Last weekend (March 15, 2025) my husband and I went to see the stage production Back to the Future, the Musical in downtown Little Rock. I promised I would share my thoughts on this musical, inspired from one of our favorite movies. I will be doing that, but I will also be taking a deeper look at what can be gleaned from the message of this story (both the movie and the stage production). I hasten to say that I always worry about remakes, because they often seem to push an agenda that wasn't in the original source material, and I really worried about this, but I didn't see anything like that in this musical. If you loved the movie, you'll love the musical.
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Walter and Janelle Stoermer at the performance, 3/15/25 |
We grew up when the Back to the Future franchise was coming out, and very popular. Walter and I watch the trilogy every New Year's Eve/Day. Watching it is both nostalgic and fun. It is thought-provoking as well.
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Playbill from the performance |
Overall, we really enjoyed the stage performance. It was the familiar story we love, with some fun, catchy songs (seriously, look up the soundtrack online and find the songs on YouTube). There were some details that were changed (I'm sure) in order to fit better onto the stage as opposed to the screen. Some scenes were conflated (I assume) for the same reason. These changes did not affect the storyline at all, however. The actors were all very talented, but can't compare to Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd's 1985 performance. We liked the musical a lot, but would say the movie is better. Just so as not to give away spoilers, I will put an asterisk* at the last paragraph of this post, and I will share some of the things that are different between the movie and the musical, if you're interested.
This beloved story resounds with a lot of people. The basic plot is that 17-year-old Marty McFly accidentally ends up traveling to 1955, and disrupts his parent's initial meeting and falling in love, thus endangering his own existence. The rest of the movie is spent with him (along with his mentor, Doc Brown) trying to reconnect his young parents with each other, then get back to the future (hence the name of the movie!). Through some unexpected plot-twists, he is successful in the end. In fact, he is so successful that, when he returns to the present (1985), not only is his family still together, but they are all at a much better place, with more confidence and success. In the original timeline, the villain, Biff Tannen, is Marty's father's abusive boss, but in the new timeline at the end, Biff works for the McFly family. Marty's college-aged older siblings have more direction in their lives. Marty's father is a successful author. His parents' marriage is stronger.
The musical is only based on the first film, but in the second movie, Doc Brown, Marty, and Marty's girlfriend Jennifer travel to 2015 to try to prevent a problem with Marty and Jennifer's kids (they are married by 2015). They solve that problem, but create others, causing more time-travel needs. The third movie is a continuation of the story, but mostly takes place in the old west of 1885. A part of that story has Doc Brown saving the life of a school teacher named Clara, who originally died in the old timeline. In saving her life, he creates a time paradox, because now, Clara could marry someone who originally would have married someone else, and continue a different family lineage. Fortunately, Doc Brown falls in love with her, and they marry by the end of the movie, creating their own family and not disrupting anyone else's. There are a lot of time-travel thoughts this series can evoke.
A lot of people go down a lot of rabbit holes with this story. Some question if Marty's parents eventually realize the friend who helped them in 1955 was really their time-traveling son after he is born and grew up to look and sound just like him. Some speculate how Marty's memories of the earlier timeline (which was changed) would be disturbing to him that no one else shares those memories. There are a lot of thoughts that can come up from the story, not to mention (as I said) from the second and third films as well. Time-travel is a fascinating idea, and could lead to a lot of results--if it were real.
This story brings to mind how a single event can change the trajectory of one's life. While time-travel isn't possible (and never will be, because if it would, someone would have already traveled back in time to tell us!), the significance of a single moment is very real-to-life. Humanly-speaking, we can change history by the way we go about our daily lives and business, by the relationships we form, the directions in life we pursue. The decisions we make can alter the course of our own lives, and affect others' lives as well. This, in turn, can change history. We all have those pivotal moments, where our decision will send us one direction or another, and affect other people and their trajectory in life.
I think of the moment in 1999 when I had to choose where to do my internship into the child care field. I had done observations at two centers, both in my hometown. They were very similar, and had been started by the same person. They were Christian organizations. Both seemed perfect. But I could choose only one. The only thing that made one of them slightly more attractive was its closer proximity to the freeway I drove, so for that reason alone, I chose that center. It ended up being the very best for me. I built some relationships that are still a blessing to me today. My boss there currently supports our missionary work. I faced some challenges there that matured me in the Lord, that I don't believe I would have faced at the other center. I ended up being able to share the gospel with others, and will see several in Heaven because of my time there. I later ended up getting to do ministry there, seeing more come to the Lord. But it all started that single moment when I chose that particular location, due to convenience. It might have felt like my choice, but I believe God guided it.
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Some of the elementary students I worked with from my internship in 1999 and subdequent employment at this center, many of whom received Christ!
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I think of another moment in 2014, when I was invited to a Bible study by a mentor. I had just been burned by a women's Bible study that was more like a Christian version of a mean girls club. I was tempted to turn this offer down, and yet I chose to go. Something deep inside told me to go. I did, and it changed my life forever. I received so much, and ultimately met my husband because of it! It goes back to that moment when I chose to either go or not.
