So rumor has it that Rocky on Broadway is a big hit. Well to some. To other outlets its a confusing epic. You remember Rocky, right? Philadelphia’s ‘Italian Stallion” meat packer thug gets a shot at the World Boxing Championship and has a couple pet turtles. That’s about my memory of the 1975 film that won tons of awards and made Sylvester Stallone a hero.
Bring that to Broadway and you have yet another underdog story. The music in this ‘musical’ seems to be lacking and near show end the first few rows of audience are escorted on the stage to sit on bleachers as part of the boxing match audience…really? I suppose a gimmick like that works like a charm to some but I would be violently opposed to it if I were there.
Variety’s Marilyn Stasio calls it “a brilliant piece of staging”. “By the time the big fight comes around, the audience is all warmed up — especially those patrons sitting in the first dozen or so rows of the orchestra who are escorted from their seats and trundled up to the stage and onto bleacher seats to play their collective role as the fight crowd,” adds Stasio.
However, AP’s Mark Kennedy disagrees, calling the decision to move the audience “baffling”. “At this point, Rocky is trying to be immersive. The cost is its soul,” he writes.
They’re calling this the Father and Son show to Wicked’s mother and daughter designation. I’m calling it yet another remake in a theater business out of ideas. Oh, and apparently there is plenty of technical wizardry so be on the look out for it. Not too sure how long this will last.
