Somewhere in downtown Philadelphia, a down-and-out fighter named Rocky Balboa struggles to stay on his feet. But when the chance of a lifetime comes along, he takes his best shot at becoming a champion... and his last shot at finding first love.
The iconic underdog story Rocky has inspired an innovative new stage production, brought to extraordinary life by a five-time Tony Award-winning creative team, including director Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), songwriting team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime), and book writers Thomas Meehan (The Producers) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, the Oscar-winning Best Picture).
Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising tale of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, Rocky is a visceral and heart-stopping theatrical experience for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.
Every few years, a piece of stagecraft drops so many jaws and pops so many eyes, it becomes a Broadway insta-icon: The Phantom of the Opera's glorious falling chandelier; the awe-inspiring march of animals inThe Lion King's 'Circle of Life.' In recent years, the nonpareil has been green-skinned Elphaba levitating while hitting the high F in Wicked's 'Defying Gravity.' Add to that list the spectacular final bout in Rocky. The 20-minute closing coup (spoilers ahead) brings a section of the audience onto the stage, drops in jumbo screens, extends a boxing ring over the orchestra and puts on one hell of a fight before the bloodied guy gets the girl-bellowing her name, of course. Director Alex Timbers throws every ingredient into the pot-immersive staging, live video, slo-mo choreography, gruesomely realistic makeup-to send us staggering into the night punch-drunk, love-struck and begging for more.
The stage version, directed with immense panache and soaring physicality by Alex Timbers ('Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'), is very nearly as good [as the movie], an unpretentious slice of honest entertainment whose rock-'em-sock-'em finale will set the snobbiest of theatergoers to cheering in spite of themselves...Mr. Timbers's staging and Christopher Barreca's scenic design are the stuff Tony nominations are made of. The neon-and-graffiti mean streets of South Philly are portrayed with grim verisimilitude, but the glitz starts to fly as the climactic fight scene draws nearer, and the fight itself is a total-immersion, spare-no-expense stage spectacle. Since Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine are jointly credited with the show's choreography, I assume that they deserve much credit for the potency of this scene, which is a rich and masterly synthesis of movement, music and design. So yes, 'Rocky' is a straight-down-the-center commodity musical-but a damned fine one, maybe the best I've ever seen. A knockdown hit, in fact.
2011 | New York |
Workshop New York |
2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Alex Timbers |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Christopher Akerlind |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design | Christopher Barreca |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Peter Hylenski |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Margo Seibert |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Andy Karl |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway of Off-Broadway) | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Alex Timbers |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Rocky |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) | Christopher Barreca |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Steven Hoggett |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Kelly Devine |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Christopher Akerlind |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Christopher Barreca |
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