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Sylvester Stallone hits the Big Apple to test a theory. That you really can make a musical
out of anything. Don't worry it's not Stop or My Mum will Shoot. Sadly it's not The Expendables
either. No, Rocky has been knocked into shape for an opening on Broadway. Sly admitting
that not everyone was convinced.
I've always thought these characters were very musical. I just always thought, when
I was writing it I use to think about these like Marty (Martin Scorsese) and Mean Streets
and West Side Story. And I always saw them as kind of poetic street characters. You know
what I mean, so I thought this would be a natural - but no one else did.
It's taken him 14 long years to being it to the stage. First opening in Hamburg in 2012.
Well I was there the first night - well actually I was in Germany. And even in Germany,
when it's in German I started to cry, I went, 'that's a good sign.'
And Stallone not alone in thinking he might had a hit on his hands. Actress, comedian
and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg thinks it has universal appeal.
It's the American story, everybody wants to do this. Everybody wants to pursue that thing
which is paramount to them. And he did it, and he did it in the movie and he did it in
real life and then Sly won the Oscar.
And it's definitely been a learning experience at the school of hard knocks for Andy Karl,
who plays Rocky Balboa.
Oh yeah, I had a black eye. I had a tweaked neck. Let's see what else I got. I got all
sorts of bangs ups and bruises throughout rehearsals and stuff like that. But we slowly
figured it out. My neck can take - I can get punched in the head now.
Just the kind of can-do attitude of Rocky himself or indeed Stallone. I'm just hoping
they end the show with Eye of the Tiger.