Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty Set for Drama League's UP CLOSE Series Tonight

ROCKY's Tony Award Winning composing team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty will join the Drama League's Up Close Series on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7:00PM at the Drama League Theatre Center (32 Avenues of the Americas). This night of industry insights will be hosted by Tony Award Nominee and Rocky director, Alex Timbers. To purchase tickets and for further information please visit www.dramaleague.org

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.

Terry Teachout from The Wall Street Journal hails Rocky as "an unpretentious slice of honest entertainment whose rock-'em-sock-'em finale will set the snobbiest of theatergoers to cheering in spite of themselves." David Cote from Time Out NY exclaims "ROCKY send us staggering into the night punch-drunk, love-struck and begging for more." Thom Geier from Entertainment Weekly says it "Delivers edge-of-your-seat thrills!" Rex Red from The Huffington Post proclaims "You go away from Rocky hugely entertained, with a song in your soul and a hope in your heart." Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune exclaims Rocky is "a massive theatrical spectacle! There will be no questions in theatergoers' minds that they have experienced the thrill of the fight." And Richard Zoglin of TIME reports Rocky "Turns an unlikely film property into a Broadway musical with both spectacle and heart."

ROCKY features an original score by the Tony Award-winning team Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once on This Island), with 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 Tony nominee Alex Timbers (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), and features choreography by Tony nominee Steven Hoggett (Once) and Kelly Devine (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), video design by Dan Scully and Pablo N. Molina, orchestrations by Stephen Trask (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and Tony award-winner Doug Besterman (The Producers) 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. Please visit ROCKYBROADWAY.com for more information. The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm.

Photo by Linda Lenzi