Back To The Future Is Back & Better Than Ever!

Review by Michael J. Herman, Critic at Large

©2024 All Rigfhts Reserved

Flash! Bang! Whiz! Boom!

No, it's not the '60's Batman Series, it's what's happening on stage at Back To The Future The Musical which premiered Wednesday Night in Hollywood. From lights up until its thrilling conclusion, Back To The Future The Musical is a laugh-a-minute, musical romp. A popcorn and jukebox musical in which the music, while quite outstanding, is almost secondary to the story with which almost everyone is familiar.

For those who have been living in a cave since the early 1980s, let me summarize:

Marty McFly, an adolescent thrust thirty years into the past by his mad scientist friend Doc Brown's time machine finds himself in need of ensuring his parents fall in love while avoiding the threat of his own mother falling in love with him. Meanwhile, he is charged with teaching his own father how to be a man in a lifelong journey of bullying and         self-deprivation.

The show is an outstanding reinvention and translation of the 1985 Michael J. Fox-Christopher Lloyd comedy. It excellently breathes new life into a story so familiar that I found myself at times reciting the lines with the actors. It offers big laughs and sincere emotional moments.

In a week when so much tension and upset has permeated every aspect of our lives, it was a pleasure to turn off my brain and open my imagination to a possibility we all muse… Can we change our past? And would we really want to if we could?

There's little I would criticize about this production. While minor technical cues could have been tighter on Opening Night, I found everything from the musical score, the lighting, choreography,   set design, orchestra, and even the costuming to be superb. They were even able to create realistic effects of time travel and flying cars on stage.

One of the best things about Back To The Future The Musical that stays with me is the chemistry between lead actors      Cadem Brauch (Marty), Don Stephenson (Doc Brown), and  Burke Swanson (Marty's father George.) In fact, these three dynamos are so good and so great together that I would stand in line to see them rock it out at The LA Forum. Cadem personifies the Rock Star his alter ego Marty McFly dreams of being. Perhaps this is why Brauch so completely embodies the role? The performances are more than caricatures and more representations of archetypes of real people we know.

Something unique about this theatrical offering is that because there's no politic, no social message, no moral heaviness, you're able to just relax and surrender to what it is giving… FUN!        And who doesn't need a giant dose of that?

Some of the new musical arrangements are outstanding and keep you singing the tunes far after the curtain closes, and more than that, Huey Lewis' iconic anthem "The Power of Love Is A Curious Thing" is as riveting a number now as it was forty years ago. It leaves audiences wanting to dance down the aisles.

But the single best thing about Back To The Future The Musical is it made me feel young. Not just young, but like a worry-free kid again. It reminds us that a time before cell phones; before social media; when there were only three networks; when lollipops, skateboards, first kisses, and jukeboxes were still a cool thing; when you could play outside after dark…

When we wanted to play outside at all, really did exist - and it wasn't a time-lapse dream I had while scrolling through TikTok to find something older than the bread in my pantry. And it gently reminds us that bullying is still a part of adolescence (and even adulthood).

It's ok to be brave.

Special kudos go out to visionary Producer-Director

Robert Zemeckis for having the discipline and focus to get the film made after more than 40 rejections and to hang in there with this evergreen story to see it debut on stage and even on Broadway is more than admirable. That kind of leadership is rare on Broadway and gives hope to the power of intention. Back To The Future The Musical is a stellar example of the kind of magic that can happen in the theater.

Following encores and bows, Zemeckis, came out to share his exhilaration of opening at the Pantages and bringing his baby to life. A panoply of luminaries, including original cast members from the original film and contributors to the stage productions took their graces. It was an exciting cap to a bottle of champagne I hope continues flowing for a long time.

Back To The Future the Musical runs November 5 through December 1, 2024 at The Hollywood Pantages Theater. Tickets start at $35. Visit Broadwayinhollywood.com, Pantages.com or Nederlander.com

Michael J. Herman is Critic At Large for Luxury-Media Group and thecriticatlarge.com.