‘Back to the Future’ musical soars into San Diego on Tuesday

Don Stephenson as Doc Brown and Caden Brauch as Marty McFly in the North American touring production of “Back to the Future: The Musical,” which will visit the San Diego Civic Theatre Jan. 14-19. (Evan Zimmerman)

PUBLISHED: January 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM PST

This new year marks 40 since the film “Back to the Future,” directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, hit theaters and took off like a supercharged DeLorean. The movie earned nearly $400 million at the box office, which would translate in dollars to much more today, and spawned a two-part sequel.

Traveling forward rather than back in time, it wasn’t until 20 years later that screenwriter/producer Bob Gale began noodling with the notion of a stage musical adaptation. From there, another 15 years went by before a full-fledged “Back to the Future: The Musical,” written by Gale with music and lyrics by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, premiered in Manchester, England.

It makes its San Diego debut on Tuesday, when Broadway San Diego presents “Back to the Future The Musical’s” first national touring production starring Caden Brauch as Marty McFly and Don Stephenson as Doc Brown.

“You can argue that ‘Back to the Future’ is the greatest time-travel story ever devised,” said Stephenson. “This is the one that keeps going after 40 years. It’s got action. It’s got sci-fi. A little bit of romance. It’s a buddy movie. At its heart it’s about love — the way Marty rediscovers his parents, and the mentorship between Marty and Doc.”

It’s also got a DeLorean, the rear-engine, stainless-steel-body sports car which was no longer in production when the first “Back to the Future” movie arrived in theaters.

“You can just see the smiles that come out (in the audience) when Doc and Marty get into the DeLorean,” Stephenson said. “It’s truly a character. It feels like there’s Doc and Marty and the DeLorean.”

Caden Brauch, center, leads the cast in the North American touring production of "Back to the Future: The Musical," which will visit the San Diego Civic Theatre Jan. 14-19. (Matthew Murphy) — Caden Brauch, center, leads the cast in the North American touring production of “Back to the Future: The Musical,” which will visit the San Diego Civic Theatre Jan. 14-19. (Matthew Murphy)

A car wasn’t the movie’s original time-traveling machine, Stephenson said.

“In the original draft, it was supposed to be a refrigerator. If the DeLorean had not been picked as the time machine, no one would even know the DeLorean. That’s made the name.”

But the appeal of “Back to the Future,” the films and the musical adaptation, goes deeper than a rare sports car.

“Marty gets to do this thing that we all wonder about,” said Stephenson. “What would it be like to meet our parents when they were younger? He gets to go on this adventure and actually answer that question.”

The musical includes songs that were heard in the first movie, such as “Johnny B. Goode” and “Earth Angel,” but Ballard and Silvestri composed more than two dozen original tunes for the show.

One of them, “Put Your Mind to It,” is Stephenson’s favorite, and Doc Brown isn’t even in the number, which features Marty and his father George (Burke Swanson). “It’s a great rock ‘n’ roll song,” he said. “It underlines the whole story.”

As for portraying Doc Brown, Stephenson is channeling the “childlike wonder” Lloyd brought to the big screen while also making the part his own.

“You have to make choices,” he said. “I’m not an impressionist like Rich Little. I can’t imitate (Lloyd’s) Doc Brown. Everything is amazing to him. I can understand and bring that.”

An experienced director as well as Broadway performer, Stephenson says that role informs his acting onstage.

“It makes me the best-behaved actor in the room because I know exactly what the director is trying to accomplish and what he or she needs,” he said. “When I’m in that position I try to give that to him or her.”