Bob Gale, writer of "Back to the Future," explains why the musical will succeed in Denver
"Back to the Future" was one of the most successful movie franchises decades ago, and to this day the films continue to entertain people around the world. But now, for the first time, audiences in Denver will have the opportunity to see the musical rendition of the production at the Buell Theatre.
"Back to the Future: The Musical" is playing the Denver Center for the Performing Arts starting Jan. 22 and is only in town for three weeks.
Ahead of the tour's stop in Denver, CBs News Colorado's Dillon Thomas sat down with the writer of the original film, Bob Gale. Gale met with Thomas outside the Pasadena, California home which served as Doc Brown's house in the movies.
"Explain for me the inspiration behind this show, and did you ever think it would still be succeeding decades later?" Thomas asked.
"It is every writer's dream to write something as long as this has," Gale said.
Gale said, when he originally wrote the movie, it took a lot of time to convince production companies to pick it up.
"The script had been rejected over 40 times," Gale said.
Gale explained how the production company that did pick up the script initially wanted to change the title of the movie, but Gale and his peers were set on it being titled Back to the Future.
Many may not know that Michael J. Foxx was initially not cast for the film. The star role of Marty McFly was initially portrayed by Eric Stoltz.
"We shot five and a half weeks with the wrong actor. Had we not replaced him with Michael J. Foxx, we all would not be here today," Gale said.
The stars of the musical, Don Stephenson and Caden Brauch, told Thomas they have loved bringing the movie to life on stage.
"I think it has all the moments you know and love from the movie," Brauch, who portrays McFly, said.
Stephenson, who was cast as Doc Brown in the musical, said he has enjoyed seeing the film seamlessly transform into a successful musical.
"I always felt like the movie was close to being a musical because it had the Huey Lewis songs. It had 'Johnny be Good.' All of the scenes are heightened. Everything is an emergency. Everything is a crisis to be solved," Stephenson said. "When you have that in a musical, someone sings or someone dances. So, it was easy to get over that hump."
Gale said it was an interesting process, from his view, to watch how stories made popular by film are reimagined to be told on stage in an effective way.
"You can't do a close up on stage. Instead, you do a song. A song is the equivalent of a close up," Gale said.
The musical is a lot of fun and can easily be enjoyed by longtime fans of the film, or even those who have never seen the movies before.
"When you see back to the future the musical, you are going to be seeing that story from a different angle than you ever have before," Stephenson said.
"It is so easy to have fun watching this show," Brauch said.
"Back to the Future: The Musical" plays the Buell Theatre through Feb. 9. For more information on tickets visit denvercenter.org.
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