Breaking News: ROCKY to Close on Broadway in August- Page 3

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:35pm

And how can anyone NOT be looking forward to seeing ON THE TOWN?!?

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:39pm

Completely agreed Pal Joey, though it may a catastrophic flop, I imagine that everybody who sees it will love it, as it is a near perfect musical.

Also, 1 more thing.

It is still playing in Hamburg, which is an interesting concept that the show may become an international hit despite closing in New York. Countless movies nowadays (with PACIFIC RIM and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 coming to mind) rely almost entirely on the foreign box office, so it would be interesting to see musicals that also rely on the foreign market, especially because foreigners look for different things in a musical than in New York. I wonder in any other flop shows could find success abroad.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:40pm

"Now all the Rocky haters can lick their chops, pat themselves on the back and hoist a drink over a job well done. They can than latch on to another show they deem not worthy of Broadway that should close".

Roxy, hopefully someday you will gain the wisdom to understand that if someone didn't like a show you loved, they're not a hater, they just have a different opinion about a piece of theater. Happens every day, actually.

And even though you always talk about how many comps you get, instead of paying for the product when you can't get a comp, you're now talking about stealing it. Yes, the word is stealing. That will certainly help shows you like be more successful. It's like a person tired of the increasing price of scotch saying he will no longer buy it but instead start knocking over liquor stores.

In any event, we are all saddened by your loss. Please let us know if you will be Sitting Shiva. I'd like to stop by, express my condolences and maybe drop off a Honey Cake or some Kugel.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:43pm

"I really have to say I am getting disillusioned over one good show after another closing because a few of our "esteemed" critics gave a show a thumbs down."

I think you might be vastly overestimating the influence of a pretentious NYT critic in terms of Broadway sales. Most people who buy tickets are out of town tourists who see what looks fun or what they know (Phantom, Jersey Boys). It has very little to do with someone giving it a good review in a newspaper.

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:44pm

If people love a show and it plays for months, has an easy rush, great TDF location and primo Audience Rewards redemptions, you certainly had enough opportunities to see it on the cheap until you got sick of it.

A lot of people trashed this in previews, though, so that would seem to remove the onus from critics. Gentleman's Guide was a critic's darling, and no one went to that until it won the Tony, and Mamma Mia and Wicked were not critic's favorites and they are still there.

So, there seem to be a flaw in your thesis.

[djdan1079]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:44pm

The last 20 minutes was as spectacular and creative as anything i've seen. the first two hours was a snooze though. Ahrens and Flaherty haven't written a worthwhile score since "Ragtime".

When people ask me what I thought of Rocky, I tell them all they need to know is that there is a song called "My Nose Ain't Broken". They sing this song TWICE in the show because they feel a need to reprise a song called "My Nose Ain't Broken"

All that being said, it's always unfortunate when people lose their jobs. Best wishes to cast and crew. This seems like a really hard show to tour from a tech perspective. If they scale down the show, they lose the only watchable thing about it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:55pm

The show was about a fighter hence the nose song. Did you expect Oh What A Beautiful Morning?

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 7/15/14 at 11:57pm

"When people ask me what I thought of Rocky, I tell them all they need to know is that there is a song called "My Nose Ain't Broken". They sing this song TWICE in the show because they feel a need to reprise a song called "My Nose Ain't Broken"

If people can get past the silly title, it's actually a very poignant song. A guy looks at how crappy his life has turned out and wonders why he never caught a break, why he wasn't good enough, was never able to have any success in life like his idol and in the midst of realizing he has nothing, he consoles himself with the one thing he can still feel good about and take some pride in, that he never had his nose broken in a fight which for professional boxers is quite common. But people hear the title, laugh and don't really think about what the song is trying to say.

Updated On: 7/15/14 at 11:57 PM

[Producer2]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:00am

I hurt my eye, I hurt my ear, it hurts here, here and here….

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:12am

The show had the opportunity to be a huge campy spectacle.

You really can't treat Rocky The Musical with such a solemn angle. Those tourists could have laughed their way through the whole thing. I think that is where the business opportunity was missed.

I hope that Goonies, Gremlins, etc take this approach.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:12am

Yeah shows with songs that have "silly" titles are never any good and you should judge them only on that. Like in that one ahow where that lady sang about Jerry liking her corn.

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:16am

Mmmmm, corn...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:23am

When did I eat corn?!

[wexy]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:23am

I enjoyed it. Sometimes you can like something without thinking too deeply,

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:25am

^^^ Not according to Lord Brantley!

