Broadway’s ‘Back To The Future’ Announces January Closing

The Broadway stage musical adaptation of Back To The Future will play its final performance on Sunday, January 5, producers announced today, bringing an end to its 18-month run at the Winter Garden Theatre.

When it closes, the musical will have performed more than 500 shows at the Winter Garden and, according to producers, sold $80 million in ticket sales. Producers have not announced a recoupment.

In recent months, attendance and sales have been slipping. Last week, the show took in $896,423 in weekly grosses, down considerably from the $1 million-plus figures from as recently as this past summer. Attendance last week was 86% of the venue’s capacity, while more recent Broadway arrivals – Cabaret, Sunset Blvd., Tammy Faye, The Outsiders – and even some longer-running shows like & Juliet, Aladdin, Hadestown and others – were in the 90% or more territory.

Directed by John Rando, the Broadway production, which opened on August 3, 2023, stars Casey Likes, Roger Bart, Evan Alexander Smith, Liana Hunt, Jelani Remy and Nathaniel Hackmann.

The musical currently is in its fourth year in London’s West End, and four productions in major markets are planned for the next 18 months including Germany and Japan. Producers recently announced an eight-year deal with Royal Caribbean to play the musical in its full physical form on Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas cruise ship.

In a statement, lead producer Colin Ingram said, “With nearly 40 percent of our audience never having seen a production on Broadway before, I’m proud that at a time when theatre is viewed by so many as being inaccessible that this show was able to bring in a new audience and it is my hope that this legacy endures and these people return to see another Broadway show in the future. We are having the same success across the North American Tour where the show has already been seen by half a million people – many also new to the theatre. We look forward to welcoming fans to the theatre with four new productions opening next year including Japan and Germany as they join our two existing productions in London’s West End (now in its 4th year) and the North American Tour.”

Produced by Ingram, together with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, Back To The Future has a book by Bob Gale, new music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and 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 film score for the series.

Casting for the German production will be announced shortly.