Menu
Media

"Rocky" Musical Connects In Broadway Debut With Spectacular Fight Finale

The new Broadway musical "Rocky" opened Thursday night to generally positive reviews, with most critics praising the show's exciting finale. In N.Y., Ben Brantley writes the show "at first feels like such a flat liner that you can't imagine that it could pull itself into any kind of competitive shape," and "true kinetic energy doesn't come to 'Rocky' until very late in the game." However, the climactic match between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed is "a hell of a fight, a brutally balletic coup de theatre that shakes up the joint in more ways than one" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/14). Also in N.Y., Elisabeth Vincentelli writes under the header, "'Rocky' Musical Scores An Unexpected Knockout." It "turns out that a boxing musical wasn't such a crazy notion, after all" (N.Y. POST, 3/14). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Joe Dziemianowicz gives the show three stars out of five and writes while it is "big-hearted, quick-fisted and predictable," its last 15 minutes "pack the punch of a heavyweight champ" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/14).

BIG FINISH: VARIETY's Marilyn Stasio wrote audience members come out of the show "rocking the technology." The production features "spectacular projections, sound and lighting effects." Its "scenic showpiece" is "a regulation-size boxing ring that puts the audience ringside for the big fight" and it "looks like it was worth every penny" (VARIETY.com, 3/13). In Chicago, Chris Jones writes there will be "no question in theatergoers' minds as they leave the theater that they have experienced the thrill of a fight." It is "hard to overstate the achievements of this concluding fight, which is the reason 'Rocky' has the aroma of a long-term Broadway survivor" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/14). ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's Thom Geier writes "Rocky" "delivers edge-of-your-seat thrills" (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, 3/21 issue). NBC N.Y.'s Robert Kahn writes "for whatever its flaws, 'Rocky' the musical wins with a knockout final scene that is, guaranteed, unlike anything you've seen in the theater" (NBCNEWYORK.com, 3/14). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Terry Teachout writes the musical is "very nearly as good" as the first "Rocky" movie on which it is based, "an unpretentious slice of honest entertainment whose rock-’em-sock-’em finale will set the snobbiest of theatergoers to cheering in spite of themselves." The show is "a knockdown hit" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/14). In Philadelphia, Chuck Darrow writes the show "despite a few annoying flaws ... is a rousing, feel-good spectacle obviously designed to push every button a theatergoer wants pushed" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/14).

A FIGHTER & A LOVER: The FINANCIAL TIMES' Brendan Lemon gives the show three stars out of five and writes the "main reason to see this spectacle is the stately Act Two emergence, from the proscenium into the audience, of a boxing ring." What "precedes that coup is ... a well-acted, occasionally dull and sometimes touching story of two wounded souls" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/14). USA TODAY's Elysa Gardner gives the show two-and-a-half stars out of four and writes it is "most affecting when things quiet down a little" with Rocky's "less flamboyant efforts as a man looking for love" (USA TODAY, 3/14). In DC, Peter Marks writes the last 15 minutes "are by far the show's best 15 minutes," as "what comes before is not a rush" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/14). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's David Rooney wrote the "dazzling staging of the climactic match trumps forgettable musical numbers." For a show that "on many levels is a miss," that sequence is "a thrilling knockout." If marketed successfully, Rocky "could become for boys and their dads what Wicked is to the girl contingent" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 3/13).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2014/03/14/Media/Rocky.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2014/03/14/Media/Rocky.aspx

CLOSE