STAGE TUBE: First Teaser Poster, Video & Full Creative Team Revealed for ROCKY on Broadway

Stage Entertainment USA and Sylvester Stallone have announced that the new musical, ROCKY, will come to Broadway in 2014, beginning preview performances in February and officially opening in March at Broadway's historic Winter Garden Theatre. ROCKY received its world premiere in fall 2012 in Hamburg, Germany.

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 adrenalin-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 1975 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 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture, and launching one of the most successful and iconic characters in Hollywood history.

"I couldn't be more proud or more excited about this production and how my original story of Rocky Balboa has been brought to spectacular life onstage," said Oscar-nominated Rockyscreenwriter and star Sylvester Stallone. "The story of Rocky was very much like my life at the time - starting out with nothing, having to fight for roles and recognition. So I put those feelings into the body of a boxer and I had no idea there were so many millions of people that felt the same way. Alex Timbers and the entire creative team have not only honored that original impulse, but have made his story as exciting, heart-breaking, and inspiring as it was when Rocky first went the distance on screen."

"We are very proud to be producing the new musical, ROCKY, on Broadway next spring, following its critically acclaimed world premiere in Hamburg last fall," said Stage Entertainment USA Producer Bill Taylor. "The creative team behind ROCKY includes some of Broadway's most sought after and superlative artists who together have crafted a musical that is epic and yet intimate, romantic yet muscular, much like the Academy Award-winning Best Picture that took the world by storm over thirty years ago."

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, whose critically-acclaimed work on Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and Peter and the Starcatcher propelled both of those shows from downtown to Broadway, garnering Mr. Timbers Tony Award nominations for both. The musical features choreography by Kelly Devine, best known for the long-running Broadway hit Rock of Ages, and fight choreography by Steven Hoggett, who received a Tony Award nomination for his work on Once.

ROCKY on-sale dates, performance schedule, and ticket information will be announced shortly. For more information, please visit www.ROCKYBROADWAY.com.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Stephen Flaherty writes music for theater, film, recordings and the concert stage. He is perhaps best known as the composer of the Broadway musicals Ragtime (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Grammy nominations), Seussical (Grammy and Drama Desk nominations) and Once on This Island (Tony nomination, Olivier Award for London's Best Musical). He has also contributed music to the Broadway productions of Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (original songs) and Neil Simon's Proposals (incidental music). Stephen has also written four musicals produced at Lincoln Center Theatre: The Glorious Ones(Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations), Dessa Rose (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations), A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, Drama Desk nomination) and My Favorite Year. Other theater scores include Lucky Stiff and Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (Chicago's Jefferson Award for Best New Musical). Film credits include Anastasia (Academy Award nominations for Best Musical Score and Best Song, two Golden Globe nominations for Best Song and a gold record for its soundtrack), Bartok the Magnificent (original score and songs) and the documentary, After The Storm. Concert work includes commissions from the Boston Pops, Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim Museum. Stephen's songs have been recorded/performed by a variety of artists including Aretha Franklin, Aaliyah, Richard Marx, Johnny Mathis, Betty Buckley, Renee Fleming, Bryn Terfel, Audra McDonald and Thalia.

Lynn Ahrens won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations for the score of Ragtime. Its 2009 Broadway revival garnered six Tony nominations. She wrote book and lyrics for Once On This Island (Tony nominations, Best Book and Score; Olivier Award, Best Musical); Seussical (Grammy nomination, now one of the most performed shows in America); MSG's A Christmas Carol; The Glorious Ones (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations); Dessa Rose (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations); Lucky Stiff; she wrote lyrics for My Favorite Year; Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life; and A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical). Upcoming: Book and lyrics for Little Dancer, premiering at the Kennedy Center in Fall, 2014, directed by Susan Stroman. Ms. Ahrens received two Academy Award and two Golden Globe nominations for Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature film, Anastasia. Additional film: Camp (IFC Films), After the Storm and others. She is a mainstay songwriter/singer for the famed animated series, Schoolhouse Rock (ABC-TV) and wrote the musical teleplay for A Christmas Carol (Hallmark Entertainment/NBC). She has received the Emmy Award and four Emmy nominations. Council member, Dramatists Guild of America, co-founder, Dramatists Guild Fellows. 2013 marks her thirtieth year of collaboration with Stephen Flaherty.

Thomas Meehan was represented by three shows on Broadway in fall 2012:Elf, Annie and Chaplin. Awards: 2003 Tony Award for Hairspray; 2001 Tony Award for The Producers; 1977 Tony Award for Annie. Other Broadway: IRemember Mama; Ain't Broadway Grand; Annie Warbucks; Bombay Dreams; Young Frankenstein; Cry-Baby. Screenplays: Spaceballs; To Be or Not to Be;The Producers. Opera: 1984 (world premiere at London's Royal Opera House, also performed at La Scala, in Milan). Mr. Meehan is an Emmy Award-winning writer of television comedy, a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and a long-time contributor to The New Yorker.

