Rocky Previews- Page 25

[Okiekat]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 12:37am

I caught the final preview Wednesday night. I really like Andy Karl. I was hoping for a "knockout" opening number. Rocky's opening fell flat for me. Ahrens & Flaherty set the bar high with Ragtime. The audience was really into it. Rocky has the potential to reach a different audience and that's a good thing. I don't understand the applause and cheers during the egg drinking scene. Perhaps that's because I saw the movie just once and that was during its original release. I actually thought the 2nd act dragged more than the 1st. Overall, the show was mostly enjoyable.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 2:16am

I smell a hit. I largely enjoyed the show and agree with much that has been said before. Despite the flaws, this one is a true crowd pleaser. The score is not Flaherty and Arhen's at their very best but it gets the job done. Yes, the story get's off to a slack, if sincere, start, but when it kicks in... Karl is endlessly engaging, even while repeating, "Yo, Adrienne." relentlessly when three times would be plenty. The finale is stage craft at its "Look what I can do!" best, and it works like gangbusters. I wish a couple of the more intimate scenes would have been played farther downstage. But Timbers has guided the entire production with terrific imagination and conviction. It's really much better than it has any reason to be.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 3:19am

I also attended final preview this evening, and really enjoyed myself. As many here have mentioned - Andy Karl is finally getting the star turn he has been so denied in the past, and I couldn't be happier for him. Andy embodies everything that Rocky is and should be, and carries the show on his more than capable shoulders. As someone who has seen Andy in shows like 9 to 5 and Legally Blonde, getting to see him really command the stage was just fantastic.

Margo Siebert was wonderful - she really nails her second act number "I'm Done" and really does a sweet job of bringing Adrian from a shy little mouse into someone brand new. The chemistry between Margo and Andy was wonderful - you felt the sparks between them and watched it slowly build into a fire.

The supporting cast is well rounded, and the ensemble does nicely in the multitude of roles they play, but really don't get true moments to shine with the score. Most of the group numbers were pretty forgettable, with the exceptions being "Eye of the Tiger" and "Southside Celebrity".

Overall, the score isn't the best - it does have it's moments - my favorites being "Keep on Standing", "Fight From the Heart" (cheesy, yes, but felt good and Andy nailed it), as well as the Adrian/Rocky duets. It is a little odd that a team that created a score like Ragtime wasn't able to really take this to the heights that it could have, but when the score works, it works. The book is pretty straight forward and does the job, but it isn't anything to write home about. Something to write home about is the set - it reminded me a little bit of Billy Elliot in places, but damn, if they don't get the Tony for Set Design, I would cry fowl.

I was Row H off to the left side of the orchestra, so during the final scene, I ended up being a part of Rocky's cheering section. As many have mentioned here, the final scene is absolutely insane, and there is no real words to describe it. I completely agree with BeNice's comment, because it is just pure theatrical wonder.

I also loved how they keep "Eye of the Tiger" a secret by not including it the Playbill, because the minute it began, the audience was eating it up.

Overall, the show has it's flaws, but I really ended up being taken by the show.

Updated On: 3/13/14 at 03:19 AM

[Luscious]

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

How long do you think it will be before its backers make millions on this? I know someone who invested big bucks in the show.

[customsay]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 12:31pm

I give the show a year, maybe a little more, on Broadway. I'm expecting mixed reviews, pretty much along the lines of the comments posted here: "It has flaws but a big heart and lots of dazzle, It's better than I thought it would be, etc.". But the running costs have to be very high, they've been discounting heavily throughout previews, and there's not a huge advance.

I'm in the minority, I guess, in my opinion of the show, which I found troubling in key respects. As others have mentioned, ROCKY feels like a small story engulfed by a huge machine. The modest scale, simplicity and irresistible corniness and heart of the movie made it a huge hit. The movie WAS Rocky - a scrappy underdog, produced on a shoestring, written by and starring a charismatic doofus who seemed to come out of nowhere. People loved it. Here, that basic but uplifting story about two inarticulate losers finding each other and triumphing against the odds is made to conform to the bombastic, presentational style of contemporary Broadway, and technical wizardry beats the crap out of sensitive, well-crafted storytelling and character development.

I agree with those who've said the score is weak (the two interpolated compositions, EYE OF THE TIGER and Bill Conti's original ROCKY Theme, get by far the biggest reaction). It's true, Adrian's second act number, I'M DONE, gets a big hand, but was anyone else confused by that scene and Adrian's relationship to Paulie? From the Thanksgiving scene I got that Paulie's a handful, with a volatile temper and a drinking problem, but he does seem to have Adrian's best interests at heart when he pushes her to get out of the house and go on a date with Rocky. Later, when Paulie busts in on Rocky and Adrian, and he tries to drag her off with him, it didn't make sense to me. He's drunk, okay, but why is he trying to break them up? Where's the close family he wants to take her back to? And then when Adrian launches into her song, I wondered why she was attacking him so vehemently. The dynamic between them that she was singing about wasn't something I'd picked up on - that he was cruel to her or holding her back. The number was performed well; it just felt random and misplaced to me.

