BACK TO THE FUTURE comes to the Segerstrom Dec. 26
Local OC native has role in cast
By David N. Young
Before it’s off to the New Year, it’s back to the future in Costa Mesa.
Lead producer Colin Ingram together with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the creators of the Back to the Future film trilogy, and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are thrilled to announce the 2022 Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical will come to Costa Mesa as part of the 2024-25 Broadway Season, just in time for the holidays! The Broadway and West End hit show based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film will play Segerstrom Center for the Arts from December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025.
Following sold-out shows across the country, the musical theater version of the classic movie’s highly entertaining musical theater version features an Orange County native who has made it into the cast.
After a much-celebrated production run in London’s West End and on Broadway, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical opened its tour at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio, in June 2024 and continues to destinations across North America. The tour launched less than 12 months after the show’s Broadway opening on August 3, 2023, at the Winter Garden Theatre. The critically acclaimed West End production of BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical officially opened in London on September 13, 2021, has been seen by more than 800,000 people to date, and broken multiple Adelphi Theatre box office records.
The production won the Best New Musical Olivier Award as well as multiple WhatsOnStage Awards and a Broadway World Award for Best New Musical. BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House on March 11, 2020.
Marty McFly is a rock ‘n’ roll teenager who is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown. But before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence.
Based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical has a book by Bob Gale, new music and lyrics by Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Alan Silvestri and six-time Grammy Award-winning Glen Ballard, with additional songs from the film including “The Power of Love” and “Johnny B. Goode.” Bob Gale is the co-creator and co-writer of the Back to the Future film trilogy and Alan Silvestri composed the iconic film score for the series.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical is directed by Tony Award® winner John Rando and features a multi-Tony and Olivier Award-winning design team that includes Tim Hatley (set and costume design), Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone (lighting), Gareth Owen (sound) and Finn Ross (video), with choreography by Chris Bailey, musical supervision and arrangements by Nick Finlow, illusions by Chris Fisher, orchestrations by Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, dance arrangements by David Chase, and casting by Tara Rubin. Bespoke Theatricals serves as General Manager.
The production also features an Orange County native, Alyssa Carol, who plays in the ensemble and is sometimes featured as Lorraine’s understudy.
Carol, a graduate of the OC School for the Arts, has always dreamed of becoming a musical theater star, well at least since her parents forced her to ac in Alice in Wonderland.
“I was always so shy as a child,” said Carol in an interview with ENE. “I was in my shell so much that my parents had a plan while Alyssa was still in grade school.
“My parents signed me up for an elementary production of Alice in Wonderland,” said Alyssa, “so I went, kicking and screaming to perform,” she said.
“I just remember finishing the play and hearing the audience applause,” said Carol, “ and I just fell in love with it and never really wanted to do anything else after that.”
She later auditioned and was accepted to attend the musical theater program at the OC School for the Arts, which “deepened my love for musical theater.
There, Carol said she “fell in love with the stage, the lights, the costumes and the community of it all,” she said. “I was hooked.”
She went on to obtain her Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theater from the University of Michigan and had a few gigs on Broadway and in London’s West End before winning the part in Back to the Future.
“The audience reaction has been amazing,” she said, saying the flying car and all of the special effects are entertaining. “It’s bringing people so much joy,” she said.
Bob Gale said, “To paraphrase Marty McFly, you guys are ready for this, and your kids are gonna love it (too)! If Bob Zemeckis and I time traveled back to 1980 and told our younger selves that the script they were struggling to write would become a Broadway musical 43 years later, they'd kick us out of their offices and call us crazy. Well, sometimes, crazy ideas give birth to great entertainment, and now Bob and I are eager to share our musical vision with New York audiences.
The London production exceeded our original expectations on every level, and we're certain the Broadway version, along with the fantastic songs by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, will be even better. Regardless of whether you've seen the original film, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical, with its outstanding performances and incredible stagecraft, will delight and enthrall you, your kids, your parents, and everyone you know,” according to a statement released by Segerstrom.
Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard said, “It all began for us with the story and characters that made Back To The Future a much beloved, cinematic classic. The magic of musical theatre presented us with the possibility of adding new dimension and depth to our familiar Hill Valley residents. Through song and dance their innermost thoughts, hopes, and dreams are now revealed. It’s a story first told in 1985, that traveled back to 1955, and will now be told in 2023 in New York City and, starting in 2024, across North America.
“We are thrilled and excited to invite you to join us on this epic journey through time,” the statement concluded.
For more information visit www.BackToTheFutureMusical.com.
Tickets for BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical start at $44.07 and are available for purchase online at scfta.org, in person at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, or by calling (714) 556-2787.