Nowadays, it feels like any subject, movie or star can make it to the Great White Way. But in February 2014, when Rocky the Musical began previews at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, viewers and Rocky fans were cautiously curious about the musical based on Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 film.
Even its star, Andy Karl, the man cast to play Rocky Balboa on stage, wasn’t sure about stepping into the ring.
“When I initially got the audition, I was like, ‘They’re doing a musical of Rocky? That sounds like a really bad idea,’” he recalls with a laugh. “Then I went back and watched the original film, and [I realized] this is a beautiful, intimate story of a person who is falling in love and also has to face huge challenges — I really got it. And I really was inspired by it.”
Little did anyone know, this show, despite having only a six-month run, with 208 performances, packed a real punch. With music from Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (who collaborated together on Ragtime), and a book written by Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray) and Stallone himself, the show was later nominated for four Tony Awards — including Best Actor for Karl.
Living up to Stallone’s Rocky was a “humbling” experience, the actor admits.
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“One of the first times I ever saw [Stallone] was when he came to see one of the workshops prior to getting on Broadway,” says Karl. “He was telling me [about] a line he did from the movie, and I saw his face and physicality change into Rocky — and it was wild. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m looking at Rocky now.’ But it was at that moment that I realized there’s a difference between Stallone and Rocky; he is playing a role.”
Karl underwent boxing training, of course, and was going to the gym, even while doing eight shows a week. “I definitely fractured my nose, or it was fractured for me,” he jokes. He also famously gulped down raw eggs during every performance. Still, he says, “there was rarely a day where I wanted to take off. I think I took off maybe two shows the entire run.”
That level of grit was necessary for the final act’s 20-minute-long championship fight between Rocky and his rival, Apollo Creed (Terence Archie). On a technical level, the scene — which saw a full-size boxing ring lifted over the audience and placed down where the orchestra seating had been removed — was a marvel.
“It was like Madison Square Garden — and it made the theater this huge spectacle, which was really amazing,” says Karl. “The audience every night during that fight could not help themselves. People were cheering, ‘Rocky, go Rocky.’ Really getting into it. If we didn’t get them [interested] up until then, those last 20 minutes were always super inspiring.”
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Since then, Karl has starred in the Broadway show Groundhog Day, for which he won a Drama Desk Award, and a revival of Into the Woods, but he still fondly recalls his time in Rocky, even if he took a literal beating eight shows a week.
“I was really getting hit in the face every single night,” he admits, noting that the props team would put fake blood into the actors’ gloves to showcase the fight’s grislier hits. “We had choreography, so I knew where some of the punches were coming from, but there were many, many days where Terrence, who was a very big guy, had very fast punches coming in a little quicker and harder than I’d like. [Laughs] So I saw some stars. But living through that experience just made me feel more like Rocky.”
After all, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, right?
TV Guide Magazine’s Rocky 50th Anniversary Special Issue is available for order online now at Rocky.TVBooks.com, and for purchase on newsstands nationwide.