I think of that moment in 2020, when my husband's job in Texas closed due to Covid. We pursued a few things, but they didn't seem to lead anywhere. We lived out of our savings, but that was a short-term solution. Then, a friend from the ministry we currently serve in told us about an opening in Arkansas. In that moment, we had to decide if this was what we wanted to pursue or not. It seemed like a God thing, and we did it, and here we are!
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Our first prayer card upon taking this position |
I think of that moment in 2021, when we were pursuing adoption. We had originally planned to go through a private agency, and had even been accepted into one. And then, my mother-in-law sent us an advertisement for Indian Child Welfare, with the Cherokee Nation. The ad said that if one of the spouses in a couple was part of the tribe, the couple could adopt through them (Walter is a tribal member). We had to decide if this was what we wanted to do, or if we should proceed with our original plan. We chose the Cherokee Nation, and, after mountains of paperwork and a lot of waiting, we got our Tommy. There is no doubt that this was the right decision.
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Tommy's adoption hearing, Fort Smith, Arkansas 2023. Several people who impacted his journey are pictured, including the judge, Tommy's wonderful Cherokee and DHS social workers, his amazing attorney, and the Christian foster family who had him before us, and prayed he would get a Christian adoptive family. Walter, Tommy and I are pictured of course, and Walter's parents are also in the picture. We were so happy they could make it! |
I think of the moment last spring, when I found out about an opening for a first-grade teacher at Pinnacle Classical Academy, the school we had enrolled our son in for Pre-K the fall of 2024. The hours would still allow for my CEF ministry work (and Walter would still be doing a lot of it while I did the school as well). I had to decide if I wanted to step up and do this. Also, within this decision, I had to decide if I wanted to teach first grade or fourth (there were openings for both, and I actually interviewed and demonstrated teaching for both positions). God clearly led and opened the door for me to teach first grade. I have been so blessed by getting to be at Tommy's school and see him throughout the day, and also share the Gospel with my students (seeing several come to Christ this year).
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My first grade class on school spirit day last fall (which is why there is a lot of blue and yellow clothing--the school colors--and one child is dressed as an owl--the mascot!). |
I'm sure you have moments in your life that were pivotal. If you had Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine, you could probably go back and undo those moments, and risk your present life as you know it. I'm glad we don't have that opportunity! But we do have the present, and the chance to choose, and then see the results. We can know how differently life would be if we had chosen differently. Moments matter. Our choices matter. Life matters.
Looking at how crucial those pivotal moments are (and the way Back to the Future illustrates how fragile they are, and how much hangs on them), we need to value the gifts of life and choice we've been given. We need to make the right choices in those important moments. Scripture attests to this. Ephesians 5:17 says, Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. (NLT). God is the one guiding our decisions, and we need to seek Him. Isiah 30:21 says, And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. We need to be following God's leading in our lives, in the big things (like where to move, whom to marry, etc.) and the seemingly small (which Bible study to join, etc.) because those life-changing moments can happen anywhere, anytime. Following God's will for our lives is vital, but there's something even more to it that than that.
Unlike in Back to the Future, we can't screw up history, because there is Someone holding it together who is stronger than our right and wrong choices. We need to make the right choices, but sometimes we don't. God is bigger than our choices. He is Sovereign, and He often works in spite of us. Isaiah 46:10 says, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ This verse is such a comfort to me. Ultimately, God's will is accomplished. We might suffer from our wrong choices. Think of Jonah. in the Old Testament. He could have avoided the whole big fish experience if he had simply obeyed in the first place. In Jonah's story, God gave him another chance to obey the original calling, but we aren't always afforded that. God's will is still accomplished, but we miss out. My pastor in high school used to tell the story about how he was attending a funeral, and he felt compelled to stand up and share the Gospel with those present. He felt awkward and didn't really want do to do it, and talked himself out of it. In that moment, another Christian there stood up and shared the Gospel instead. God's message went out, but my pastor missed out on the blessing of obedience.
Romans 8:28 is my very favorite scripture, and this verse tells us that with God, all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purposes. We can get into some theological quagmires by asking, "Is sin God's perfect will? If so, did someone's sin against me ruin God's perfect will for my life?" God's counsels stand--that has been established. Sin is never God's perfect will, but God can turn it around and use it for His will, for His glory in our lives. Nothing can come into your life without passing through the hand of God. Will you let Him turn your trials into His success stories?
I knew a couple who got divorced when I was growing up. Everyone who knew them said that they should never have gotten married to begin with. That got my eleven-year-old mind to thinking. If they shouldn't have gotten married in the first place, did that mean that God never planned to create their kids, both of whom were believers? Were they a mistake? My answer to that now is a resounding NO, they were NOT a MISTAKE, and YES, God planned to create them. He chose them in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:5). We can't always reconcile things like an ungodly marriage with God's will to create a person, but no person ever created was outside of God's will for creation.
Back to the Future remains one of my favorite trilogy of movies, and we will probably watch it every New Years for the rest of our lives. It is very thought-provoking about the importance of little but life-changing moments. But unlike Marty McFly and Doc Brown, we are not carrying the weight of history alone, and that is an assurance!
