ROCKY Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:25am

Today is the day, folks! ROCKY arrives on Broadway, celebrating OPENING NIGHT tonight at the Winter Garden! Please, post reviews here!

[Simon Damon]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:38am

I hope its a KNOCKOUT

[ARTc3]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 5:51pm

Very curious to see how this does critically. I truly enjoyed, Rocky, and wish it well. I suspect that this show might be "critic proof" though and will find an audience no matter what the reviews are. Time will tell.

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 6:07pm

How about we start with Trip Advisor - see what the peoples are thinking?
Trip Advisor 4.5 out of 5 Circles

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 6:23pm

“Worth the money!”
-Trip Advisor

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 6:23pm

When did this start previews? It feels it only started previews last week! LOL

Updated On: 3/13/14 at 06:23 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:03pm

It started previews exactly a month ago.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:07pm

I believe the opening performance has just started.

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:10pm

Kad you are right I guess. I think why it went by fast for me is that February is a short month!

[Keiichi2]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:16pm

Got the new Entertainment Weekly today in the mail, and it has their review of Rocky. They gave it a B, and generally said it was a wonderful production, which stays faithful to the indie spirit of the original film, but that the songs were largely bland, with clunky rhymes.

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:20pm

Google has a tease of the financial times review
Financial Times-4 hours ago
Rocky, Winter Garden Theatre, New York – review ... What precedes that coup is, in Broadway terms, an unexpectedly intimate affair – a well-acted, occasionally dull and sometimes ...

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:35pm

amNY is negative (1.5 stars):

"How can you not burst into laughter when Rocky optimistically sings about how, despite all his troubles, "my nose ain't broken"? Seriously, that's the lyric."

http://www.amny.com/entertainment/theater-review-rocky-1.7382894

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:44pm

uh oh....

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:14pm

NBC New York is mixed to negative:

"The music and lyrics by longtime collaborators Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (“Ragtime”) are serviceable, if humdrum. “My Nose Ain’t Broken,” used to establish Rocky’s years training in obscurity, hardly seems to warrant a reprise, yet it gets one. The two best songs in “Rocky” are those not written for the musical: Bill Conti’s spirit-lifting theme, and “Eye of the Tiger,” used in a training montage that includes those iconic museum stairs. The latter was written for “Rocky III,” but don’t be confused—the Broadway musical otherwise tracks the plot of only the first film."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/rocky-review-249431411.html

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:17pm

Financial Times is mixed (3 out of 5 stars):

"“Eye of the Tiger” joins the cacophony preceding the climactic bout between Rocky and Apollo. And it becomes apparent that the musical Rocky subscribes to the method of Mamma Mia! – the previous piece of cheese to take over this theatre, the Winter Garden, for aeons – for ensuring a hit: wallop the audience for the final 15 minutes. The fight, which includes movement by choreographers Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine, draws in the audience. By then, Andy Karl’s painstaking performance as Rocky disappears among the cheers."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f42b3c00-aaaf-11e3-9fd6-00144feab7de.html#axzz2vtK1GLQR

Updated On: 3/13/14 at 08:17 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:19pm

I'd call NBC-NY mixed. It does end on "For whatever its flaws, “Rocky” the musical wins with a knockout final scene that is, guaranteed, unlike anything you’ve seen in the theater."

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:22pm

Yah, but it's a whole lot of negative in the middle in regards to the character writing and the score.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:23pm

NBC-NY is certainly mixed-to-negative.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:26pm

NBC NY was mostly positive, and the last sentence says "It wins." YAY
So glad they loved Andy, too.

Updated On: 3/13/14 at 08:26 PM

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:29pm

An unbidden association suddenly springs uncontrollably to mind: The ensemble all dressed like Rocky recall the ensemble all dressed like Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.”
The two musicals have much in common, superficially. Both are based on an iconic brand, a money-making franchise in another medium. Both are a story about a main character that everyone considers a loser, who starts off as a shmo – as an everyday you or me — and becomes a hero….and gets the girl-next-door of their dreams. Both end in a climactic fight scene. The different theater artists adapting both thought it a good idea to translate the story using elaborate stagecraft with state-of-the art technology.
But there's a crucial difference....
Rocky Review: The Italian Stallion on Broadway

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:31pm

NBC NY was mostly positive, and the last sentence says "It wins." YAY

LOL

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:32pm

AM NY review is a joke

No nod to the actress who played Adrienne. The score being weak was expected but saying a boxer singing about his nose not being broken. What was he supposed to sing about - the situation in the Ukraine?

I swear some of these critics are dumb beyond dumb.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:34pm

but saying a boxer singing about his nose not being broken. What was he supposed to sing about - the situation in the Ukraine?

Genius!

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:35pm

"NBC NY was mostly positive, and the last sentence says "It wins." YAY

LOL"

LOL

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:36pm

NY Theater, thanks for posting that great one, too!