[Hackasaurus_Rex]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 12:34am

I agree that the hate on "My Nose Ain't Broke" is a bit harsh. Not that I think the songs in this show were always appropriate. That said, the task of writing lyrics for this show is incredibly tough and I think Rocky can very easily set up a lyricist to be ripped apart. The character is a simpleton. He is not only uneducated but corny. His jokes are dumb and his sentiments are on the level of a hallmark card. But that is what makes Rocky such a beautiful character. However writing lyrics in the voice of Rocky can cause some audience members to think that it is the lyricist who is dumb and cheesy... That is, IF it isn't handled pitch perfect... and in this case I don't think it was handled pitch perfect. I personally feel if they didn't repeat "My nose ain't broke" in every chorus but referenced a different part of his body or mind that was still in tact MAYBE that particular line wouldn't hit so hard on the ear as a "bad lyric". Who knows. It's easy to Monday morning quarterback... as this message board is a great example of. All said, I am sad to see the show fail. I do think it could do gangbusters in Vegas.

[teresa2]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 2:13am

Rocky is a really wonderful show with an amazing and extremely talented cast!! It and they deserved better. Sylvester Stallone should have promoted it more as it is his baby. He hasn't been there since it opened in March. Andy Karl also should have won the Tony. He is so much better than Neil Patrick Harris and he deserved to win. He is phenomenal in the role!!! I have seen the show 25 times and will be going even more now! And to answer an earlier post, Andy has missed only three shows.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 2:41am

Hackasaurus, I like your analysis of that lyric. It stands apart from those people who just want to poke the wounded bear.

I think it is very easy and a little lazy to ridicule a lyric out of context and divorced of its accompaniment. You could pick apart "the corn is as high as an elephant's eye" or "pretty lady in the pretty garden won't you stay", but when heard in the show's context they are fine. It is indeed very hard to write lyrics for characters who are not very eloquent, (though Yazbek's The Full Monty was triumphant in this respect).

One thing we surely have to accept with this composing team- they try to match the form to the content and do not have a generic sound, (unlike ALW for example).

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 2:53am

Shame and a very disappointing year for Stage Ents. Rocky should have opened in London after Germany, I think the show could really picked up more buzz in Londkn rather than Broadway.

To be honest as amazing as the last 20min was the rest of the show was ok at best, IMO. Weak score and just seemed to drag up until the fight.

Cats won't come over, if at all, unless the Palladium version in London extends and is a big hit. Cameron would also have to reinvest. He has granted 12weeks but any longer and he will want to get involved and probably produce the Broadway run which could take years as he is planning Miss Saigon on Broadway, the film, Barnum on tour and back...

Winter Garden will have a show for the Autumn I am sure. Finding Neverland would be a good fit I think if it's ever going to try and run on a Broadway stage

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 3:00am

"I have seen the show 25 times and will be going even more now!"

I mean, I enjoyed Rocky... but 25 times?! Do you see nothing else on Broadway? Dating a cast member?! I can't imagine seeing any show I love this many times... certainly not in a few months time.

[teresa2]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 4:36am

I have seen pretty much everything on Broadway and no i am not dating a cast member. i really enjoy the show plus it is on tdf all the time. Theater is my hobby. I have seen other shows I loved several times also and more than I have seen Rocky. Rocky isn't going to be around long enough for me to see it as many times as I saw Spring Awakening as that show lasted 2 1/2 years. I saw the Boy from Oz, Rent, Altar Boys, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Jersey Boys, Next to Normal, American Idiot and Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway numerous times. There might have been others, but these are the ones I can recall at the moment.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 7:51am

The show as it is is not tourable, it would take WEEKS to load into a theater. I can't imagine any road presenter would even consider hosting this flop for the kind of money that it would take just to get it in the door.

Scale down that Tony-winning set and you don't have much of a show anymore.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 8:35am

It's no secret that I found Rocky the Musical to be an ultra-mediocrity, the kind of inspiration-free desperate grab to milk more cash out of an existing product that I truly loathe. This was no adaptation - it was taking the screenplay as was, adding third-tier redundant songs, and throwing it on stage, masking the emptiness with sequins, projections, video screens, and a theatrical gimmick along the lines of a chandelier or helicopter - the kind of gimmick that matters more than the actual show to the mouth-breathing, mind-numbed tourists filling the theatre. Anything actually interesting in the movie was actually ironed out into a flat, easy to digest wafer of bland familiarity.

In spite of all that, I wish everyone concerned good luck in finding a better next job.

About the nose song - in theory (apart from the context of this particular story), the idea of this song isn't bad - a fighter cataloging his debits and credits. But Rocky is an inarticulate character, as Hackasaurus_Rex pointed out. So is Adrian. Their silence in the movie is worlds more profound than any trite rhymes Lynn Ahrens can bring up (“I got ten sore knuckles and a ringin’ ear. / I got a bruise over here and here and…over here”). Their characters are actually diminished, not expanded, by adding words.





Updated On: 7/16/14 at 08:35 AM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 8:55am

I am really trying to bring myself to go see this. I have been for several months but just don't think I can muster the courage to wade through it both - in part and in spite - of everything I have read by everyone. Thanks or Thanks...thank for trying to encourage me to go or thanks for saving me from suffering through it. The mixed messages seemed to have played a big part in the ultimate demise or those on the fence.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 9:09am

See it and screw the naysayers .