Note from Blumano: The following summary is a news extract made by Blumano via The Stage, The New York Times, and The Guardian. 

How does a musical about the beloved 1985 film create the same type of magic as its predecessor, but onstage? It does it with engineering and automation technology.

In interviews with The Stage and The New York Times, the show’s set designer and production manager describe the technology used to turn the DeLorean into the musical’s star.

In The Stage, set designer Tim Hatley explains how the car is brought to life with different types of technology, including automation. He says the musical „starts with the car“ and is „all about the journey of the car“. (1) However, a lot of questions were raised when it came to the actual musical production. Despite having „budgetary and space considerations“, Hatley had a list of what he needed the car to do, and says he wanted the car to do different things like having the „wheels turn“, and the the car „light up“, and even „eject…CO2 out of the back“. (1) He also wanted actors to interact with the DeLorean by getting inside of it and dancing on top of it.

The requirements for the musical also generated different ideas of how the car would be presented on stage. „Should they have one car, or do they need four but leave the audience thinking it was one? Should they build just the front, the side or the back of it?“. (1) According to Hatley, this discussion was key and in the end the production built just one car „from scratch in London, with advice of engineers in the Netherlands, after studying the real model and taking a 3D scan to get the details right“. (1)

The car does everything they want it to do and „inside is absolutely crammed with technology“. „Under the bonnet and in the back there isn’t an inch to spare – with lighting, CO2 effects and all the mechanisms to make it move“. (1)

In an interview with The New York Times, production manager, Simon Marlow adds that developing the DeLorean for the stage was ‚a yearlong process“ which presented them with „two challenges: to achieve the impression of movement and speed on the cramped stage of a theater, and to make sure every detail of the car onstage matched the DeLorean in the movie“. (2) Once the production made their own model, „the show’s team had to ‚pack it with engineering'“ and included a „device that allows it to spin on its axis (so it looks like it’s doing stunts) and pneumatic equipment that lets it tilt in the air (when it crashes into a farmer’s barn)“. He also explains they pushed „the technology to the limit“ and says that about 20 people worked on „developing the production’s car and associated visual effects“. (2)

According The Guardian, the „DeLorean revs, races, lifts off, and gives almost as much backchat to Marty as Knight Rider’s sassy Kitt“ and despite the show’s „mishmash of originality and imitation, the DeLorean“ remains „its biggest star“. (3) The review also says „the DeLorean is defying the laws of theatre“ with the effect „created through a plethora of screens, graphic projections and a firework of illuminations“. (3)

Overall, it can be noted the DeLorean steals the show!

 

[1 – Nick Clark/The Stage – original article]
[2 – Alex Marshal/The New York Times – original article]
[3 – Arifa Akbar/The Guardian – original article]

[Pictures – Sean Ebsworth Barnes/The Stage/The New York TImes/The Guardian]