Do we really need a musical adaptation of a 1985 hit film in 2023? Back to the Future: The Musical answers that question with dated MTV references, the use of a Polaroid camera and the infamous DeLorean car. The show is enormously fun, wholesomely silly and best described as an oversized theme park ride which intentionally and successfully accelerates to 88 miles per hour. Fasten your seat belts!
Marty McFly (Casey Likes) has “Got No Future” after his band audition is rejected. His family is a bunch of underachievers and he laments their state in “Hello – Is Anybody Home?” The beginning is amusing but the action, as expected, takes off when Doc Brown (Roger Bart) proclaims “It Works”. The time machine car is ready to rock and roll.
The plot generally holds true to the film with a few dashes of updated sassiness to spice up the humor quotient and lightly comment on the issues of today. “It just feels right when all the white men get want they want” is one tongue-in-cheek example which garners the laugh and does not feel preachy or forced. Bob Gale wrote the book based on the movie he co-wrote. The storytelling is solid and the characters surrounding Marty are still cartoonish caricatures brought to three dimensional life with some excellent performances.
Mr. Likes is a winning Marty as is his 1955 mother/girlfriend played by Llana Hunt. Mr. Bart’s Doc is an homage to the classic Christopher Lloyd mad scientist performance. Nathaniel Hackmann is the villainous Biff Tannen and his big Act II number is a standout not to mention his bully bulldog physicality.
The scene stealer in this production is Hugh Coles who perfectly inhabits the spineless father. George McFly is certainly a nerdy type, afraid of dreaming too big or getting the girl he wants. In one of his many memorable scenes, he sings “My Myopia is my utopia”. The performance is a complete knockout.
This past year has been an exceptionally rich one for featured actors in musicals. All of these are memorable turns: Jennifer Simard (Once Upon a One More Time), Alex Newell and Kevin Cahoon (Shucked), Kevin Del Aguila (Some Like It Hot), Betsy Wolff and Ben Jackson Walker (& Juliet) and last, but not least, Jinkx Monsoon’s roof raising guest star appearance as Mama Morton in Chicago. There were others worth celebrating too but those shows have sadly closed.
Is Back to the Future free of skid marks? Of course not. Doc’s “For the Dreamers” is a groaner. The music from the film is dutifully incorporated which can overpower the newly written tunes. “Earth Angel” and “Johnny B. Goode” throwbacks harken to an idealized and fictional America. “The Power of Love” makes a bombastic appearance near the end. As every good theme park entertainment knows, give ’em what they want and they’ll leave happy and smiling. At the Winter Garden Theatre in the year 2023 that is most likely a safe bet for all.
www.backtothefuturemusical.com/newyork
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