*Changes between the movie and musical! This list may not be complete. Some are my own observations, but I also looked online at other reviews for some I may have missed. Incidentally, there are some I caught that no one else seemed to mention.
1) Doc Brown doesn't have a dog in the musical, whereas in the movies, he has Einstein in 1985, and Copernicus in 1955.
2) Doc has an invention to leave Marty voice messages in his house, seen in the opening seen of the musical. No such device is in the movie.
3) In the musical, Principal Strickland is the judge when Marty's band tries out near the beginning (and rejects them), whereas in the movie, it is Huey Lewis. In the musical, Jennifer has an uncle Huey who will come hear Marty peform the next day, so the character is still there.
4) Without the dog Einstein in the musical, Doc Brown is now the first time traveler.
5) In the movie, Doc Brown is shot by Libyan terrorists, and Marty has to change history to save him. In the musical, this death is caused by radiation poisoning (in both movie and musical, the death is circumvented by Marty's warning in 1955, which Doc initially rejects but decides to accept, and he takes the needed precautions).
6) The DeLorean time machine is voice activated and only works for Doc in the musical.
7) When Marty first gets to 1955, in the movie, he meets Old Man Peabody and his family, who mistake him for an alien. In the musical, he doesn't meet them, and leaves the DeLorean in the barn.
8) In the musical, Marty doesn't trick his father George by pretending to be Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan, the way he does in the movie. He doesn't have the radiation suit he does in the movie, so this eliminates this scene (as well as Old Man Peabody thinking he's an alien, as stated above). Since Marty doesn't play this trick on George, we can surmise that George's later successful science fiction book is not based on this, as it clearly is in the movie.
9) Rather than Marty pushing George out of the way of the car, he inadvertently breaks George's fall when he falls out of the tree outside Lorraine (Marty's mother's) home. Marty is knocked out, and brought in by Lorraine's father.
10) When Doc Brown in 1955 asks Marty who the President is in 1985 and Marty tells him it's Ronald Reagan, Doc scoffs (in both the movie and musical) that an actor is president. He then asks sarcastically, "Who's the vice President--" in the movie he asks, "Jerry Lewis" but in the musical, he asks, "Daffy Duck?" In the movie, he then asks if the first lady is Jane Wyman (which is actually a mistake, because by 1955, Ronald Reagan was no longer married to Jane Wyman and was already married to Nancy Reagan). In the musical, there is no question about the first lady.
11) In the musical, Biff has two henchmen, whereas in the movie, he has three.
12) In the musical, George tries to ask Lorraine out at school instead of in the diner like in the movie (my favorite scene in the movie is "I'm your density!" in the diner, but this scene is conflated with the school cafeteria scene.
13) Resulting from the last point, Biff now chases George and Marty through the school, instead of the skateboard chase through town.
14) In the musical, the picture of Marty and his siblings (from which they slowly vanish until Marty reunites his parents) is on a projector so the audience can see it. The characters fade out before they disappear. Marty's sister Linda actually calls to him from it in one instance, pronouncing the urgency! The scene where Marty is on stage playing at the dance, and he is about to disappear, they can't actually make his hand fade away like in the movie, so they use flashy lights, until George and Lorraine kiss, and all is well for the future McFly children!
15) Biff and Lorraine's struggle is in an invisible car in the musical. A prop wasn't used, and they are simply supposed to be in a car.
16). Many characters in 1955 smoke in the musical.
17) Marty is locked in a dumpster in the musical, instead of a car like in the movie
18) Chuck Berry doesn't call his cousin as Marty plays Johnny B. Goode in the musical the way he does in the movie.
19) Goldie Wilson has more of a roll, and an AMAZING voice as well. He even helps Doc rig up the wires to the clock tower to help send Marty back to 1985.
20) In the musical, in order to prevent a time paradox when Marty tries to prevent Doc's 1985 death by warning him in 1955, Doc programs the DeLorean to go back ten minutes after he left, making it impossible for Marty to get back earlier to stop the death. However, Doc had eventually read Marty's note, and still prevented his own death, and met Marty shortly after his return to 1985.
21) There is no Lone Pine Mall, as Marty doesn't destroy Old Man Peabody's pine tree in the musical. In the movie, the Twin Pines Mall is changed to the Long Pine Mall.
22) In the new timeline in the movie, Marty's sister is getting pursued by two men, Greg and Craig. In the muical, she is on a date with a boy named Craig.
23) In light of George McFly's successful book, there is now a George McFly day in the musical.
24) In the musical, Doc Brown never references a need for Marty and Jennifer to go to 2015 to stop their future children from anything, which means there probably won't be a musical of the second movie.
25) The second movie ultimately couldn't happen with the musical, because in the second movie, the problems stem from old Biff in 2015 stealing the DeLoreon and screwing up history (which Doc and Marty spend the rest of that movie resolving). Since the DeLoreon is voice activated in the musical, Biff woudln't be able to steal it.
26) There are joking references to the 21st century in the musical, even some humorous jokes referencing Covid (Doc tells Marty that he travelled to 2020 and there was no disease!).
27) At the very end, when Doc takes Marty temporarily to the future, the date is said to be the present date (for us it was March 15, 2025).