By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
HOLLYWOOD — When he was growing up in Atlanta, acting was not in Cartreze Tucker’s field of vision. He had set his sights on becoming an anesthesiologist, a job that could afford him “a certain lifestyle.”
“I just never thought acting was a possibility,” said Tucker, who grew up a spoiled only child. “There were no performers in my family. I didn’t get into performing until I was in junior high. I kept thinking, ‘People will pay me to do this? Are you serious?”
They were very serious.
Today, Tucker, 33, is starring as Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry in the inaugural North American tour of “Back To The Future: The Musical,” currently playing at the Pantages Theater through Dec. 1, and in Costa Mesa at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.
The play is an adaptation of the acclaimed 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the first of a trilogy. The film and the play are about a skateboarding, guitar-playing teenage boy who accidentally travels into the past in a sports car that his friend, a nutty inventor, turned into a time machine. He has to help his parents unite so he and his siblings don’t get erased from history and then find a way back to 1985.
For Tucker, the show is yet another high-profile role in a high-profile play at a high-profile theater that bears witness to his rising star in musical theater.
A professional actor with two decades of legitimate theater credits under his belt, Tucker has been a part of several national tours including “The Color Purple,” “Motown: The Musical,” “HAIR,” “Jersey Boys,” “Masquerade: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” “Trav’lin: A New Musical,” “Raisin: The Musical,” “Disney’s Tarzan: A New Musical,” “Sister Act,” “Disney’s Little Mermaid” and “Miss Saigon.”
In “Back To The Future,” set in the fictional town of Hill Valley, California, is a character named Goldie Wilson (Donald Fullilove), one of only a few Black characters who, in the future, became the mayor of the town. The other was Marvin Berry, played by Harry Waters Jr. In the movie, Berry is the lead singer of Marvin Berry and the Starlighters. Marvin also happened to be the cousin of Chuck Berry.
Tucker, who plays both Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry, was a fan of the movie long before he got the roles.
“I feel like we’ve all seen the movie a million and one times,” said Tucker, who keeps a photo of loved ones on his dressing room table when he’s touring. “As a kid, it was on TV all the time.
“I’m from Georgia. Florida is a skip-and-hop away. I rode the ‘Back to the Future’ ride as a kid. The movie is fantastic. It stands the test of time. There’s a great mix of action, adventure, heart and sci-fi. It’s a dominating force. What I like best about the movie is the time travel aspect. It’s magical. It’s not of this world.”
Tucker, who attended the American Musical & Dramatic Academy, said getting into the characters of Goldie and Marvin is easy.
“It helps to like the character you’re playing,” he said. “There are no negative pretenses or biases. People can pick up on that. Goldie is uber-optimistic, grounded and ambitious. I love it when he says, ‘Just you wait and see, I will be the mayor.’
“Playing Marvin Berry is great. He is a brain. He is a bit Little Richard-esque. He’s flamboyant and a little outlandish. The best part of playing him is I get to sing “Earth Angel.” I love playing different characters. It’s so much fun. After all, it’s called a play. It’s not called a ‘serious.’”
Tucker is Goldie Wilson in the first act of the show, and he’s both Goldie and Marvin in the second act.
“That’s when it gets exciting,” Tucker said. “At one point I have to dash off stage to change costumes and come back as another character. It’s wild but I love it. I love every minute of it.”
Tucker, who has had an Aussiedoodle dog named Buckley whom he refers to as his “son” for three years, found out about the role of Goldie in the show by accident.
“I did not know this character existed in the musical,” he said. “I was singing rock n’ roll concerts throughout the country when a friend, Jacob Haren, who had seen the show in London on the West End, told me there was a part for me. I said, ‘There are Black people in this?’ He said, ‘Yes, the mayor, and he sings like you.’
“When auditions came up, I went for it. I had one initial audition and then five callbacks. It took a month and a half of auditioning. The sixth time was the charm. I found out two days before Christmas that I got it. When they told me, I lost it.”
After 19 years in the business, Tucker is still thrilled with being a working actor — even though, at times, admittedly, it can be exhausting.
“The life of an actor is very interesting,” said Tucker whose personality is as bright and engaging as his acting, singing and dancing. “The grind never stops. Even when you build your resume, it never stops. Every audition you have to prove yourself to a new round of people.
“It’s draining,” he added. “You never know when you’re going to work. It’s unpredictable and exciting. This is the one thing I’m good at and passionate about. It’s hard to describe. Acting and music has always resonated with me. I can’t put it into words. It’s something I love.”
Tucker, a triple threat, gets to sing, dance and act. He loves all three, but has a real affection for singing.
“Singing is my superpower,” he said. “I’m just getting over a cold. It’s hard to sing when you have a cold. When you have a gift and you’re unable to use it, it’s scary. When that happens, I feel like a part of me has been lost. I love to sing.”
For nearly 20 years, Tucker has been singing, acting, and dancing in various shows but he considers “Back To The Future: The Musical,” his big break.
“It’s this one,” he said. “Nothing has afforded me what this one does. This is the one. This show has afforded me to do what I’m doing across the country in a way people have never seen me do before. I get to sing the way I want to sing.
“It’s been well received. My role in this show is a princess track, which means you’re in for a little bit, you steal the show, you leave, and you come back. Make no mistake, this show is not about Goldie, it’s about Marty McFly. My career is in its prime. We are going up the hill. That’s how I feel. This show has showcased me like never before.”
Tucker encourages everyone to see the show.
“It’s literal theater magic,” he said. “There are things that people have never seen before. The projections, the music, the dancing, the DeLorean, it’s a big show. You see your money on stage. There’s no minimal anything. We are giving you a production. Plus, you get to see me stop the show 30 minutes in.”
The cast of the Pantages production includes Caden Brauch (Marty McFly), Doc Brown (Don Stephenson), Burke Swanson (George McFly), Zan Berube (Lorraine Baines), and Tucker (Goldie Wilson/Marvin Berry).
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
