Friday night, Veronica and I went to see  Back to The Future: The Musical – the musical based on the 1985 movie of the same name. I seriously considered making the trip to New York City to see it on Broadway in 2023, as I’m such a big fan of the franchise. Alas, I waited until show began touing and made a stop in Detroit, and I was not disappointed!
The following summary was take from my review of the Back To The Future movie:
THE PLOT: for those who’ve been living under a rock for the last 40 years. Back to the Future is a story of high school kid named Marty McFly. Marnie has a pretty good life. He’s got a great girlfriend, but he lacks self-confidence in pursuing his dreams of becoming a rockstar. Marty watches his father, George, get bullied by his old high school nemesis, Biff and fears turning out just like him.
One night, Marty learns that his good friend, the scientist Dr. Brown has invented a time machine. Through a series of mishaps, Marty ends up traveling back in time shortly before his parents would meet. His actions in the past end up putting his parents meeting, and Marty’s entire existence in jeopardy.
With the help of a younger version of Dr. Brown, Marty has to orchestrate his parents first meeting, try to avoid altering the timeline any more, and get himself… back to the future.
MY COMMENTARY: In order to prepare for the show, I began listening to the soundtrack recording via Spotify. I’ve embedded the soundtrack album for your listening pleasure.
As music was a big part of the movie, it makes sense that the musical would include some music from movie such as “The Power of Love”, “Back in Time”, the 50s classic “Earth Angel” and of course the “Back to the Future overture”. Of course, no telling of BTTF is complete without Marty’s performance of “Johnny B Goode” at the Enchantment Under Sea dance.
As for original music, I feel like one has to listen to the new songs a few times before they become truly memorable; or at least see the musical multiple viewings. “It’s only a matter of Time” really struck me – probably because it uses the tempo from the back to the future overture.
One great thing about these musical adaptations of existing IPs is that they even give some of the minor characters a chance to shine. “Hello is anybody Home?” riffs in Biff’s taunt to George McFly and give new depth to George, and his kids Dave and Linda. Even Biff and his goons in 1955 have a moment in the spotlight with “Teach him a Lesson”, with the goons constantly correcting Biff for his mismatched cliches. In the performance, I saw, the actor playing Goldie Wilson damn near stole the show. He was, by far, the best singer in the cast. As is the case of so many other characters in Back to the Future: The Musical, Wilson also receives greater character development in this life performance.
Interesting to note are the minor changes to the storyline. In the movie, just before Marty travels through time, “Doc” Brown is shot by terrorists. For some reason this is changed to a radiation overdose resulting from the plutonium exposure. In addition, Marty is injured by falling out of a tree; rather than getting hit by his grandfather’s car. I can only assume that in the case of Doc Brown’s murder, the producers wanted to be a little more culturally sensitive than having “Libyan terrorists“. altering the scene where (and eventually Marty) is hit by Lorraine’s father‘s car may have been more in issue of logistics than anything else
Of course I talk about how difficult it would’ve been having a car on stage. Of course, the production  absolutely knocked it out of the park with the DeLorean there was a legitimate pop from the audience. The first time the DeLorean  appears on screen, as Doc is traveling through time. 
FINAL TAKE: As a fan of the movie franchise, it’s interesting to see BTTF presented I a different medium; and to see the franchise being expanded upon. As I mentioned earlier, an IP like BTTF lends itself to the musical format very easily, as a result of the part that music plays in the original story. If you’re a fan of musicals, it’s probably not the best musical ever made, but it is a more-than-worthy adaptation of the classic movie. RECOMMENDED.
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related (and perhaps, not-so-related) posts:
- Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
- A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
- The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
- Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
- The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie
The article: “Rob Reviews: Back to the Future” the musical” forst appeared in Rebuilding Rob.
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