I was at the Thursday night performance on a TDF ticket, ROW Q seat 30. While not a perfect seat it was more than fine. I missed the Rocky Graziano image above the agent’s office in one of Rocky’s many songs but that was about it.
I thought it was a magnificent production. Do all the elements come together, no, not many shows lately do that. You go to Bridges of Madison County for the score and Kelli O’Hara and still come out satisfied. You go to Rocky for a blockbuster and it delivers and not in a typical Broadway blockbuster way. There was something of a supersized off-Broadway effect going on that was very appealing to me. It all comes together in the last 20 minutes, which came off without a hitch, the audience moving to the stage and the boxing ring moving out to the audience were all theatrical equivalents of the movies cinematic effects. The close ups on screens for the between bout scenes worked perfectly. It excited me to no end and yes, accompanied by goose bumps and tears. The very final moments seem to be a work in progress I would have preferred a slower take or a beat or the pair highlighted in light as the rest of the cacophony dissolved around them but it still worked. That last 20 minutes gave you an interesting perspective, one that the film couldn't provide.
I thought the rest of the show was overwritten, yes a musical gives the authors a chance to develop back stories and internal monologues but I think they made Rocky smarter than he should be, more talkative than he needed to be and too much of a singer. Andy Karl must sing 60% of the score by himself. We have to believe he’s a big lug but a lug who must write a daily journal and has pretty good grasp of his place in the world. To me Rocky led his life re-actively.
Adrian initially appears as that shy, awkward, scared woman but quickly seems to become the equivalent of her catty girlfriends in the pet shop. While her big second act song is great, it would be even better if it was a moment where we saw her truly break the shackles.
The secondary characters do not fare well in the music department, all of the ensemble songs ,the girl friend songs and Apollo Creed songs are not very interesting. Mikey's song is ok but could have had more meat to it.
Andy Karl and Margo Seibert are wonderful and their chemistry will grow through the preview period, from the sound of last week they were all lucky to go home alive never mind work on finding their center. I believe Karl’s impact is diminished by being forced front and center to sing too much. That might be the Achilles Heel of this show, Rocky is this show’s Dolly how can you not have him sing? But song, and the development of his music line could have been used to better effect than being a given, singing as convention.
Timbers does a sensational job guiding a very conventional book musical through his off Broadway prism. One wonders what a more contemporary writing team would have done under his guidance.
The audience was delighted, I had none of the die-hard Rocky fans around me, no one was fidgety, they were an older crowd skewing towards the 50’s /60’s.
Rocky runs 2 hours and 30 minutes with intermission. It could use some pruning – my suggestion would be to trim or cut some of Rocky’s songs so when he does sing it’s more impactful.
I can see this filling the Winter Garden much the same way Mama Mia and Cats did before it, for many years.
Up In One
