My overall impression
I was pleasantly surprised. I admit I was initially skeptical of the Time Machine being presented as a musical. Very very skeptical. But it turns out it was quite pleasant and fun.
From the beginning, the vocal talents of the cast and the catchiness of the music had my curiosity piqued. I read The Time Machine eons ago so I can’t say whether this adaptation did it justice but I didn’t notice any glaringly obvious problems. I can say that it did make me want to read the book again, as well as watch the movie again. The 1960 version, not the 2002 one. Aw heck, maybe I’ll watch both again.
I thought the cast was delightful in their respective roles and seemed quite passionate when belting out their songs and dancing around the stage.
There was a slight technical hiccup towards the beginning after the first musical number but after a minute or two it was smooth sailing. And speaking of time travel, towards the end it felt like I had been cast back in time to an era of “make love, not war”. It got a bit hippyish for my taste. But perhaps that was the intent. A kind of tongue in cheek reference to the title and subject matter. I suppose that’s clever. But I don’t believe all musical roads need to lead to Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar. But maybe that’s just me.
All in all I really liked The Time Machine Musical and would recommend it to friends.
