Back to the Future: The Musical Is a Broadway Must Watch
The Back to the Future franchise, with its three stellar movies, has created a global fan base since its original 1985 release. Now the story has expanded into a new genre: a Broadway musical.
The musical follows the lives of Marty McFly, a hopeless teenager with dreams for the future, and his friend Doc, an eccentric scientist bound to discover how to travel through time.
Showing Marty’s dissatisfaction with the lifestyle he’s living, it all turns around when Doc dies due to plutonium poisoning after creating his time-travel machine, the DeLorean.
In hopes of saving Doc, Marty travels back to 1955. However, he disrupts a critical event: his parent’s first meeting. Now Doc’s life isn’t the only one at stake but also Marty’s.
The writing choices of this musical make the audience feel euphoric because of a shared objective: good winning over bad. While this idea may seem repetitive, the appeal to pathos is well executed enough to overcome the argument.
Even if you have not seen the original Back to the Future, this musical presents a clear storyline for people of all backgrounds to enjoy. It is a story of hope as audiences root for Marty and supporting characters like his dad, George McFly, a nerdy student who is constantly bullied by Biff Tannen.
The character development of George McFly is the centerpiece of this plotline, as he increasingly becomes confident enough to confront Biff with the help of his son Marty. This, in turn, makes Marty see his dad in a different light because he realizes that George has dreams just as he does, but lacks the security to pursue them.
Though Marty is the strength factor of the story, George concludes the battle of morals by winning his final encounter with Biff, which changes his and Marty’s future forever.
The perfect words to describe the comedic choices are over the top, which arguably gets to the point of absurdity. However, it does not take away from the experience as it fits the characters’ personalities and scenes.
From bubbles throughout the venue during the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance scene, to the DeLorean flying off the stage and flipping upside down, the special effects were the most memorable part and added a factor of child-like joy that tied the musical together.
This Broadway adaptation of Back to the Future is a strong consolidation of what it is to know the story you are telling and how to portray it through the different sections of a musical.
If you are new to musical theater, this is a great pick that will not leave you disappointed.
