Philadelphia’s most notable movie is back in town as a stage musical at the Walnut Street Theatre. Rocky the Musical was a Broadway show in 2014 and is now playing in the hometown of its story. The Walnut Street Theatre is a quintessential part of the city of Philadelphia and it’s only fitting they brought this Philadelphia tale to local audiences. Seeing Rocky in this city is a treat.
Rocky the Musical was adapted from the 1976 Academy Award-winning film into a stage show in 2014. The score is composed by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty while the book is adapted by Thomas Meehan and Sylvester Stallone himself. The musical itself doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It takes the same plot points from the movie and fits it into a standard modern musical with a score that while serviceable, isn’t too memorable. While not groundbreaking, it is a crowd pleaser that almost anyone would enjoy.
The cast at the Walnut Street Theatre is phenomenal. The heart of the show is Adrian, played beautifully by Gianna Yanelli. Yanelli is perfect for this role, in part because she’s a Philadelphia native, but also because she fully captures the vulnerability of Adrian as she transforms from a shy pet store clerk to a confident woman building her life with Rocky. Her voice is magnificent, belting the difficult high notes with ease. The pathos of the show doesn’t work without an excellent Adrian, and fortunately Yanelli knocks it out of the park. The titular role is played by Matthew Amira. He’s phenomenally charismatic and makes a character who could come off as a simple meathead charming and empathetic. He works incredibly hard in the training and boxing scenes, getting a full workout interspersed within the show. Rounding out the main cast is Nichalas L. Parker as Apollo Creed, who appears physically intimidating while featuring dazzling showmanship and a powerful voice.
The only disappointment in this production was the general lack of Philadelphia accents among the characters. This city is used to not hearing local accents in media; in the original Rocky movie, Stallone spoke in more of a New York accent than Philadelphian. I was hoping that this production based in Philadelphia would emphasize the proper accent, but it was mostly missing. Right from the opening curtain, Rocky in the ring says he needs some “wahtah” in a New York accent, instead of “wooder” in a Philadelphia accent. There were exceptions, notably from Philadelphia products Gianna Yanelli as Adrian and Fran Prisco as Paulie. But I would’ve liked to see director Richard Stafford or a dialect coach train all the actors playing Philly locals to speak in the accent those characters would naturally have.
The highlight of seeing this musical is that it’s a Philadelphia story through and through, and seeing it in a crowd of Philadelphia-area residents is a joy. Brief references in the show such as news station 6 ABC and the Eagles preparing for a game with the Cowboys drew a huge reaction from the crowd. When the theme song “Gonna Fly Now” begins to play, there was an electricity in the audience. This is a musical made about and for Philadelphia, so for the Walnut Street Theatre to bring it home is a service to our community.