‘Rocky’ Musical Is Heading to Broadway

Morris Mac Matzen A scene from “Rocky the Musical” in Germany.

The new stage musical “Rocky,” an adaptation of the Oscar-winning film about a streetwise boxer from Philadelphia, is coming to Broadway next year, with preview performances set to begin in February at the Winter Garden Theater, the lead producers announced on Sunday.

The show - conceived by Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and starred in the original “Rocky” - had its world premiere opening in Hamburg in November and received positive reviews from German theater critics for its gritty realism and inventively staged boxing sequences. That production cost about $20 million, a sum that included years of development expenses; the Broadway version is expected to cost about $15 million, according to Bill Taylor of Stage Entertainment USA, which is producing “Rocky” on Broadway with Mr. Stallone.

Mr. Taylor denied a New York Post report that the Broadway production could cost nearly $30 million, which would have made “Rocky” one of the most expensive musicals in history.

“Because we’ve done the show in Hamburg, we’re not doing an out-of-town run in the U.S., and the creation and design of ‘Rocky’ are already done,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll come in under $15 million.”

Mr. Taylor said that no actors had been chosen for Rocky, Adrian, Apollo Creed or other characters in the musical, which generally follows the plot of the first “Rocky” movie. Asked if the show’s director, Alex Timbers, might choose Benjamin Walker - the star of Mr. Timbers’s earlier Broadway musical, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” - to play Rocky, Mr. Taylor repeated that the casting process had yet to begin.

“The title has very high recognition, so I’m sure tourists will want to see it, but we wouldn’t bring it to New York if we didn’t think it would appeal to traditional theatergoers,” said Mr. Taylor, chief executive officer and producer of Stage Entertainment USA. “I’m aware that ‘Rocky’ might be perceived as an odd choice for a musical, and there will be some raised eyebrows, but I think what people see will not be what they are expecting.”

The Broadway production is expected to be fairly similar to the one in Hamburg, Mr. Taylor said, including the finale - Rocky’s climatic fight against Apollo in a regulation-size boxing ring - and the use of music from the movies, like Bill Conti’s theme music and “Eye of the Tiger.”

“Rocky” has an original score, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Tony Award winners for “Ragtime”); a book by Thomas Meehan (a Tony winner for “Annie,” “The Producers” and “Hairspray”); and direction by Mr. Timbers, whose latest show is the critically acclaimed musical “Here Lies Love” at the Public Theater. The choreographer for “Rocky” is Kelly Devine, while the fight choreography is by Steven Hoggett (“Once,” “Black Watch”).

The current tenant of the Winter Garden, the long-running musical “Mamma Mia!,” is moving later this year to another Broadway house, the Broadhurst, making way for “Rocky.”