But if the scale of ROCKY THE MUSICAL is bloated, and the dramaturgy shaky (I could cite other characters and sequences), for me the biggest bummer was the show's extended money shot - the fight. It's true there's some nifty stagecraft going on here that to my knowledge has never been tried before, but, again, I feel it happens at the expense of the story. The action screeches to a halt while the first rows of the audience are reseated, the orchestra vamps, and the stagehands do their thing. It's a flashy, glorified (but still tedious) stage wait that shifts our focus from the story and the characters to the mechanics of creating this big event. There is something exciting and uniquely theatrical about "letting the wires show", so to speak, and asking the audience to meet you halfway to create onstage magic. But this felt like "Woo hop, sit back, relax, and check out what we can do!". It felt desperate, frankly, but I understand the motivation for going high tech. If the final boxing match had not been staged in this bell-ringing, whistle-tooting, uniquely three-dimensional way I think the show would have limped to a very tired conclusion indeed. The show needs buzz and a socko finish, and the last 15 minutes delivers. But when I left the theatre and walked by the generator they've installed on 7th Ave (the show was apparently causing outages) I felt depressed that so much time and money was being spent to provide juice to keep the lights on and the machinery moving when proportionally less care seems to have been given to the book, score, story and characters.

PS. Nothing but love for the actors who are all gifted and in there swinging.

On a side note, I feel like there's almost an Icarus-like cautionary tale to be found in the attachment of talented theatre artists to these massive, tech-heavy shows. Alex Timbers, who's done so much with so little on other projects. Julie Taymor on SPIDERMAN. Robert LePage's RING CYCLE at the Met. It's debatable how much huge budgets and fancy toys have really inspired their best work. I've written more than I meant to and keep weaving between lanes, sorry, that's enough.
Updated On: 3/13/14 at 12:31 PM

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 4:24pm

The current discounts on Broadway Box and Theatre Mania are available for performances through May 11th. Does anyone know when these are usually updated and discounts will appear for later dates (is it when May 11th hits or will they update it before that)? Going at the end of June and, since it seems a good seat is somewhat integral to enjoying this production, I want to be able to score a good seat, but am hoping I won’t have to pay full price.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:01pm

This gets a cast album about 1 week after it opens. Not bad for what one BWWer called " a turd of a show"

I guess a lot of people like this type of thing.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:02pm

Unlike all the cast recordings that were never made because of what someone on BWW said...

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:05pm

We all know many cast albums never get made mainly due to the cost. It took quite sometime to get Grand Hotel done even though it got good reviews and ran awhile.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:09pm

Only a fraction of people who like this show will still buy the CD. I mean, I enjoyed it, and might even attend again with out of town people, etc., but would I pop it on and listen to the cast recording? Hard to say... I'd have to click through the tracks and listen again.

Of course, the best time to get someone to buy the CD is walking out of the theater after seeing that fight.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:11pm

For those of us who were around when one unsophisticated poster called Rock of Ages, a show that only the "dregs of the earth" could like. The entire theater-going population, including those who act and produce fine theater, are apparently dregs of the earth.

Remember that, friends?

HAHAHAHAHA

[rj433]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:03am

I just saw it tonight with my wife (6th row right orchestra) and must admit I was disappointed, as much as I wanted to enjoy the show and as big a fan I am of the songwriting team's past work. The whole thing felt like a bit of a corporate "pander" in the manner in which it depended so entirely upon scenes, dialogue, moods and emotions lifted "whole cloth" from the original movie (down to the overly "literal"-looking sets). I understand that the presumption is that the audience wants to see the "Rocky" they knew from the movies, but this was kind of ridiculous - I felt like it was more like a "theme-park"-type attraction where they didn't dare veer at all or add anything to the original script (though I'm aware that there were a few changes here and there, as well as omissions). As far as the music, there were a few nice moments, but I was surprised at the extent to which they choose "medium pop ballads" as the style of choice (70's influenced at times to reflect the intended era), which gave them a surprising sense of pacing "sameness". Of course, they had to use the original musical themes from the movie(s) to some extent, but for some reason they struck me as more "tacked on", and quite different in sensibility from the newer fare - to me it felt like it might have been better for the new songs to have been woven more organically into the "old", classic themes, and to have captured more of the previous score's spirit (which was a fantastic movie score). I don't even know what to say about the use of "Eye of the Tiger", and the "Rocky training" scene to me failed to differentiate between the first time he climbed the steps (where he was still "out of shape"), and the climactic last time (when he bounded up the steps triumphantly, etc.) - with all the bells and whistles, both events felt too similar (IMHO)…Finally, the ending fight scene struck me as odd and a bit gimmicky (I felt embarrassed being asked to stand to the right of the ring with my orchestra-right section ), and while it would have been awkward to still break into song in the middle of a boxing match, it still felt strange how non-"musical" the entire end sequence became, and how rigidly it tried to convey simply a "live", in-person version of the movie version. Having said all of this, the crowd seemed to enjoy it, so perhaps it will still have a decent run with those hoping to see the movie come to life, with a few new songs thrown on…
Finally: did anyone else get "thrown" by how different Rocky's (beautiful and theatrical) singing voice was from his spoken? I know this is often the convention, but it particularly "took me out of it", for some reason…
My two cents -
rj





