Cartoon ducks, time travel and Huey Lewis combine in 'Quack to the Future'

Interlochen Public Radio | By Ed Ronco

Published September 4, 2025 at 6:14 AM EDT

Actors rehearse for Mashup Rock and Roll Musical's new production of "Quack to the Future," which opens Sept. 5. From left: Rayna Archibald, Katie Wibby, Lesley Tye, Kendall Kotcher, Jill Beauchamp, Wesley Noble and Karl Hartley. (Photo provided by Mashup Rock and Roll Musical) — Actors rehearse for Mashup Rock and Roll Musical's new production of "Quack to the Future," which opens Sept. 5. From left: Rayna Archibald, Katie Wibby, Lesley Tye, Kendall Kotcher, Jill Beauchamp, Wesley Noble and Karl Hartley. *(Photo provided by Mashup Rock and Roll Musical)*

Mashup Rock and Roll Musical's new show opens Sept. 5. It will be the first show at the nonprofit theater company's new performance space in Traverse City.

Courtesy of Mashup Rock and Roll Musical

What: "Quack to the Future," a Mashup Rock and Roll Musical
When: Sept. 5, 6, 7, 12, 13
Where: The MATCH, 1728 S. Garfield Rd., Traverse City
Admission: $28, with discounts for students and seniors. Sunday 9/7 is a "pay what you can" performance
More info

"Quack to the Future" takes the story from the 1980s movie "Back to the Future" and merges it with "DuckTales," the 1980s cartoon classic starring Scrooge McDuck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Or, as the show's promotional image says: "... with Huey, Dewey, Louie and the News." As in, the music of Huey Lewis and the News.

"Huey, Dewey and Louie ... go back in time, make a mess of things and have to find their Uncle Scrooge and save the day and fix the future before they can go home," Mashup cofounder Lesley Tye explains.

Mashup started with a single show back in 2013: "How Grinchy Met The Who," a blend of the classic 1960s "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" and the music of English rock band "The Who."

Tye said the cast and crew of that first show was excited to do something nobody had done before.

"Obviously we're referencing source material, so they can kind of play with that, but they're still creating it as their own," she said. "They got so excited about it, everybody was like 'Hey, let's do this again.'"

Shows to date have included "The Sound of mUZIc," "Madonnativity" and "Scooby Doo-Wop," among others.

This one will be the first to perform in Mashup's new venue, called "The MATCH" at 1728 S. Garfield Ave., in Traverse City.

"We haven't ever had a home," Tye said. "We've rehearsed in office spaces somebody gifted us, or other theater spaces. We've rehearsed in a gym. We've rehearsed in basements. It's really wonderful to have a home."

She said the group hopes it can become a small theater venue in Traverse City that other groups can also rent and use.