Yes, there’s a flying car. But Back to the Future is hardly a feat of musical theatre innovation | Canada Voices

Title: Back to the Future

Written by: Bob Gale, Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard

Performed by: David Josefsberg, Lucas Hallauer, Mike Bindeman, Zan Berube, Cartreze Tucker, Nathaniel Hackmann

Directed by: John Rando

Company: Mirvish Productions

Venue: CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre

City: Toronto

Year: Runs to Aug. 31

There’s an argument to be made that Back to the Future was in need of a revamp.

The 1985 film is regarded as a classic, but even its most ardent fans would probably admit that it’s leaky with plot holes (hey, that’s time travel for you). As well, the movie sort of implies that a white man wrote Johnny B. Goode a whole three years before Chuck Berry released the track in real life. There’s also the subplot about Libyan terrorists, which was considered to be in poor taste even when the movie premiered.

All this to say: There’s a lot to love about Back to the Future, from the flying DeLorean to Doc’s oh-so-quotable catchphrase. But there was plenty that needed updating, too, when the film was adapted into a musical in 2020.

Back to the Future, now playing at Toronto’s CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, adheres closely to Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s screenplay, with only one or two major updates – though perhaps that’s not a surprise, given Gale himself also wrote the script of the musical.

For fans, Gale’s faithful transposition from screen to stage might be good news. But for the rest of us, the musical is just plain exhausting.

John Rando’s production has a few moments that titillate rather than obliterate the senses – the levitating car, as well as choreographer Chris Bailey’s tight dance sequences – but there’s an overreliance on projections and video that makes Back to the Future feel less like a stage show and more like a ride at a rickety carnival, flashy and bright but without much substance beneath the surface.

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When we meet Marty McFly (Lucas Hallauer) and nuclear physicist Doc Brown (David Josefsberg) in 1985, they’re thick as thieves and equally enthused about Doc’s latest invention: a voice-controlled time machine tucked inside an unassuming sedan.

Soon enough, Marty finds himself stuck in 1955, without a supergenius best friend to help him get, you know, back to the future. Even worse, he has to make sure his parents meet and fall in love – no small task when your dad (Mike Bindeman) is an awkward peeping Tom, and your mom (Zan Berube) is more interested in dating … you.

The finer details of the plot are as icky as ever – try not to think about it too hard – but for the most part, Rando’s cast is up to par. Hallauer is dandy as Marty, as solid a stand-in for Michael J. Fox as you could want. Josefsberg’s not half-bad as Doc, either, though the script drops “Great Scott!” about a dozen too many times. (Seriously, did the show need more than one or two?)

Berube and Bindeman make a great team as Marty’s parents – with dance chops to spare – and Cartreze Tucker is a standout as someday-politician Goldie Wilson, with plenty of show-stopping solos peppered throughout the production.

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Finn Ross’s video design is where things start to go south. The touring production of Back to the Future uses a massive digital backdrop to supplement designer Tim Hatley’s relatively slight set, and a series of forced-perspective videos (particularly during the DeLorean’s takeoff sequences) makes the whole affair feel less like a Broadway show and more like Motion Sickness: The Musical.

Gareth Owen’s sound design, as well, dials the volume up to 11, and at various times during the show the music is far too loud to hear what the actors are actually singing.

That said, not being able to decipher Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard’s songs isn’t always a bad thing. Musically, Back to the Future falls in the same camp as Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada, two similar stage shows adapted from films within the past decade. All three musicals drip with nostalgia, but they’re also surprisingly weak pieces of theatre that don’t live up to the gravy train of movies-turned-Broadway-smashes that preceded them, gems of the canon such as Legally Blonde and Hairspray.

There are one or two memorable songs in Back to the Future – Gotta Start Somewhere, an uptempo jig for Goldie and the ensemble, and, yes, Johnny B. Goode – but by and large, the music slips by without making any lasting impression.

Of course, none of this will matter for most audiences. The non-video stagecraft on display during the DeLorean’s final liftoff is as impressive as you’d hope; the gags and quips of the original film are as fun onstage as they were on VHS, too.

But Toronto audiences looking for dizzying heights and blinding lights might be better off spending a day at the Canadian National Exhibition when it opens in a few weeks – it’ll likely be a pretty similar experience (and with wacky, futuristic food to boot).