Could ‘Back to the Future’ be a timeless musical?
GREAT SCOTT! Don Stephenson(center) is Doc Brown with the company of Back to the Future: The Musical, part of the BroadwaySF season at the Orpheum Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
I firmly believe that cars don’t belong on the musical stage unless you’re going to tap dance on them (like in Crazy for You!). I may have to re-think that now that I’ve seen Back to the Future: The Musical in the touring production that flux capictor-ed itself into the Orpheum Theatre as part of the BroadwaySF season.
Even thinking about Back to the Future in a new incarnation involves a bit of mental time travel. The movie, starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as skateboarding guitarist wannabe Marty McFly and eccentric genius Dr. Emmett Brown respectively, came out in 1985 and journeyed back in time 30 years to November 1955. Now here we are 40 years in the future, and the genial time-traveling tale has somehow been outfitted with singing, dancing and some beguling on-stage special effects.
BACK IN TIME: Lucas Hallauer is accidental time traveler Marty McFly in the touring production of the Broadway and London hit Back to the Future: The Musical. Photo by McLeod9 Creative
Did the world need a musical version of Back to the Future? Of course not. The movie stands on its own charms (dated as some of them may be), but time plus nostalgia plus the unquenchable need to turn every ‘80s hit movie into a musical means this was inevitable. At least this project has creative integrity woven into it. Original creators Robert Zemeckis (who also directed the movie) and Bob Gale (co-writer of the script) along with Alan Silvestri (soundtrack composer who came up with that instantly recognizable theme) are all on board here. Zemeckis produces, Gale supplied the musical’s book, and Silvestri composed original songs alongside Glen Ballard (whose ‘80s bona fides include penning Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”).
The result is a faithful musical re-telling of the movie (the first – and by far best – part of what eventually became a trilogy) with a score that, while not exactly bursting with memorable tunes, does an efficiently pleasant job of telling the story with a little added panache. Near the end of the 2-hour-40-minute show, the composers abandon the original score idea and pull in music featured in the movie: “Earth Angel” for a fateful first kiss moment, “Johnny B. Goode” for an anachronistic guitar riff moment and two hits by Huey Lewis and the News – “The Power of Love" and “Back in Time” – to end the show with the nostalgia knob turned to 11.
THE REAL STARS: Stephenson (left) is Doc Brown, Hallauer is Marty McFly and the DeLorean is the reason most people came to the theater. Photo by McLeod9 Creative
Performances also hew faithfully to the movie, and though they’re not outright imitations, they’re awfully close. Director John Rando (Urinetown) engineers some bizarre moments for Doc Brown (an engaging Don Stephenson) to become a song-and-dance man (a full production number in “21st Century” and a drowsy ballad in “For the Dreamers”) that never quite feel justified by the production. But if Marty (Lucas Hallauer) is going to lament about his family and his uncertain future in song, it makes sense that Doc Brown has to fit into the musical landscape as well.
Side note on a dangerous game: the composers use “time” and “future” so often in their songs that if you’re playing a drinking game attached to those words, you probably won’t remain upright through Act 1.
The real razzle dazzle of Back to the Future: The Musical is its technical wizardry, most specifically everything involving the DeLorean that is transformed into a time machine. You don’t necessarily want to leave a musical humming the car, but that is the case here. Designer Tim Hatley leads a high-level team that includes Garth Owen (sound), Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone (lights), Finn Ross (video) and Chris Fisher (illusions) to create the show’s most memorable moments. Every time the car is on stage, the theater crackles with excitement. Suddenly anything musical ceases to matter (though Silvestri’s movie theme is put to good use), and it’s all about the thrill of watching a DeLorean reach a speed of 88mph live on stage and, at the end (spoiler alert, and if this is a spoiler, why haven’t you seen this movie?), watching it fly off into another adventure.
Back to the Future became an actual simulator-style theme park ride for about 15 years in the Universal Studios parks, but it eventually went out of style and was replaced (by The Simpsons or the Minions depending on the park). Now the musical is the closest we have to a thrill ride based on the movie. And like a thrill ride, it’s escapist fun – for a moment in time.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Back to the Future: The Musical continues through March 9 as part of the BroadwaySF season at the Orpheum Theatre, 1152 Market St., San Francisco. Running time is 2 hours, 40 minutes (including one intermission. Tickets are $60-$254 (subject to change). Call 888-746-1799 or visit broadwaysf.com.