Updated On: 3/19/14 at 12:03 AM

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:08am

Trust me, the Rocky voice doesn't lend itself to song... there is overwhelming evidence.
Stallone in Rhinestone

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:16am

Finally: did anyone else get "thrown" by how different Rocky's (beautiful and theatrical) singing voice was from his spoken? I know this is often the convention, but it particularly "took me out of it", for some reason…


Nope; sounded like Andy Karl both ways to me.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 1:05am

New ad campaign!

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 1:07am

^^^ LOL

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 1:39am

LOVE the artwork! But, actually, I didn't call it "a turd of show". I called it "a gigantic turd of a show". Leave it to Roxy to get it wrong. Truth be told, "one gigantic, steaming, turd of a show", would be more precise. But that doesn't mean that others can't like it, or even love it. To each their own. One man's turd is another man's treasure. I found it to be a big, bombastic, overblown, earsplitting, gimmicky mess. Which means it will probably run for years. Glad you and the Mrs enjoyed it Roxy!

ETA: Can you do anything with "One man's turd is another man's treasure" ?

Updated On: 3/19/14 at 01:39 AM

[dented146]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 2:07am

Luscious, I can't but Chris Norris the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History probably can.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 8:42am

Finally saw this sad piece of theme park-ism, and I have to say it's a triumph of gloss over (utter lack of) substance. It makes the source material look like Citizen Kane.

I don't care if it closes tomorrow or runs for 20 years; Rocky (the musical) is a cheap and mercenary piece of meaningless pandering.

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 8:47am

Hey RJ, I've got to disagree with you about the end of the show not being musical. Maybe not in the musical komedy sense but I found it be very musical, lyrical even, with the performances .music and choreography so beautifully meshing together. I thought everyone did a beautiful job reinterpreting the film for the stage except the composer lyricist team. The songs and their placement were so literal and obvious they added nothing to the proceedings. Even if they were asked to shoe horn songs into preordained places they could have come up with something more imaginative than what they did. I found the show very entertaining and the last twenty minutes spellbinding. I can only imagine where a hungrier song writing team could have brought the evening.

Hey Lucious what shows have you really liked in the past few years - top ten.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 10:26am

Finally: did anyone else get "thrown" by how different Rocky's (beautiful and theatrical) singing voice was from his spoken? I know this is often the convention, but it particularly "took me out of it", for some reason…

No.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 11:11am

I would love stunt casting for this

I am dreaming:

Nathan Lane as Rocky
Rosie O Donnell as Adrianne

Yes I did misquote you and gigantic steaming was missing from my post Sorry

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 1:23pm

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 2:15pm

"Hey Lucious what shows have you really liked in the past few years - top ten."

Don't know why I'm doing this, but here's an alphabetical list of my most favorite shows, both new and old, musical and non, on Broadway and off. And I'm sure I'm missing a few.

A Chorus Line (original production)
Angels in America (original production)
Bent (original production)
Billy Elliot
Cabaret (1998 revival) -- looking forward to latest revival.
Caroline, or Change
Company (2006 revival)
Equus (original production)
Falsettos/Falsettoland
Follies (original production)
Grey Gardens
Hair (both original and 2009 revival)
Here Lies Love
La Cage aux Folles (original production)
Les Miserables (original production) -- looking forward to latest revival.
Miss Saigon
Movin' Out
Next to Normal
Our Town (latest off-Broadway revival)
Pippin (latest revival)
Rent (original production)
Sleep No More - single most original & thrilling theatrical experience in recent memory.
Sweeney Todd (original and 2005 revival)
The Book of Mormon - overrated, but still a lot of fun.
The Bridges of Madison County -- though not without its flaws.
The Glass Menagerie (latest revival)
The Lion King
The Normal Heart (2011 revival)
The Producers
The Who's Tommy
Torch Song Trilogy

Looking forward to Bullets Over Broadway in two weeks, and Hedwig, All The Way, Cabaret, and Mothers and Sons in coming months.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 3:16pm

Interesting list... I never heard a good word about Movin' Out, as well as having one friend who just walked out of it... I never saw it, so that was the biggest surprise on your list. I never had the chance to see it, so I didn't specifically avoid it because of the negative buzz I heard, just never saw it on anyone's faves list.