Rocky Previews- Page 19

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 4:51pm

Once I came down from the first preview high, I realized that it really was pretty dreadful. But I certainly got caught up in the hubbub of that first preview. Also, it was the exact "you can do it!" story I needed that night.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 4:55pm

Thank you to everyone for the consistent updates. I'd love to see the show again before opening - it's a really fun night. To describe the curtain at intermission, though, would be a spoiler! And I agree about the seating at extreme sides - I was lucky to have the inside aisle seat which was fine but at times was a teensy bit obstructed; anything closer to the wall I can imagine would have been worse.

And I am so happy I got to see the Philly Pie! My first thought upon hearing it was, "Uh huh, that's going to be cut before opening. Next!"

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 4:56pm

What's the new song like?

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 5:13pm

Was this "Philly Pie" number as bad as the shoe song from SPIDER-MAN?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 5:15pm

The act curtain simply had a countdown to the fight in days, that changed periodically through the intermission. It was just a nice little touch.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 5:23pm

Was this "Philly Pie" number as bad as the shoe song from SPIDER-MAN?

Bizarre and just plain bad as it was, "Philly Pie" looked like the opening to A CHORUS LINE compared to that shoe song. Updated On: 2/21/14 at 05:23 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 5:47pm

There's a new song now?! I would've been happier if there wasn't a song in that moment, period, aside from Raining.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 5:57pm

I really love this thread. I love the different perspectives and I love that although I am on the side of this being great fun, I appreciate many of the opinions from those who disagree. For some reason people on this thread have mostly met the challenge of composing well written reviews. Power to us!

On seating

As I wrote in my review, I lucked out and was given Orchestra Center J108 and J109. These seats were three rows back from the Golden Circle. They were without out a doubt the best seats in the house.

Golden Circle has the issues inherent in sitting onstage facing against the majority of the theater and hence the focus of the blocking. I believe they miss the announcers above them and have only one overhead monitor to see the projected images. The two larger HD screens face the house and I don't think they see them. (What is on the backside of these drops?)

Orchestra front sides have to stand, or they are looking across their row to see the action. And, still depending on your height, your view might be extremely obstructed.

From what others have written, the extreme sides are partial view.

The two rows in front of mine - directly behind Golden Circle - have to crane their neck to see the fight sequence as the boxing ring is position over the seats and is quite high. Even in the third row behind the Golden Circle, I was looking up.

For those who can afford "best seats" I highly suggest 11 - 16 row center orchestra, or slightly off the aisles on the sides. Other great seats would be the front of the mezzanine.

[Up In One]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 6:57pm

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.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 7:55pm

Apparently, that song replacing "Philly Pie" has been cut as well and been replaced with dialogue.

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 8:05pm

Damn, I wish I could share Up In One's emotional response to Rocky! I kept hoping for goosebumps or tears, but they never came...are there others here that had such a visceral, heartfelt response?

[center]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 8:29pm

20 minutes into tonight's performance, and we're on our second stop for technical difficulties!

[fallingawake]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 8:37pm

At the show tonight, the first stoppage seemed like a set got stuck. The second stop happened when one of the LCD screens showing the news clips seemed like it fell (hard and fast) into the side set. The crunch sounded expensive

Updated On: 2/21/14 at 08:37 PM

[center]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 9:26pm

Third stoppage and people are streaming out the front door.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 10:03pm

That's too bad. Either they are making changes which affect the scenery, or I just lucked out. The night I saw it, everything pretty much worked and ran smoothly.

[fallingawake]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 10:08pm

After the 3rd stop, the assistant director announced they'd been having problems with the large faux 'concrete walls' in the set. They restarted the office scene before intermission with just a desk and a chair. Just made it intermission and they announced free drinks but making it to the bar is a madhouse. Guessing we'll be having a long break with that announcement

[center]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 10:17pm

My patience was running out, so when someone in my section reported back that they were post-dating, I checked in with the house manager and got out of there. I'm going to work from the assumption that my lack of ability to get into the first act at all was a combination of my forgetting my glasses + the flow being interrupted so many times. I'll give it another whirl closer to opening.

