Back to the Future: The Musical Wows the Audience With Spectacular Stage Magic at the Orpheum Theatre

Back to the Future the 1985 movie was the first movie I ever officially called my favorite movie. Cinephiles can relate, it doesn’t mean I didn’t have a favorite movie before that, just that at 13 I decided to declare that this was my favorite movie, at that point in time. Now I’m not a huge fan of movies that were not musicals turned into Broadway musicals. Some work, some don’t, usually the idea seems misguided and thus usually have an upward battle justifying the transition. This adaptation definitely took me by surprise when I first heard of it, but I wasn’t a naysayer. To me this seemed like something completely different. This would be more along the lines of the Indiana Jones stunt show in Orlando Florida than Pretty Woman. I wasn’t wrong and I wasn’t disappointed. From the moment the DeLorean bursts on the scene, and believe me that is an accurate description, it’s clearly the star of the show. The production design and theatrical illusions take center stage and they will not disappoint. If you came to Back to the Future: The Musical for the music, you came to the wrong show. Don’t get me wrong the songs aren’t terrible, but the best songs in the show all came from the movie. There are a couple of fun exceptions a 1950’s pastiche of girl group bubble gum songs ,”Pretty Baby“, has a nice feel to it, though honestly, that may be me. My pop music taste more or less resides squarely in the 1950’s and 60’s.

The adaptation is by the creative team who created the film. Bob Gale,who co wrote the original movie with the films Director Robert Zemeckis, wrote the Book. The Music and Lyrics are by the original films score composer, Alan Silvestri along with Glen Ballard. I won’t go into the plot as I cannot imagine anyone going to see this that hasn’t seen the film. Are there changes to the plot? yes, but they are not significant and one can generally see why the changes that do occur were made. The changes are all details and they don’t change the overall plot. What is different is the tone in some ways the production takes itself very seriously, mainly in it’s design and execution of the illusions. In other ways it doesn’t take itself seriously with knowing winks to the audience, moments where everyone on stage and in the audience acknowledges we are at a musical. I didn’t have an issue with that, and I think you faithful reader, knowing that info going in will be on board as well. In those moments it’s the creators saying to us, this is ridiculous, so let’s just have fun, and in that respect it succeeds brilliantly.

It’s tricky when you have new actors stepping into roles played indelibly by the original performers. We almost have to give ourselves a pep talk ahead of time with a reminder it’s Okay if the characters are a little different. No one could hope to replace Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Crispin Glover. Well ok, Burke Swanson who plays George McFly pretty much nails a Crispin Glover impersonation, which is awesome. The rest are not afraid to veer away from the iconic portrayals to avoid attempting to replicate that which could never be replicated. I think you’ll agree that if there is one character whose mannerisms and look are so stylized and unique that it wouldn’t be the same without them it’s George McFly. What Swanson does is chancey but it works. In terms of the rest of the cast everyone is solid. Aside from strong vocals by Zan Berube who plays Lorraine and Cartreze Tucker who plays Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry, no one has a particularly strong singing voice. But again, that isn’t really the point of the show.

What is the point of the show is the amazing magic that the production design teams have brought to the show under the direction of John Rando and designer Tim Hatley. As I stated before, the star of this show is not Caden Brauch who plays Marty McFly or Don Stephenson who plays Doc Brown, it’s the DeLorean. Chris Fisher who is credited as illusion designer and Finn Ross as Video Designer have worked magic together to create an effect that actually wows a 2024 audience. This is a production that features a fair amount of projection. But, while some shows rely too heavily on the tool, simply creating locations rather than building actual sets, here it is used strategically to enhance physical set pieces. The two showstopping moments in the show are not musical numbers but the moments leading up to the two trips through time that Marty makes in the DeLorean. Such well timed and expertly married physical elements and video projection in these scenes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

As a musical, Back to the Future: The Musical is fine, as an experience it’s spectacular. When you go in knowing what to expect, it’s sometimes easier to relax and enjoy yourself, and that’s really all this show wants to do, which is all I needed it to do. Back to the Future: The Musical runs through September 22nd at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets visit Hennepin Arts at https://hennepinarts.org/events/back-to-the-future-the-musical-2024

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

But that’s not all! Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . Now you too can be in the know about all the fabulous theater happening in and around the Twin Cities.