REVIEW: Back to the Future (Kennedy Center)
You like Huey Lewis and the News?
Then chances are you’re familiar with “The Power of Love”, the 80’s pop-rock synth slapper that until only recently could be found on two separate Broadway stages: a jukebox named after the song, and the other based on the movie that popularized it.
Back to the Future is about as cash-grabby as a property as you can get. Its time travel gimmick szhuzh’s up the questionable plot and throws in stock characters like “mad scientist”, “asshole jock”, and “un-confident nerd”; add in a heap of 1980’s nostalgia and you’ve got a solidified cash cow. That is, assuming you can adapt it off the screen and into what people are expecting out of it.
Book/Music
Fans of the original film — myself included — should be pleased to know that it’s basically an exact replica, with only minor changes to increase family-friendliness. (This is particularly evident in Doc Brown’s characterization, but more on that later.) If you’re unfamiliar: both Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s original film and the musical (book also by Gale) follow Marty McFly, a regular 80’s teenager whom accidentally is whisked 30 years into the past by a DeLorean car that has been souped-up into a time machine by his local mad scientist Doc Brown. If trying to get “Back to the Future” was hard enough, he ends up foiling the usual means of how his parents met, and becomes the subject of romantic attraction by his unbeknownst mother, causing potentially catastrophic spacetime continuum damage. Marty McFly remains a “cool dude” in the musical, more of a fulcrum to teeter the very predictable story along. Doc Brown, who is depicted as edgier and less risk-averse by Christopher Lloyd in the film, is reduced to a klutz at times on stage. This makes for better musical comedy moments at the detriment of a less well-rounded character. Despite this, it remains a faithfully giddy adaptation and anyone expecting a similar ride to the movie will not be disappointed.
Regarding the score, however, I only have one question: Why?
Alan Silvesteri and Glen Ballard’s score is devoid of any actual purpose. Often, it disregards the notion of “if you can’t speak it, sing it, and if you can’t sing it, dance it out” by just having its characters just…sing, leading to emotional jerkiness. It practically feels like they needed to stick some songs in there as a contract stipulation with Universal, not because it would have benefitted or that people wanted it. In all honesty: scrapping the composer budget to go all-in on the effects a-la Cursed Child would have been a welcome direction to take. 5/10
Acting
While the entire ensemble is solid — the only particular standout to me was Don Stephenson as Doc Brown. He brings a creatively skittish vibe to the character that I believe was nearly written out in its transition to the stage. 7/10
Production
This part is what you came to see, right? No? Just me?
Well even if you did just want to see it as your favorite film put to stage, chances are you’ve heard about the spectacular tech on display. While I did enjoy it, the practical effects and the opulent (but brilliantly designed by Finn Ross) projections were so maximized that it wouldn’t be out of place at a 4D movie-ride at Universal Studios in Florida. (It’s an achievement that they could bring something comparable on the road.) This larger-than-life production design would be much greater were it consistent. The DeLorean scenes, featuring a smooth-gliding, neon-trimmed replica of the vehicle and expertly-rendered 3D backgrounds that immerses you even from the back row, are sublime, and how it matches the exact perspective in the projections is frankly, exhilarating. But it is also apparent that those specifically are where the dollars went, as some of the other elements are left feeling very lackluster. And since the car is only fully-used twice in the show, it feels like you’re waiting around for the next opportunity to see it. Perhaps changes were made in the Broadway-to-tour transition? This isn’t to say they should use the car more, as the anticipation is worthwhile, but that I would have liked to see just as creative effects placed elsewhere where we weren’t expecting it to blow us away. This includes potentially better practical effects regarding the Doc Brown’s joyfully-detailed lab, or more explosive choreography in many high-energy numbers. Is it too late to ask for a Back to the Future Part II musical? I‘m sure that would be something. 7/10
Viz
Hard to beat poppy, plasticky visuals that are some of the most iconic in film history. Beyond that, the scrim is very…cyberculture, which feels a little too futuristic for the time, but it is technically opulent. 7/10
Verdict
Sure, Back to the Future as a musical could have been a lot worse — but its empty score and smothering effects still create an unbalanced product. 26/40
