"Back to the Future: The Musical" is a blast of nostalgia on stage at the Orpheum
MINNEAPOLIS — "Back to the Future: The Musical" is taking audiences back in time at the Orpheum Theater. The Broadway hit turns the science-fiction spectacle into an energetic live performance.
"You think 'Back to the Future,' you can't do it. It can't be done (on stage)," said actor Don Stephenson." And yet, they figured out ways to do to that are amazing and so pleasing to the audience."
Stephenson plays Doc Brown, the eccentric mastermind behind what is arguably the most iconic movie vehicle ever, the DeLorean time machine.
"It's another character in the show and like my costar," he said while sitting on the car's hood for our interview. "Marty and Doc and the DeLorean."
Every memorable character from the film returns as Marty McFly, played by Caden Brauch, travels back to 1955. He's suddenly thrust into a mission to make his parents fall in love and get back to the future. Characters like George McFly and Biff Tannen look like they plucked straight from the film, both in voice and appearance.
Eric Sprotsy, the production stage manager, said adapting movies to a stage is an episodic task.
"It's so much quicker where we have these short, little scenes and all the magic of the movie. So, it caused the show to be extremely complicated, extremely technical, takes a huge amount of people," he said.
One of the more exciting moments is when the DeLorean makes its grand entrance, an explosive reveal that has the speakers booming with bass. The car moves slowly across the stage, but several theater tricks help it appear as though it's zooming through the fictional town of Hill Valley and in time travel.
"We use some conventional theater techniques of automation where things are automated, things are moving on cables beneath the deck, but we also incorporate magic into that," said Sprotsy.
He really means magic. Sprosty said a team of illusionists worked with the production crew on making the DeLorean drive, fly, appear and disappear.
The car matches the movie version down to the smallest detail, but it is bit smaller than the real-life version. Stephenson and Brauch must contort their bodies to fit inside, but its relatively unnoticeable to the audience.
Those who know the story will excitedly anticipate memorable lines and moments from the film, but Stephenson said first-time viewers will be on the edge of their seat as well, creating a new generation of "Back to the Future" fans.
"It's sci-fi and it's action and there's a little bit of romance and there's all of these things, but I think the reason that people keep coming back to it all of these years is the heart that it has," said Stephenson.
"Back to the Future: The Musical" runs through Sept. 22. Tickets are still available. Click here to learn more.