Broadway's ROCKY Begins Previews Tonight

ROCKY begins previews tonight, February 11, and officially opens on March 13 at Broadway's historic Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway, New York, NY).

ROCKY brings to life the iconic and inspiring story of struggling small time Philly boxer, Rocky Balboa, who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to go the distance against heavyweight champ Apollo Creed. Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising story of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, Rocky is a heart-stopping and viscerally theatrical new musical for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.

Produced on a shoestring budget, the original 1976 film, Rocky, was shot in 28 days, and starred its young and then-unknown screenwriter, Sylvester Stallone. Like the character of boxer Rocky Balboa, Stallone had to fight the studio, which wanted more bankable stars like Ryan O'Neal or Burt Reynolds, to be cast in the role. Stallone's performance would earn him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and launch his career as one of Hollywood's biggest stars. The small underdog film went on to become an American film classic, winning the 1977 Academy Award for Best Picture, and launching one of the most successful and iconic characters in Hollywood history.

ROCKY features an original score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the celebrated Tony Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated songwriters behind Ragtime, Once on This Island, and Anastasia, and a book by multiple Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan (The Producers, Hairspray, Annie) and Sylvester Stallone, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the 1976 Oscar-winning Best Picture, Rocky.

The production is directed by Alex Timbers, the Tony-nominated director behind the acclaimed musicals Here Lies Love and Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and Peter and the Starcatcher. The musical features choreography by Steven Hoggett, who received a Tony Award nomination for his work on Once and Kelly Devine, best known for the long-running Broadway hit Rock of Ages.

The Rocky cast features Andy Karl (Rocky), Margo Seibert (Adrian), Terence Archie (Apollo Creed), Dakin Matthews (Mickey) Danny Mastrogiorgio (Paulie), Jennifer Mudge (Gloria) and ensemble members Adrian Aguilar, Eric Anderson, Michelle Aravena, James Brown III, Sam J. Cahn, Vincent Corazza, Kevin Del Aguila, Ned Eisenberg, Bradley Gibson, Stacey Todd Holt, Sasha Hutchings, David Andrew Macdonald, Vasthy Mompoint, Vince Oddo, Okieriete Onaodowan, Adam Perry, Kristin Piro, Luis Salgado, John Schiappa, Samantha Shafer, Wallace Smith, Jenny Lee Stern, Dan'yelle Williamson and Mark Zimmerman.

ROCKY features set design by Chris Barreca (Marie Christine), costume design by Tony nominee David Zinn (Picnic, Other Desert Cities), lighting design by Tony Award-winner Christopher Akerlind (Light in the Piazza), sound design by Tony nominee Peter Hylenski (Motown, Rock of Ages), orchestrations by Tony award-winner Doug Besterman (The Producers) and Stephen Trask (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) with music supervision by David Holcenberg (Matilda).

Tickets can be purchased at the Winter Garden box office (1634 Broadway), by visiting Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200. Visit ROCKYBROADWAY.com for more information. The performance schedule is as follows: Monday - Saturday at 8pm and Saturday at 2pm. Exceptions to the schedule include the following: no performances on Wednesday, February 12th and 19th; 2pm matinees on Wednesday March 5th and 12th. Starting March 18th the performances schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm.

Photo by Matthew Murphy