Back to the Future musical powers into Sydney

For Anton Berezin and Troy Sussman, Back to the Future is a story filled with nostalgia. Both musical theatre veterans told The AJN that they feel like they are living out their teenage dreams, performing in the musical, which is coming to Sydney at the end of the month. Berezin and Sussman grew up on the film and said they are delighted to be bringing it to the stage, especially for the younger generation.

“I saw it in New York a few years ago, and what was amazing is that the audience was filled with men and their kids,” Berezin, who plays teacher Mr Strickland, recalled when chatting to The AJN.

Sussman, who is the alternate Doc Brown in the musical, said it’s the perfect production to open conversations between children and the older generation about the latters’ childhood.

“It opens a family dynamic for children to speak to their dads and go, ‘oh, you were a teenager and you were cool’. Because that’s exactly what Marty discovers when he goes back to the 50s,” Sussman explained, saying the character suddenly sees his father for who he really is, in the most beautiful way. “It’s cross-generational. Grandparents, parents get to take the kids.”

For the kids and the kids at heart, there’s even a real DeLorean on stage, which Berezin described as “bonkers”.

“It’s not a model, it’s a real full-size DeLorean. It’s very low and hard to get into,” Sussman laughed.

The musical follows the original film story pretty much to a tee. A 1985 sci-fi comedy classic, Back to the Future follows teen Marty McFly, who accidentally travels to 1955 in a DeLorean time machine, invented by Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. Marty’s mission is to ensure his parents fall in love, or he risks erasing himself.

While there are a few minor narrative differences, fundamentally it’s exactly the same story. Berezin said that it’s also much funnier than the film.

“The film is comedy genius,” he said. “I know [the film] word for word, from beginning to end. When I first saw it on Broadway, it was a bit of a shock when suddenly the characters would break out into song in a place that in the movie, of course, they’re not singing. But as far as the core elements from the film, everything’s exactly the same. It’s just bigger and louder and the special effects are amazing; really astonishing.”

Sussman said the audience will be absolutely blown away by the visual spectacles, particularly the end of the show. Laughing that he doesn’t want to give anything away, he said, “I can’t adequately describe how audiences are going to walk out of there and have their minds blown by what happens at the end of the show. I’m blown away and I’m in it.”

Berezin described the story as a “buddy story” at heart. “It’s about friendship, the intergenerational friendship, and it’s about family bonds,” he said. “You’re so emotionally involved in the journey of Doc Brown and Marty McFly and, even George and Lorraine, and making sure that their romance happens. I think it’s a beautiful shared experience.”

Berezin said adults will happily go and see the production several times just for the nostalgia, but it’s special to introduce kids, young adults and millennials to the show.

“I think that’s going to be the magic,” he said. “It’s the same warmth and heart that the movie had but it explodes off the stage with music and magic and incredible special effects. I think a lot of people are going to be discovering this for the first time.”

For Sussman, he hopes that audiences walk away from the night laughing. When asked what he hopes audiences feel when sitting in the theatre, he said, “unadulterated joy, fascination, laughter”, saying there’s explosions, flames, rock music and guitars, and little kids are going to lose their minds.

Back to the Future: The Musical is at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre from September 26. For tickets, visit backtothefuturemusical.com.au