There\u2019s a reason the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d movie trilogy continues to be on so many folks\u2019 favorite films list \u2014 including mine. It\u2019s just fun to watch, be it the first time or the 10th time.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon created by Bob Gale and his Oscar-winning director friend Robert Zemeckis (\u201cForrest Gump\u201d) debuted in 1985 with sequels in 1989 and 1990. Gale has said over the years since that countless requests have come to him for a BTF 4.<\/p>\n
While he and Zemeckis haven\u2019t created a fourth installment in the film series, new life has nonetheless been breathed into the story of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. \u201cBack to the Future: The Musical\u201d is at Bass Hall through March 29 as the latest in the Performing Arts Fort Worth Broadway at the Bass Series.<\/p>\n
And while I must confess, being a fan of the film trilogy, I entered the theater wondering where the stage version would land in the scheme of BTF lore. I left having seen what might well be one of the best shows ever at Bass Hall.<\/p>\n
The story remains true \u2014 and just as fun \u2014 to what was in the original film. After all, Gale, who was nominated alongside Zemeckis for an Academy Award for that movie screenplay, also penned the script for the musical.<\/p>\n
And now that original story also features songs created by some of the best in the industry \u2014 Grammy and Emmy Awards winner Alan Silvestri (music) and Grammy winner Glen Ballard (lyrics).<\/p>\n
Several of the songs from the movie are still incorporated in the stage production, such as \u201cJohnny B. Goode\u201d and \u201cEarth Angel\u201d performed at the school dance. But instead of Huey Lewis singing the hits \u201cPower of Love\u201d and \u201cBack in Time,\u201d they are performed by Marty (Lucas Hallauer), Doc (David Josefsberg) and the high energy ensemble cast that includes Marty\u2019s girlfriend Jennifer (Sophia Yacap), Mayor Goldie Wilson (Cartreze Tucker), and Biff Tannen (Nathaniel Hackman).<\/p>\n
Yes, you read right. Biff the bully sings \u2014 and quite well. His primary number is when he and his buddies are about to confront Marty and break into \u201cTeach Him a Lesson.\u201d He and Lorraine (Marty\u2019s mom, played by Kathryn Adeline) join with the ensemble to deliver the zesty \u201cSomething About That Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marty still accidentally goes back to 1955 in a DeLorean turned into a time machine by Doc \u2014 still one of the greatest story bits ever. And, as anyone who\u2019s ever seen a time travel story knows, tampering with the past is an absolute no-no.<\/p>\n
But what do you do when you\u2019re discovered by your teenage mom who \u2014 remember, she does not know you\u2019re her son \u2014 develops a crush on you? Kinda endangers the plan that your mom and dad (George McFly, played by Mike Bindeman) might meet, fall in love and you\u2019ll be born.<\/p>\n
So, before returning to the present, Marty must make sure his parents get together. And, since getting back to the present requires exact timing of a lightning strike, he doesn\u2019t exactly have a plethora of time.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve seen the original movie, you know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. If you\u2019re one of the five people on the planet who haven\u2019t, trust me, it\u2019s all hilarious and pure fun.<\/p>\n
By the way, you don\u2019t have to have seen the movie to have a blast at the musical. The story is almost exactly identical (with a few adjustments), only with some fantastic songs and some of the best special effects ever to grace the Bass Hall stage.<\/p>\n
The music wastes no time in taking charge with the opening number \u201cIt\u2019s Only a Matter of Time\u201d featuring Marty, Goldie and the ensemble. Other notable highlights are the quirky \u201cIt Works\u201d when Doc makes his first appearance with the time machine, \u201cPretty Baby\u201d when Lorraine attempts to get frisky with Marty shortly after meeting him, and the moving \u201cFor the Dreamers\u201d also by Doc.<\/p>\n
Everyone is clearly having a blast in their roles. Hallauer and Josefberg have absolutely amazing chemistry, Adeline plays Lorraine to flirty perfection, Bindeman takes nerdiness to a whole new level, and Tucker\u2019s voice is, well, golden.<\/p>\n
And those effects, oh wow! Whatever you do, don\u2019t be late for the start of the second act when Doc and the ensemble perform \u201c21st Century.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s much more that\u2019ll have you asking, \u201cHow did they do that?\u201d long after the show\u2019s over, such as the scene where Marty is brought back to 1985 and when he and Doc take off on a new mystery adventure.<\/p>\n
The stage version has a talking DeLorean with its own humorous personality. And yes, Gale admits he borrowed the idea from \u201cKnight Rider\u201d \u2014 which was itself a pretty cool TV series, particularly for its time in the early to mid-1980s.<\/p>\n
Another notable difference from most other stage productions is a consistent musical score throughout. You know that uptempo music you hear when something exciting is about to happen in a movie, or the soft music during a sad or mellow moment? It\u2019s in this show, and it\u2019s a wonderful addition.<\/p>\n
The beauty of the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d story is that, onscreen or onstage, it challenges our imagination, all the while asking us to just have fun and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n
And now that ride comes complete with great music, choreography \u2014 and did I mention the special effects?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a reason the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d movie trilogy continues to be on so many folks\u2019 favorite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[85010,11372,116,118,117,7986],"class_list":["post-220103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-back-to-the-future","tag-bass-hall","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}