Broadway’s Rocky musical closing, setting up redemptive arc for Rocky musical sequels

Though its German counterpart has proven successful since launching in 2012, American audiences were less receptive to having Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar-winning Rocky repackaged as a Broadway musical. Since its March 13 opening, the Rocky musical has struggled to make positive returns financially, and—with critical consensus not helping draw folks to the singing, dancing, and still occasionally boxing adaptation—the Stage Entertainment production has been issued a closing date of August 17, joining the shuttered Tupac musical in recent Broadway misfires. Of course, this could have all been avoided by just bringing Rocky IV to Broadway at the very beginning, a movie primed for show-stopping musical interludes like a breakdance-laden “I Must Break You,” or an uplifting closing number, “Communism’s Just All Right.”