Knock Out!

Broadway veterans keep telling me it's impossible to successfully import a musical from continental Europe to Broadway. Well, what about a show created by an all American team of Broadway pros? If it was first staged in Hamburg it still seems to wear the mark of death. The Broadway musical Rocky, with a score by the Tony-winning songwriting team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and a book by Tony winner Thomas Meehan and Sylvester Stallone, has announced plans to close on August 17. Directed by Alex Timbers, the production of the Dutch Stage Entertainment company of Joop van den Ende began performances on February 13 and officially opened on March 13 at Broadway's Winter Garden. At time of closing, the musical will have played 28 previews and 188 regular performances at the Winter Garden Theatre. That's only a tad more than my "Dance Of The Vampires" which flopped in New York after being mutilated by a Broadway team. The original is still doing perfectly fine everywhere else.