Sylvester Stallone has established worldwide recognition as an actor, writer and director since he played the title role in his own screenplay of Rocky, which won the Academy Award in 1976 for Best Picture. Since that seminal motion picture, Rocky grew to a franchise of five sequels and in 2006 Stallone concluded the series with Rocky Balboa, a critical and audience success which resolutely confirmed both Stallone and Rocky as iconic cultural symbols. Stallone also wrote, directed and starred in Rambo, which continued the saga of Vietnam vet John Rambo twenty five years after the debut of First Blood, as well as wrote, directed, and starred in the action thriller The Expendables. In addition to Rocky Balboa andRambo, Stallone's credits as actor/writer/director are Rocky II and Paradise Alley. As actor and co-writer, Stallone filmed F.I.S.T, First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rhinestone and Rambo III. He also co-wrote, directed and produced Staying Alive and starred in Nighthawks, Victory, Tango & Cash and Lock Up, as well as starred in Rocky V, a film co-written and directed by John Avildsen. Stallone's numerous other film credits include Cop Land, Get Carter, Driven, Avenging Angelo, Demolition Man, The Specialist, Assassins, Daylight, and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. He has been honored with the 2002 "Action Star of the Millennium Award," the 2008 Zurich Film Festival's InaugurAl Golden Icon Award, The Venice Film Festival's Glory to the Filmmaker Award, and Spike TV'S GuyCon Award. He was also the first inductee in the IGN Action Hero Hall of Fame in 2010.

Kelly Devine is an internationally recognized choreographer whose work spans the mediums of film, television and live performance. Broadway: Rock of Ages; Rock of Ages 1st National Tour, London, Australia (Helpman and Green Room Award), Toronto (Dora Award nom.), Las Vegas; Jersey Boys (Assoc. Choreographer) and Memphis (Assoc. Choreographer). Opera: Faust at the Metropolitan Opera House/London Coliseum. Off-Broadway: Rock of Ages; Fat Camp, American Theater of Actors; Frankenstein; Anne Wrecksick. La Jolla Playhouse: Peter and the Starcatcher (In association with Disney Theatricals);Zhivago (Australia; Helpman Nomination); and Private Fittings. Stratford Shakespeare Festival: Cabaret; Romeo & Juliet. Regional: Toxic Avenger (The Alley Theater); A Christmas Story (Kansas City Rep. and 5th Avenue Theatre);Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Kirk Douglas Theatre); Sneaux (L.A. Weekly Theater Award for Best Choreography); Wozzeck (San Diego Opera); The Wiz(Assoc. Choreographer). Film/Television: Dear Dumb Diary; Happy Texas; Zombie Prom; "So Little Time;" "Two of a Kind;" and Passport to Paris. Commercials: Cingular Wireless; American Idol Promo; Oldsmobile. Upcoming New York: Director/Choreographer Bliss- A New Musical, Toxic Avenger, Zhivago.

Steven Hoggett is the winner of 2009 Olivier award for Best Theatre Choreographer for The National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch and was nominated for a Tony Award for Onceon Broadway. Recent projects include choreography for Once on Broadway (8 Tony Awards),American Idiot, a Broadway musical based on the music of Green Day, Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards), Rigoletto for The Metropolitan Opera, The Full Monty at Sheffield Lyceum, Let the Right One In for National Theatre of Scotland The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The National Theatre/West End. Steven is co-founder and Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly, one of the UK's leading physical theatre companies. Recent productions include Lovesong, Beautiful Burnout, Othello, Stockhold, Pool (No Water), Dirty Wonderland and Hymns. His other recent Movement Director and Choreography credits include Dr Dee (Manchester International Festival / ENO), Hunter, 365,The Bacchae (also Associate Director), Black Watch (also Associate Director) and The Wolves in the Walls (National Theatre of Scotland), Dido Queen of Carthage, The Hothouse andMarket Boy (National Theatre). Steven has also provided choreography in music promos for artists including Goldfrapp, Calvin Harris, Wiley, Bat for Lashes and Franz Ferdinand. With Scott Graham, he is the author of The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre.

Alex Timbers is a Tony-nominated writer-director and the recipient of Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as two Obie Awards. His Broadway credits include Peter and the Starcatcher (Tony nomination), The Pee-Wee Herman Show, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (also co-writer; Broadway, Public Theater and Center Theatre Group, OCC and Drama Desk Awards), A Very Merry Unauthorized... (conceiver; Obie Award and Garland Award, Best Director), Gutenberg! The Musical! (Drama Desk nomination, Best Director of a Musical), Hell House (Drama Desk nomination, Unique Theatrical Experience). Alex is the artistic director of the New York-based company Les Freres Corbusier. He recently directed the critically acclaimed musical, Here Lies Love, at The Public Theatre.

Stage Entertainment USA INC. Founded in 1998 by Joop Van Den Ende, Stage Entertainment is one of the world's largest theatrical producers with bases in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Russia, Italy, and the U.S. More than 10 million people visit a Stage Entertainment production or performance space each year. Headed by Bill Taylor, Stage Entertainment USA's team recently produced the hit musical Sister Act on Broadway. The show received five 2011 Tony Award nominations and is currently on its first national tour. Stage US is currently co-producing the Broadway-bound musical, Big Fish, and has several other new projects in development for Broadway and the road in the upcoming seasons.