Welcome to Hill Valley! Marty McFly is a rock 'n' roll teenager who is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time-travelling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown. But before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence. Based on the beloved film of the same name, Back to the Future is directed by John Rando. Set your destination time, New York and get ready to make musical theater history.
It's an odd paradox, that Back to the Future assumes prior familiarity with the film such that the players need little introduction, while positing nearly every character as worthy of substantial exploration. Chalk it up, perhaps, to the fact that two of the movie's creators are involved: Bob Gale adapted the musical's book from his and Robert Zemeckis's screenplay, and Alan Silvestri, who composed the film score, co-wrote the musical's rollicking score with Glen Ballard. They clearly know and adore all their characters, but not all audiences have the same depth of understanding, especially 28 years on from the film's premiere. But like the DeLorean climbing to the crucial 88 miles per hour, the writers ultimately succeed in building the show's momentum and narrative heft. Once Marty meets his teenaged parents, Lorraine and George, in 1955 and catches Lorraine's eye before George can, he has to course-correct — and gets to know his parents better in the process. Back to the Future is really a story about how the young can shape older generations' futures, after all, not just the other way around.
What Back to the Future does deliver instead of commentary on the original is a beat-by-beat translation of its set pieces. The DeLorean arrives onstage at the same time as Bart’s Doc, and actor and car split the entrance applause. When Marty gets inside and guns for 88 miles per hour, the screens around the stage blur behind him. (I felt right back in that Universal Studios amusement-park ride.) You’ll perhaps notice a V-shaped set of slats in the stage, ready to ignite behind the wheels of the car, and later on, the DeLorean soars into the air for its own “Defying Gravity” moment — turns out the flying cars are here. The stagecraft is well managed (Chris Fisher, of The Cursed Child, is credited with the illusions, while Finn Ross did the video design and Hugh Vanstone the lighting), but watching the climax, where Doc and Marty race to get everything set in time for lightning to strike, I kept noticing how much the musical nearly turned into a movie. The screens, which so dominate the set, provide for cuts between Doc and Marty, the score’s basically the one you know, and the actors are really there only to sit in a car and on a ledge and shout lines you know. When the ledge under Doc crumbles, that’s a screen too. If this is the future arriving on Broadway, it looks way too much like another medium’s past.
Rush Tickets:
Price: $40
Where: Rush tickets will be available every day when the Winter Garden Theatre box office opens, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Limit: Two per customer.
Restrictions: Seat locations and the number of tickets available are subject to availability and determined at the discretion of the box office.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $45
Where: https://rush.telecharge.com/
When: The digital lottery opens at 12AM ET one day before the performance and winners are drawn at 10AM ET and 3PM ET that same day.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Tickets are non-transferable and subject to availability.
2021 | West End |
West End Premiere West End |
2021 | West End |
West End |
2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2024 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical | Roger Bart |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical | Casey Likes |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Tim Lutkin |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Sound Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Gareth Owen |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video/Projections (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Finn Ross |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Roger Bart |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Tim Hatley |
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