sent back in time to 1955, where he meets his future parents in high school. When Marty's mother starts to fall for him instead of his father, Marty is forced to fix the course of history by causing them to fall in love or face the consequences -- he will no longer exist. And with help from the 'Doc', Marty has to find a way to return to 1985.

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