Rocky the Musical in the works

[tazber]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 8:30am

The real surprise is the caliber of the the creative team.

Flaherty, Ahrens, Meehan.

This one is going to interesting to watch.




Gonna Fly Now

[once a month]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 9:10am

I was never a fan of Rocky or all his sequels, but if anything could get me interested enough to want to see it...it's this creative team. Loved so many of their musicals!

[Leia947]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 9:10am

As someone who is named "Adrienne," and yes, named after Talia Shire's character (even though hers is spelled the masculine way).... I beg. No. Please no.

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 8:59pm

Why oh why are the brilliant team of Flaherty and Ahrens wasting their talent on a property like this?

Isn't Ahrens' true gift writing lyrics for interesting strong women (Dessa Rose, Sarah or Timoune)? Why would she squander that gift on Adrian, never mind Rocky?

So sad...

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 9:11pm

The original "Rocky" is one hell of a good movie and one hell of a good story.

I just don't know if I see it as a musical. I could actually picture everything working nicely up until the boxing matches. That's where it could potentially fall apart and the tension fizzle out. Film can get up close and capture physical events in ways you can't do on a stage. I suppose if you had some clever "slo-mo" staging, and giant TV screens on either side, the fights might work.

But the story up until then could easily be musicalized, and potentially quite well (in the right hands).

The other problem I have is that everyone knows the ending already. When the movie first came out, it was a big deal not to reveal the ending. It made it really compelling. But the outcome is "old news" now. This is one of the things I hate about musicalizing overly-familiar source material. It sounds good and comfortable, because you have a reaction to it in advance ... until you're actually sitting in the audience whispering to the person next to you, "I've seen this. I know what happens already."

Updated On: 6/2/11 at 09:11 PM

Posted: 6/2/11 at 10:03pm

I agree with most of these thoughts. I would have zero interest, except for the creative team. Apparently they've been working on this for five years? I'm curious--as I try to follow Ahrens/Flaherty why I never heard of the workshops, etc. Maybe A/F just want the chance to work on a big budget, commercial musical again after so many smaller shows? Or Rocky is their all time fave movie?

There was recently that boxing play in England where they basically recreated the whole house as a boxing arena... But not sure you could do that for this and keep the non fight scenes interesting.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/2/11 at 10:08pm

Stallone could play the part of Rocky's trainer now.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 1:52am

I'm only partly interested because of Ahrens and Flaherty. Even their shows with troubled books have a solid score. I think the story has potential to sing if they find a creative way to get around the boxing matches.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 1:55am

Ahrens and Flaherty is an interesting choice. One thing I love about them is that they can make every single score sound different. But this is one piece that I really can't predict what they will make it sound like.

This sounds like something more along the lines of Bono or something. Not saying I want him to do this music, but when you say Rocky The Musical, I just imagine musical a little more gritty and edgy.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:05am

"There was recently that boxing play in England where they basically recreated the whole house as a boxing arena... But not sure you could do that for this and keep the non fight scenes interesting."


And the non-fight scenes are what will drive the whole thing. It's really a small story with only a few characters until you get to the fight stuff. His one-on-one scenes with Adrian, their romance, Mickey, etc., almost feel like a play anyway. I hope they don't lose that trying to make it "big" and showy. It's the intimacy of those scenes in the film that give it power and make the fights worth watching. I'm sure they know that ... I hope ...

And as far as a rock-and-roll sound or making it "edgy" etc., I can only imagine music like that during the fights. The earlier small scenes would drown in it. And Rocky and Adrian are anything but "edgy" early on. They're both misfits. The tricky part is going to be the lyrics. Rocky talks a lot, but he's not too bright. Adiran talks very little, but when she says something, it has a lot of power, even if it's said simply. That will have to be reflected in the songwriting, or you'll lose the uniqueness of their characters.

[Idiot]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:17am

My position that any story can be musicalized is being brutally tested these days.

Can and should are two different things, I suppose.

[HistoryBoy2]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 5:48am

Dunna-dunna-dun-da-dun-da-dun-dun-duuuuuuun