Rocky, a future after broadway?

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 8/8/14 at 2:34am

Does anyone know if there are plans for anymore productions after broadway closes? It strikes me as something that could be well suited to Vegas for example.

Just got round to seeing the Tony awards performance and it looks good but ill miss out on seeing it

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 8:02pm

The first musical to have sequels?

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 12:11pm

Forgetting Annie Warbucks?

I would be surprised if this show doesn't announce a tour for 15-16. Updated On: 8/11/14 at 12:11 PM

[evic]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 1:43pm

Only if they do a cut down version with just the last 20 minutes......everything preceding it was junk-especially the score.

[dreaming]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 1:52pm

How about a shortened Vegas production? (I'm serious-this seems like the kind of thing that would run out there.)

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 5:51pm

Rocky is a perfect Vegas show for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Las Vegas is a huge fight town and many championship fights actually take place there. And Vegas could afford to build the show in for an extended run, hopefully with the same bells and whistles (e.g. the moveable stage) as at the Winter Garden.

I think that for the same reasons, Rocky is not a show that could tour successfully form an economic perspective. Way to costly to load in and load out, to say nothing about actually staging it. And if they are not going to recreate those last 20 minutes, why bother?

[James885]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 6:01pm

It does seem like a show that might do well Vegas. But like RaisedOnMusicals said: if it tours they would have to ditch the boxing ring effect, and since the vast majority of the reviews both here and elsewhere state that the last 20 minutes are the highlight of the show, if they're not gonna recreate that moment on tour it becomes pretty pointless.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 8:33am

I don't know anything about this specific production, but there is no way that any producer would mount a show like Rocky on Broadway without having figured out how they would tour it. I'm sure some sort of flexible, transportable boxing-ring design was approved long ago.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 10:43am

Have you seen the shows in Vegas? They're non-stop flash from start to finish. I don't see a Vegas audience sitting still during all those ballads when there are slot machines to play and booze to guzzle. Maybe they can put back "Philly Pie."

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 10:46am

"I don't see a Vegas audience sitting still during all those ballads when there are slot machines to play and booze to guzzle."

The people you are describing exist, but by no means are the only people who go to Vegas. Otherwise, why are most of the shows packed, with some shows like Cirque du Soleil "O" still needing people to book tickets in advance to even see it?

[newintown]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 10:48am

I think that was LucyEth's point - Vegas audiences embrace either mega-stars like Celine Dion, or text-irrelevant spectacles like Cirque. The book and score for Rocky would bore them, and there isn't sufficient spectacle to lure them away from the machines.

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 10:53am

How do they sit through Phantom? Jersey Boys? Rock of Ages? Million Dollar Quartet? All of those are playing in Vegas...

[newintown]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 11:16am

Phantom - lots of spectacle, mostly meaningless text, shortened run time (yes?), now closed
Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages, Million Dollar Quartet - all essentially concerts of famous music with a bit of dialogue thrown in.

I don't think Rocky is a comparable animal to those shows; it's mostly text and new (second-rate) songs, with a few familiar numbers and lite-spectacle. I would compare it to Ghost, rather than the shows you list.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 12:15pm

haterobics: As others have pointed out, you keep proving my point. And comparing "Rocky" to Cirque de Soleil, IMHO, is absurd. Cirque de Snooze perhaps.

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 1:12pm

I'm not sure where I ever compared Rocky to Cirque. I never said anything about Rocky. There are enough quiet moments in any Cirque show where everyone is capable of sitting still without getting antsy, and my point was that despite those moments that are not "non-stop flash" the Vegas audience is selling out some of these shows in advance. I was mainly writing about Vegas, not Rocky.

[beensince1987]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 1:31pm

Does the ring have to come out to the audience in the end? I can see the show touring without that effect.How the show itself is a totally different matter...

[musikman]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 8:49pm

As I stated in the thread about Ricky touring a while back, the producers/general managers/booking agents for the show made it very clear during the spring road conference that they will do anything to get the show out on tour. They did not specify what they'd be doing with the set, but acknowledged that in most cases, it wouldn't come out into the audience. That, or they would do a limited version of what's happening in the last 20 minutes over at the Winter Garden.

All that being said, the road presenters will have to see if they find the show to be economically viable in their respective markets in order for the tour to even have a chance. That will remain to be seen.