First Preview of ROCKY THE MUSICAL TONIGHT (SPOILERS)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 2:03am

ROCKY THE MUSICAL? I think this is a bit of an oxymoron....this LEGENDARY movie is not and does not work as a musical. Number one, you can't have another actor play Rocky...Sylvester Stallone IS Rocky...ps he made an appearance at the end of the show tonight and spoke a few kind inspirational words. Andy Karl really does his best to put his own spin on it, but he cant win really, not his fault.

Number two, the story is cinematic and doesn't lend itself to a stagecraft. Alex Timbers (a theatrical genius in my opinion) tries his best to throw every THEATRICAL bell and whistle at the production. but it just comes across as cheesy musical theater...not his fault. The Eye of the Tiger montage seems silly....dozens of actors dressed in hoodies to hide their true identities pretending to jog really fast on slow moving conveyer belts, a gigantic stairway appearing before a tired Rocky (he eventually climbs it to button a song and wisely doesn't shout out the name Adrian to cut even more cheesy moments). They take right from Spiderman the musical at one point and do a hoodie boxing move dance....all 12 of them at once creating patterns all across the stage with jabs.

The set is MAMMOTH to put it lightly....too literal to be theatrical. Huge stone walls with graffiti, sports jumbotron screens and boxing lighting rigs fly in out out within seconds. The projections don't really work and the ring becomes the star of the show considering there is no tension....we know he loses. GREAT IDEA by Timbers....especially if you know his work....the first four rows become the audience going into the match, literally marching onstage and sitting in bleachers. a ring is lowered in from the ceiling...in earlier scenes it comes down about half way to create levels and even at one point has a flashback taking place as Rocky sings about his past at the front of the stage. The ring attached to the bleachers literally extends over the the first three rows and the theater is transformed into the boxing match between Rocky and Apollo Creed....nice tough, but again, the ring becomes the star....not the match. Wisely there is no singing by Rocky during that match.

Ahrens and Flaherty are MASTERS OF THE MUSICAL THEATER SCORE....but here they are reduced to a few pop licks...out of their element, Rocky sings songs like AT LEAST MY NOSE ISN"T BROKEN..his opening song about how things in his life could be worse, hashtag bad hook. Adrian has the best songs because of course they are most character driven and broadway belted ballads..pretty. A song confronting her drunkard brother about how he ruined her childhood with his antics is the best song in the show and gets a 25 second applause. Apollo Creed gets the soul numbers of course. His riffing really ruins the eye of tiger montage, the arrangement is unappealing...they do nothing for the show or the plot and its unclear how in the world he knows about Rocky...a nobody who boxes only in local dives. Complete with dancing soul groupies in 70's silk pant suits they Apollos are the worst in the show. The rest of the chorus is dressed in Matrix-esque black trench coats as if to blend into the nooks and crannies of the massive stone set...they unfortunately never harkens the 1970's. The Coach sings a character song about his days as a fighter that almost killed him.....very in Ahrens and Flaherty style but doesn't really fit with the style and pace of the piece. Adrian's boss at the pet store is way too put together and classy for anyone to believe she hangs out with two low life prostitute like girl friends who literally writhe around like they are in heat the whole time or that she would date or even look at Adrian's drunk brother. Rocky's songs are mostly subtle and when they get flashy he sounds like Bruce Springsteen...they wisely don't make him sing much....his songs do nothing for the plot, just put you in his emotional frame of mind....they do have a journey at least, thank goodness. Bottom line, these characters don't sing and Ahrens and Flaherty are too enduring of a writing team for this....all they are trying to do is not make this show camp...they succeed, but the tone is really inconsistent....is this a boxing show that takes place in the 70's or a traditional musical theater score complete with character songs and dare I say jazz hands.

Thomas Meehan, another legend in the theater gets almost no laughs in the book...his major through line joke about how Rocky's locker was given to someone else by his coach that didn't respect him. Sections are literally lifted from the film (Stallone is credited as a book writer) those scenes do not have an ounce of theatricality in them and feel... cinematic.

They really do try to make this a musical, they don't succeed, but it is not because there isn't talent involved. Some movies are JUST NOT MUSICALS....this is one of them. That being said the cast and crew are working HARD UP THERE!!!! For fans of the movie or a tourist who really does love big splash.....this is for you

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 2:05am

Number three, THERE IS ANOTHER THREAD ABOUT THIS AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO START A NEW ONE!

Updated On: 2/14/14 at 02:05 AM

[Unknown User]

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

chill man its not that serious just a post about thoughts

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 2:46am

You can add your chillin' thoughts on the existing thread.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 2:57am

naw i like being on my own. don't like the negativity on yours

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 3:03am

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 4:06am

get a life man, for real, one with actual friends

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 4:15am

Shut up. Judge Judy IS real.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 9:03am

and so is your mental illness...get the help you need pal. And if you don't have anything to say about Rocky the Musical go bug another mentally ill broadway nut...leave us fans alone

[JRybka]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 9:05am

I love how a reviewer has all this critical dribble ON THE FIRST PREVIEW. I mean it's not like it was opening night.

[Goldenboy2]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 9:10am

Your review is totally wrong and obviously you're a hater. The preview last night was unreal and I'm so glad I got to see it. People run and don't walk to see this show. So moving and the music and performances were a knockout! ROCKY ROCKY ROCKY!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 9:29am

"don't like the negativity on yours"

The ironing is delicious.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 10:34am

The set is too literal? Is this a Cirque du Soleil production? Otherwise, a character running up stairs that look like stairs and having a fight in what looks like a boxing ring seem apropos.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 12:35pm

I didn't think the set was too literal. After all, they used a Roman Coliseum design for the final boxing match, used an Upton Sinclair 1900 era Midwestern meatpacking plant for the famous meat punching scene so the show could simultaneously explore the inhumane treatment of livestock and when Rocky took Adrian ice skating, they had them dodging actual NHL players from the Flyers and the Rangers who were playing a scrimmage on the ice at the same time. That's not too literal. And when Rocky did the mime thing trying to get out of the imaginary box and walking against the wind to show how frustrated he was with his lack of career growth and they had those little red boxes descending from the ceiling, I thought it was brilliant. Of course when Rocky was carrying the spit bucket in the gym and it overflowed, having Gallagher come out to splash the first two rows with water was a little over the top. I hope they give those folks ponchos to wear for future shows, I know they've discussed this.

I would also like to ask the OP to expand on his thoughts a bit. It's still not clear whether or not he liked the show.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/14/14 at 4:32pm

"Sections are literally lifted from the film "

Wow, that must be something to see? *literally lifted*? I'm not even sure what this would look like, but you have me curious.