Somewhere in downtown Philadelphia, a down-and-out fighter named Rocky Balboa struggles to stay on his feet. But when the chance of a lifetime comes along, he takes his best shot at becoming a champion... and his last shot at finding first love.
The iconic underdog story Rocky has inspired an innovative new stage production, brought to extraordinary life by a five-time Tony Award-winning creative team, including director Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), songwriting team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime), and book writers Thomas Meehan (The Producers) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, the Oscar-winning Best Picture).
Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising tale of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, Rocky is a visceral and heart-stopping theatrical experience for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.
The flow is also disrupted by all the new ballads, which attempt to psychologically probe Rocky and his girlfriend Adrian but end up being poorly integrated, musically weak and unintentionally ridiculous. Rocky, being an inarticulate individual, was not meant to burst into song. Hokey one-liners are also loaded into the script...While Andy Karl deserves credit for enduring so much physically as Rocky, he comes off as too clean cut to be credible in the role. As Adrian, Margo Seibert is stymied by her character being so undeveloped and makes little impression. In effect, 'Rocky' is the new 'Spider-Man,' a similarly flashy and misconceived spectacle-musical that exists mainly to showcase an elaborate fight sequence as its finale.
It's never a good sign in a stage musical when the most rousing numbers are not written by the credited songwriters, in this case Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens for their Broadway version of 'Rocky,' which opened Thursday at the Winter Garden...Stallone and Meehan are faithful to that script, and on stage the dialogue plays even weaker than on screen. The corny jokes and meet-cute lines don't land or define character; they just sit there surrounded by dead air. Flaherty and Ahrens have merely punctuated that lame dialogue with their songs - or other people's songs...The show's Rocky is a bright spot in the production. Andy Karl has been in and out of a lot of Broadway shows, often as a replacement. Unlike Stallone's performance, there's nothing sentimental about Karl's Rocky, except the dialogue he's been stuck with. He's tough, resilient and displays a real macho edge, which isn't always the easiest task for a boxer singing on stage in a big Broadway musical.
2011 | New York |
Workshop New York |
2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Alex Timbers |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Christopher Akerlind |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design | Christopher Barreca |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Peter Hylenski |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Margo Seibert |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Andy Karl |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway of Off-Broadway) | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Alex Timbers |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) | Christopher Barreca |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Christopher Akerlind |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Christopher Barreca |
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