To the chandelier from “The Phantom of the Opera,” the helicopter from “Miss Saigon” and the giant tire that ascends to the Heaviside Layer in “Cats”: Move over!
There’s a new addition to the pantheon of legendary musical theatre props and set pieces. And this latest entry is the jaw-dropping, time-travelling DeLorean from “Back to the Future: The Musical,” now running at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre.
Set designer Tim Hatley’s flying machine (yes, it really does fly) is nothing short of a technical marvel, blending projection wizardry and some old-school stage magic. Here, the car really is the star.
Yet what makes the DeLorean more than merely another theatrical gimmick (I’m looking at you, tire from “Cats”) is that the show surrounding it is up to the same standard. Sure, this “Back to the Future” might be the musical equivalent of an empty-calorie junk meal, fully loaded and greasy enough to induce a food coma several hours later, but to hell if it isn’t exceedingly satisfying at first bite.
Director John Rando’s flashy stage adaptation trades in the movie’s hip, sci-fi esthetic for a hefty dose of nostalgia and theatrical hokeyness. One number features a chorus of high-kicking dancers decked out in top hats. Another exuberant scene is rounded out with a bevy of space-age showgirls who could easily double as backing singers for an ’80s rock act. (Hatley also crafted these retro fits.)
The story itself, with a book by Bob Gale, is mostly faithful to its source material. (Though the subplot involving the Libyan terrorists has thankfully been cut.) At its centre is 17-year-old Marty McFly (Lucas Hallauer), who’s good pals with Doc Brown (David Josefsberg), the eccentric inventor of the time-travelling DeLorean.
Things go awry, however, when Marty accidentally jumps back in time from 1985 to 1955 and inadvertently gets tangled in his parents’ affairs, threatening to keep them from meeting and ever falling in love.
Marty knows that his parents, the awkward George (Mike Bindeman) and popular Lorraine (Zan Berube), were supposed to share their first kiss at their high school dance. But when Marty finds his mother smitten with him instead of George, he’s forced to meddle even further with their affairs to fix this rupture in the space-time continuum.
Gale’s stage adaptation, though clocking in at two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission, is sharp and slick, zipping through its narrative — like the DeLorean — at an aggressive 88 mph.
Where this musical sputters, however, is in its new music, by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard. The pair mightily attempt to emulate the original bangers from the movie (made famous by Huey Lewis and the News), but their songs rarely reach the same sonic heights, bogged down by mediocre melodies and, at best, serviceable lyrics.
As well, notwithstanding the incredible DeLorean, Hatley’s scaled-down set for this North American tour looks painfully cheap. In particular: the flimsy flats that are raised and lowered from the rafters look more suited for a non-equity bus and truck tour than a production playing a six-week residency in a major market like Toronto.
But it isn’t difficult to overlook these faults, thanks to the talent of this ensemble. Hallauer, sporting Michael J. Fox’s classic Marty McFly haircut, has the voice of a rocker and perfectly captures the lead character’s cool swagger. His renditions of “Back in Time” and “Power of Love” at the end of the show are among this production’s highlights.
Meanwhile, Bindeman is appropriately dorky as Marty’s father, George, and Berube milks the humour as the lovelorn Lorraine. In the smaller role of Goldie Wilson, whose pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps subplot could be further developed, Cartreze Tucker deliver a rip-roaring vocal performance.
Josefsberg is perhaps the weakest link in the main cast. His performance as Doc Brown feels altogether laboured and too calculated, missing some of the character’s quick, spontaneous wit. While his gravelly voice adds nice texture to the pop-rock score, Josefsberg lacks some of the power of Hallauer or Tucker.
Still, nothing can take away from the giddy spectacle of this production when the DeLorean is onstage. Each time it appeared — lights flashing and engine revving — I felt like a kid again, watching “Back to the Future” for the very first time. I bet many other adults in the audience on opening night felt the same way. Talk about some time-travelling transcendence.
