Dreaming of the Future: Back to the Future is a Dream that Keeps Coming True, But It Always Takes Time

At a glance

• Bob Gale conceived Back to the Future in 1980, co-writing the screenplay with Robert Zemeckis after years of rejection.
• The movie overcame 40 rejections to become the number one box office hit of 1985 and a lasting cultural classic.
• Gale and Zemeckis later adapted the story into a Broadway musical with composer Alan Silvestri and songwriter Glen Ballard.
• The musical faced skepticism and nearly 20 years of development due to doubts about translating the film to the stage.
• Backed by producer Colin Ingram, Back to the Future: The Musical debuted on Broadway to strong audience enthusiasm.

• Back to the Future: The Musical is playing live at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis March 3-8, 2026.

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Screenwriter Bob Gale first had the idea for Back to the Future in 1980, when he was visiting his parents. He saw a picture of his dad in a high school yearbook, and he wondered if he’d have been friends with the teenage version of his old man. Soon enough, he was working with film director Robert Zemeckis to turn that idea into a screenplay.

Bob and Bob were sure they had a winner. At first, nobody agreed. It took five years and a whopping 40 rejections for the movie to get made. Even then, no one knew if it would succeed. Eventually, however, Back to the Future became the number one box office hit of 1985. It also became the kind of movie that people love forever.

With that sterling pedigree, it might have seemed easy for Bob and Bob to turn Back to the Future into a Broadway musical, especially since the film’s composer, Alan Silvestri, partnered with the legendary songwriter Glen Ballard to compose the score. But once again, the dream was deferred. The team got rejected for all sorts of reasons, from their lack of experience in musical theater to the supposed impossibility of bringing the most magical parts of the movie to the stage.

The quartet kept pushing. In fact, the more they worked on the show, the more they believed they’d found something new in the story. Bob Gale might not have dreamed of creating a musical back in his parents’ house, but now he and his collaborators were convinced that Back to the Future could sing.

Finally, after almost 20 years of development and the support of producer Colin Ingram, their vision is on stage. And just like with the film, the audience is proving their hunch was correct. Eight times a week, the roaring crowds prove that Broadway is ready for Back to the Future.