David Josefsberg describes meeting Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as “a lifetime achievement.” But it’s really just one of many extraordinary encounters the actor has had over his career.
Josefsberg plays Doc Brown in the touring production of the musical adaptation of “Back to the Future,” the role played in the original movie by Lloyd. He was on a tour stop in Toronto together with Lucas Hallauer, his co-star who plays Fox’s character Marty McFly.
“Michael and Christopher were doing a ComicCon event there and, afterward, Lucas and I were backstage,” Josefsberg remembers. “We got to have a little chat with them and a picture. I’m a child of the ‘80s, I was 15 when the movie came out, so I’ve seen all of their movies. They’re incredible icons and they were super, super kind.”
But in further conversation, it’s clear that interacting with icons is not unusual for Josefsberg. His wife, Liz, is an author and weight-loss coach who has worked with celebrities like Katie Couric and Jessica Simpson. Through their relationship, he found himself playing blackjack with Charles Barkley.
The retired basketball giant invited the couple to an exclusive dinner where he had a private room set up for gambling.
“When you go out to dinner, you want to go with a great chef, right?” says Josefsberg. “When you want to gamble with someone, it’s Charles Barkley.
“Matt Damon ended up being there. [Baseball star] Alex Rodriguez ended up being there. They were gambling a bit more money than me, but it was so awesome.”
Rubbing elbows with celebrities from Jennifer Hudson to author Suze Orman has become commonplace for the actor. But before he started hobnobbing with A-listers, Josefsberg spent decades building a sturdy resume of acting credits, touring in shows like “Les Miserables” and “The Who’s Tommy,” originating the role of Abraham in the off-Broadway debut of “Altar Boyz” and appearing on Broadway in shows like “Beetlejuice.”
His participation in “Back to the Future” started in the summer of 2024 when he stepped in as a replacement for the Principal Strickland character and an understudy for Doc Brown in the Broadway production. The musical adaptation had been running for a year at that point with somewhat mixed reviews; it would close in January of 2025. The reception in London has been more positive where the production is still running after more than 4 years.
Josefsberg says one of the joys of working on the tour of “Back to the Future” is the people involved. “We have Bob Gale on this production,” he says. “He created the whole thing. He’s the one who found his dad’s yearbook and wondered what it would have been like to be around his parents when they were his age.”
He credits Gale and the production’s director John Rando, a Tony Award winner for “Urinetown,” for allowing him to expand on the singular energy Christopher Lloyd brought to the movie version of Doc Brown. “You have to do the classic lines, the ‘Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!’” says Josefsberg. “But they have really allowed me to bring pieces of me to it. When you do a show hundreds of times, you need to have your own piece of joy in it.”
“We have Bob Gale on this production,” he says. “He created the whole thing. He’s the one who found his dad’s yearbook and wondered what it would have been like to be around his parents when they were his age.”
Another iconic aspect of the show is Doc Brown’s time machine, fashioned out of a DeLorean brand sedan. “My entrance is in the DeLorean,” Josefsberg says. “Even if everyone in the entire audience hated me, I would still automatically get a great rush of applause because I come in in that car.”
Regardless of what critics have said about the adaptation, the stage magic related to the DeLorean has earned universal praise. “I’m not going to give any spoilers but when Doc is up on the clock tower trying to put the wires together and Marty’s driving and trying to get the car up to 88 miles per hour, it’s really incredible how they do it,” Josefsberg says.
“When they have the interstitial music playing and it’s all coming together, I sometimes get a tear in my eye,” he says. “It absolutely brings me back to 1985.”
The Broadway in Richmond production of “Back to the Future: The Musical” runs Jan. 20-25 at the Altria Theater, 6 North Laurel St. Tickets and information at https://broadwayinrichmond.com/.
