SEE or SKIP: Rocky
SEE because:
The sheer, massive design of the show (by Chris Barreca and lighting designer Christopher Akerlind) is sensational. Not just the logistics involved in pushing a giant, raised ring into the orchestra section at the finale but the depth of field and use of space throughout the production. Yes, as other critics have carped, the audience applauds when flanks of beef descend for scenes set in the butcher shop. However, I’m convinced the ovation arises not just from the crowd anticipating a bit of nostalgia from the movie, but because the spacious image is so potent coming after the railyard greys and blacks of the Philadelphia street scenes and the squalor of Rocky’s apartment.
The first act really moves, and, once the orchestra quiets down a bit, the supporting characters are set up vividly.
Andy Karl is a hunky, likable Rocky Balboa with a rich speaking voice. He doesn’t come off like a smart actor playing dumb; he simply makes Rocky a well-meaning, uneducated guy from the streets who’s been pummeled by bad breaks.
Do we want to see more of Terence Archie (as Apollo Creed) because he’s so natural in the role or because the part is underwritten and would be contribute drama to the second act if he and Rocky had a more direct feud? Okay, both.
I don’t ever recall seeing a fish store in a play before – another cool set piece by Barreca.
“My Nose ain’t Broken”, a song for Rocky early in the first act, does just what that sort of character-defining number is supposed to do, and in a tuneful, gently amusing way.
The climactic fight scene looks incredibly authentic – and I was sitting very close to the action. So close, in fact, that a shpritz of fake blood hit me in the forehead. I don’t particularly like that sort of thing, but if you’re into theater visceral…
Spoiler Alert (if you’ve never seen the movie): although the story comes on like a fairy tale, Rocky doesn’t win the final fight. The point is that winning isn’t the point – and that’s touchingly handled, even amidst the clamor of the final moments.
SKIP because:
Although audiences seem to like and expect the running and training scenes, they have the feel of filler - just a lot of loud music, projections and (inevitable) Philadelphia stairs. Taking up a chunk of the second act, it’s when the live show feels most slavishly beholden to the movie.
Rocky’s relationship with Adrian’s brother, Paulie, is so all over the map, we don’t know whether to root for him or hope he’ll get committed. That ambiguity fine, except it’s wrapped up too neatly at the finale (“oh, sorry I was drunk, but I made you a robe”).
In early scenes, Adrian is played not just as a wallflower but as a pathologically introverted kin to, say, Laura Wingfield. As such, her instant transformation to normal, pretty, sexual and outspoken just feels borderline silly.
In big numbers and throughout the opening and closing boxing scenes, the music is so loud, the dialogue, though also blaringly amplified, can be hard to make out. (Happily, most scenes until the climax have more tolerably balanced decibels.)
“Rocky” opens with a fight scene set in a ring that’s on the regular stage of the Winter Garden Theater. The show then closes with the big battle, wherein the ring is pulled across the first eight rows of the center orchestra, forcing that portion of the audience to move and be re-seated on risers on the stage. Meanwhile, stagehands are busy setting up pulleys and casters and other implements that allow the boxing ring to travel forward over the empty seats. It’s all incredibly impressive, and there’s no denying the power of the climactic match. And yet…and yet…did the show’s producers/creators really have to spend all that money and energy on a scene that, if properly set up by the story, might have worked just as well on a simple ring onstage? (Something to ponder: if this creative team ever stages “Phantom of the Opera”, will they clear out part of the orchestra so the chandelier can literally crash to the floor?)
As mentioned above, the Rocky vs. Apollo Creed dynamic could be much more strongly defined. For example, Mickey (Rocky’s trainer) warns the lug not to do any TV spots or interviews so that his moves come as a surprise to Creed in the ring. However, Paulie quickly gets Rocky on television from the meat locker, causing Creed’s handlers to warn the undefeated champ to watch out for the challenger (or, at least I think that’s what they say; the music mix was too loud and the stage too busy for me to clearly make it out). Anyway, a back-and-forth juxtaposition of each pugilist learning the other’s strengths and weaknesses could have made the weak second act so much stronger leading up to the big fight. Since we know Rocky Balboa will fight (duh!), act two should spend much less time on his self-doubt and more on both boxers’ strategies.
FINAL CALL: SEE because:
The first act moves fast and involves you in the characters, and the last fifteen minutes absolutely feel like a heavyweight bout. The scope of the visual presentation is amazing almost to a fault, but still amazing or, should I say, a knockout.