On a positive note, I had a great ticket through TDF - middle of the orchestra house right, just off the aisle.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 10:18pm

I am curious if one of the monitors was actually broken... Please report if they appear in the second act during the final sequence.

[fallingawake]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 12:04am

I was out on the street after the show at about 11:35, no stops in the second act, which made it so much more thrilling than the first act. I had a ticket through tdf, last row of the orchestra (V21). The seat wasn't bad at all, sat on my coat through the first act and when the seat next to me was vacated during intermission, I was able to sit 'up' on the armrest between seats. Great view with the boost and the overhang only cuts off the overhead monitors during the fight. I didn't have to worry about blocking anyone behind me

In terms if the monitors, it was a flat panel screen that came into the side set in the beginning, causing the second stop. It appeared to have discoloration and blanked out before it was turned off. One the actors came out with a broom under the screen, but he was there again with broom in the locker room scene, so unsure if anything actually shattered. Those screens never came out again, so I don't know if they were supposed to or not. There were monitors only above the ring during the final fight, and I couldn't see them, so I'm unsure if those were the same screens or if there were supposed to be other screens in stage.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 12:18am

The same screens appear again twice in the second act. It seems that they may have been broken. I hope they replace them as they were cool.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 12:57am

Alright. From tonight!
My seat was in a whole little TDF section with a group of people who bought their tickets that way. We were the last 2 rows of house left, on the aisle. Not bad.

Show started with Assoc. Director telling us that with the work they had done today in rehearsals, we were the first to see a "new" version of the show.

Show started, opening number happened, followed by the locker scene, then the lockers didn't move offstage. Curtain fell, announcement made. Wait was about 10 minutes.

The show started again, in Rocky's apartment. He sang the *wonderful* song "My Nose Aint Broken," and then the scene happened with Apollo. As the SR screen descended, it zig zagged and was obviously not entering correctly. Then, the SL screen flew down in a curved motion and crashed into the side of the set. Curtain fell, announcement made, wait was about 15 minutes.

The show started again in the Pet store, and went until Rockys meeting with the man in the office. The concrete walls ran into a platform as it was moving downstage. Actors called offstage, curtain fell, announcement made. Wait was about 20 minutes.

Finally, the show started again and the first act concluded. I truly can't comment on my thoughts because it was so disjointed in terms of pacing and (my) energy due to the stops.

The second act, however, was marvelous. It went pretty well technically, with only minor problems with lights and some sets. The finale went well, but they seemed to take too long loading the audience on stage. I also wasn't aware of how much extra stuff needs to be installed in the aisles by stagehands. Was a very odd moment in the show.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. I obviously am looking forward to going back to get the full experience. Margo Siebert is a true gem, and I feel she has a long and exciting career ahead of her. Andy Karl was wonderful as well!

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 1:06am

Also got back from tonight's show and while I agree with VotePeron on the first act feeling entirely disjointed, I did not find myself caring about the second act. It was fine. It was spectacle. But that's where it ended for me. The two leads were very good, but the music they were given was so disappointing. Adrian's songs were much better than Rocky's, but it was not nearly enough to make me care.

My biggest disappointment was in the ensemble. They were entirely wasted. There could have been massive training moments with them (there were small ones) or a better song than "Small Town Celebrity" or whatever that was called. I just felt like they didn't gel as a unit - especially in voice. There was no big chorus sound or emotion.

I also felt like Apollo's song was by far the worst (worse than "My Nose Ain't Broken"). That actor may have a wonderful voice and a great stage presence, but none of that was visible or audible on stage tonight.

I know this sounds like everything was horrible. It was not horrible; it was just fine. Had it gone off without a hitch, it would've been better but still not great.

[bobs3]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 1:12am

That's what previews are for -- to work the technical kinks in a show. At a CHESS preview I saw the towers kept bumping into each other, at a preview of ANGELS IN AMERICA: PERESTROIKA the Angel's wings fell off in her first scene and she did the rest of the play without the wings.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 1:28am

Not that it really matters, but Thursday night had not a single technical glitch. I'm sure that would have been a death knell for me too. (And I'm very much with your assessment, Drama Teach.)

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 1:51am

Please, never bring up Angels in America in a Rocky thread. Not even for technical issues.