Rob the Concert Guy

Back to the Future (BTTF) is one of my favorite movies ever. A few years back they decided to turn into a Broadway musical. Bob Gale, who co-wrote the movie, was involved so I had it on a list of things to do. Well it finally happened on April 13, 2024 at 2pm. I had just fallen off the toilet when I was standing on it to hang a picture and bumped my head when…

Now I have never been to a Broadway show before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But since it was an expansion of the BTTF universe, it was a nice way to dive in.

The story is basically the same with some subtle changes to fit the stage show. On film, you have the luxury of zooming in on things, like the time circuits in the DeLorean. So for the stage show, the car and time circuits were activated by Doc Brown’s voice. This gives an even bigger reason why Doc is needed to get Marty home since you can’t even start the car without him, but also since a Siri-like voice repeats what Doc says, no need to worry about interior DeLorean details.

Some of the differences:

• The actor playing George McFly was a fine Crispin Glover replacement, though a bit over the top goofy. But it worked. And the sexual attraction Lorraine had for Marty back in 1955 was very overt where the movie was more subtle.
• Also, no Libyans. Doc dies of radiation poisoning instead of gun shots and Marty must warn him.
• There were a lot of new gags too. In one scene from the ‘55 Doc is on the phone asking why he would want to invest in Scottish burgers. He hangs up with “Fine Mr. MacDonald. Have it your way!”
• Some of the comedic timing between Doc and Marty reminded me of Laurel and Hardy playing on lines from the movie like “this is heavy” but taking it so much further.
• The Biff character had so many more Biff-isms in the play than the movie by just messing up every saying possible. “Make like a tree and get out of here” was only the tip of the iceberg for how stupid Biff can be.

Of course George still knocks out Biff, fixing and improving the timeline, and Marty plays Johnny B. Goode as you’d expect.

• But instead of being locked in the trunk of a car first, Biff’s gang locks him in a dumpster and then rescued, Marvin Berry’s hand gets crushed. As they pull him out of the dumpster the band says, “is this what they mean by ‘White Trash?’”

The show runs over 2 hours and has a 15 min intermission. When the show returns from the intermission, it starts with a dream Doc has about the future. The year is 2020. When he awakes he tells Marty how he had a Utopian dream where cars fly, there’s no need for money, and….no more diseases. They stare at the crowd at that point breaking the 4th wall.

There are other surprises in store that make the movie you’ve seen 100 times new and fun. I won’t spoil them all here. The show is touring in 2024 and 2025 so go try to see it. I plan to go again if I get the chance when it tours and you should too!

I’m a metal and rock fan so I wasn’t sure if I’d be into the singing and dancing, but it works. The show is a lot of fun and you know what to expect. So looking for the differences makes it that much more fun. It’s kind of like finding the original director’s cut of your favorite film and checking out all the new scenes, new ideas, and alternate endings that didn’t make into the final release. My only critique: the actor playing Mr Strickland wasn’t bald. Lol.

Does this make me a Broadway fan? That I’m not so sure of. But I do love BTTF! Of course when the show is over: