Yo, Columbia! It’s Rocky and it’s here for you— live on stage at Toby’s Dinner Theatre. This is a knockout musical that will pull you to the edge of your seat by the end of the show. Directed by Toby Orenstein & Mark Minnick, with Musical Direction by Ross Scott Rawlings, and Fight Choreography by Justin Calhoun, Rocky is not just a musical with boxing, it’s a story— an honest to God story about how one man wants to make something of himself, overcome the stereotype of being a bum, and prove that he can go the distance. With knockout performances in the title role and stellar supporting ensemble, this show packs plenty of punches in the entertainment department.

The in-house masters of design— David A. Hopkins on scenery and Lynn Joslin on lighting— are bringing some impressive moves to the ring for this production of Rocky. Joslin’s ‘mood-lighting’ augments some of the more intensely emotional moments and really helps pump up the vibe of the training montage. Joslin uses a great deal of flashy reds, whites, and blues for both “Patriotic” and “Undefeated Man.” Her best work is the use of the stunning ‘blackout-blinks’, which are executed with flawless precision, during the “The Fight” creating the extraordinary cinematic feel of pictures of being ring-side for those 15 rounds. Joslin also features freeze-frame lighting in reds and blues for hard-hit, knockout, slow-motion-capture punches, which heightened the overall experience of the fight. Hopkins is working the space with the usual rolling scenery that keeps scene changes fluid and brings the audience what they want during the “Training Montage 2/Eye of the Tiger” giving Rocky a set of marble steps to climb. The use of projections for this production are some of the best that Toby’s has ever utilized; they incorporate live-camera feeds for television interview scenes and newscaster scenes, but by far the most impressive are the shots of “The Fight”— both live from ring-side and from an aerial bird’s-eye-view above the ring. Shoutout to Technical Director Jimmy Engelkemier who delivers a one-hit KO to the challenge of putting up a boxing ring in the intimate, in-the-round spacing of Toby’s. So much of this production’s magic happens inside that ring and it’s an impressive feat; Engelkemier has outdone himself with this marvelous piece of functional scenery.

Designing the costumes for Rocky the musical is so much more than gathering up boxing gloves and tracksuits; Costume Designer Janine Sunday puts a fine point on that notion with her impressive array of stylized outfits, which fit the 70’s era in which the show takes place, as well as with her flashier, splashier costumes in glittery sequence seen during “Undefeated Man” and “The Fight.” Apollo Creed’s girls turn up in red, white, and blue sequin outfits with sparkle-sequin American Flag capes and the Defending Champion himself arrives in a tricked-out Uncle Sam-inspired sequin-accented affair that really puts the pow in powerhouse. Sunday finds clever ways to disguise the various character tracks (multiple roles being covered by one actor) in this production with a rotating carousel of wigs and outfits that all slide nicely into that 70’s groove. Keep your eyes out for those brown-leather-duds featured on Gazzo & his Toady (Shawn Kettering & David James) as well as the fabulous denim jumpsuit and cowgirl boots seen on Gloria.

There’s no getting around the fact that the Music & Lyrics of Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens is not as stellar as one might hope, given the musical theatre track record of those two composers. (And while we’re throwing punches, Sylvester Stallone and Thomas Meehan ain’t too good at making a believable libretto.) But Musical Director Ross Scott Rawlings takes a subpar set of songs, works them over with an incredibly talented ensemble, and gets the audience to feel the energy that one needs to feel in order to enjoy this show. Rawlings has everyone’s blood pumping by the time *THE* song— “Eye of the Tiger” rolls around. (Not a single song in this show outside of that number is memorable enough to be whistling on the way out the door, but that’s not the fault of the incredibly talented performers who are singing their faces off to overcome that creator faux pas.) Rawlings gets excellent sounds out of the Ensemble (featuring David Bosley-Reynolds, MaryKate Brouillet, Simone Brown, Justin Calhoun, Crystal Freeman, Ryan Holmes, David James, Shawn Kettering, Shane Lowry, Ryan Sellers, Jeffrey Shankle, Janine Sunday, Patricia “Pep” Targete, Anwar Thomas) particularly for “Eye of the Tiger” but also for other numbers where they come together as one voice.

Where Toby’s succeeds with this production that could easy be a failure in so many other theatres is that at the core of every musical production on Toby’s stage is the heart of the story and the essence of storytelling. Co-Directors Mark Minnick and Toby Orenstein flesh out the story of Rocky Balboa and you really feel the narrative of a down-and-out young fella who’s only ever dreamed of being something, doing something, making something out of his life. He’s not a thug; he’s a boxer and that message— that dream of Rocky’s becomes the essence of this show. Minnick and Orenstein draw the focus of the show to that and it ultimately pulls the show together as one worth seeing. Their incomparable knowledge and experience of how to block a show in-the-round is well reflected in this production, particularly during the Training Montages where Rocky is making mad dashes out one entrance and in through another just seconds later. The understanding of how to properly execute that level of stage magic successfully is just one of their many great achievements in this production.

The contender for MVP of the production team, however, is scrappy underdog Justin Calhoun, the show’s Fight Coordinator. (Fight Training occurred compliments of TITLE Boxing Club, Dante Cox, Harry King, Eric McCloud) Calhoun has masterfully put together an incredibly realistic and believable series of punches in the ring. It’s more than just those flawlessly captured slow-motion deliveries, but they’re epic too. Watching Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa go at one another in the ring during “The Fight” has the authenticated feel of being ringside at a match that really matters. The audience was screaming and cheering as the punches were flying, necks were getting tossed around, and bodies were flinging back into the ropes of the ring. Even if you know the movie, or know the outcome of the fight, never for one second do you feel like this boxing match is a foregone conclusion and that can be chalked up to Calhoun’s brilliant fight choreography and Co-Director Minnick and Orenstein’s constant vigilance of living in the moment of the story that their cast is telling.

Having mentioned the strength of the ensemble, there are quite a few standouts worth mentioning. For starters, the trio ladies, featuring Janine Sunday as Gloria, MaryKate Brouillet as Joanne, and (at this performance) Patricia “Pep” Targete as Angie, have fun voices that gel nicely for “Holiday” and “Holiday (Reprise).” The characters themselves feel a little superfluous but Sunday, Brouillet, and Targete do a fine job of giving them depth and reasons to exist, particularly Sunday’s Gloria who holds her own against the loud-mouthed, generally-drunk Paulie. Sunday exceeds expectations in carrying that South Philly accent, which can be tricky to both master and maintain, but it fits the gritty edge of her character just fine.

Apollo Creed (Gerald Jordan) may be the defending champion of the boxing title but he’s a slick charmer that comes with his own entourage. (The character of Apollo in Stallone and Meehan’s libretto isn’t featured as frequently or as heavily as one might have figured but that doesn’t mean Gerald Jordan doesn’t take every chance he’s giving to shine.) There is a fabulous quality to his singing, which we hear during both “Patriotic” and again during his face-off moment (a truly brilliantly blocked moment that brings these contenders face to face in the round) with Rocky at the end of “Southside Celebrity.” He delivers excellent punches and footwork during his boxing scenes. Accompanying Creed through all of his scenes are his loud and sassy Manager (Anwar Thomas), the head-guy Jergens (David Bosley-Reynolds) who coordinates all the matches, and his posse of ladies (Simone Brown, MaryKate Brouillet, and Crystal Freeman.) You get a taste of Freeman’s beautiful belting voice as a riff-soloist during “Undefeated Man” and it is glorious.

While the Paulie character isn’t given any musical numbers of his own (which is surprising considering all of the strange bits that did become musical numbers in this show), Adam Grabau is making his mark on Rocky like a knockout punch. Full of the bitter reality of living in South Philly as drunken, albeit employed, no-goodnik, you get a real feel for all of the gut-wrenching rage that is just churning and burning in Paulie’s belly thanks to the raw and raging portrayal Grabau puts forth. It’s impressive how he can go from blasting Adrian out of the water to trying to chum-up to Rocky in the blink of an eye, showcasing his impeccable versatility as a performer.

Speaking of versatile, Toby’s two king of comedy are tucked away in a whole host of characters roles all throughout the performance. David James and Jeffrey Shankle (who respectively play Jimmy Michaels and Bob Dunphy amongst others) are popping up everywhere in this show. Watch for the pair of them (you can’t miss them in their perfect for 70’s television wigs) up in the ‘commentators’ box, which is literally elevated above the boxing ring during “The Fight.” Shankle can often be found holding up one of the punching bags while James makes his mark on the performance as the Ice Skating Rink Watchman. The number, “The Flip Side” becomes infinitely more humorous with James poking his head into the ‘rink’ every few seconds counting down the time Rocky and Adrian have left on the ice. It’s little laughing moments like these, and the commentary from above, that give the musical some of its much-needed levity.

Delivering an incredible performance as Mickey, Robert Biedermann is everything one could hope for short of resurrecting Burgess Meredith to do the role himself. Biedermann has got the gravel in his guts and in his voice when he’s railing at Rocky for being a wasted life. He’s got all the up-in-your-face hard-knocks attitude you expect from this character, and when he puts Rocky into training mode? Biedermann is down on the floor going toe-to-toe with Rocky Balboa doing push-ups! (And he is proudly 76 years old and in excellent shape, as he’s proving every night in this performance!) But the real heart-grabber for the Mickey character is his song, “In The Ring.” While Meehan, Stallone, Ahrens, and Flaherty didn’t do much right by this musical (including the placement of this song immediately at the top of Act II) they did get the emotions and lyrics of this song just right. And Biedermann delivers that beautiful sense of nostalgia mingling with regret of a life gone by and you feel yourself tearing up just a little bit.

Wearing the role of Rocky like a boxing glove Patrick Gover, a new-comer to the Toby’s stage, is the epitome of everything Rocky Balboa oughta be. From the slow cadence, vocal affectation and accented delivery of his speech, to the likeness that he shares with the Rocky character, Gover is a real knockout in the role. Right from his very first number, “Ain’t Down Yet” you get the sense that his man is capable of so much more than being a guy with muscles. Gover delves deep into his emotional wellsprings and delivers these astonishingly raw and visceral moments when singing. (And that’s saying a mouthful because Lynn Ahrens left that character high and dry with a lot of those lyrics.) Gover is able to completely overcome the lackluster lyrics of these songs with his emotionally forward expression while singing. And he does a phenomenal job of balancing the sound of Rocky’s speaking voice against his singing voice so that it still sounds like Rocky is singing without compromising the musical integrity of the number. His song, “Adrian” really comes straight from the heart and you feel moved by his rendition of it. When he sings in duet with Adrian (Lydia Gifford), for “The Flip Side” and “Happiness” Gover carries the sentimental value of the number on his sublime vocals and Gifford adds pretty-sounding harmonies. Patrick Gover is living, breathing, and being Rocky Balboa and not merely a replication of Sylvester Stallone, but more a total revitalization of this fictious boxing character. Gover fights from the heart— both when he’s actually fighting and when he’s metaphorically fighting with his life in this show. He is the true knockout sensation and well-worth seeing in his breakout debut role at Toby’s.

Toby’s ain’t down yet— in fact, they’re still standing. And they’re standing tall and proud with this major achievement, successfully telling an incredible story, bringing forth all the emotions of the narrative of Rocky Balboa, and ending with a tremendous bang of a mesmerizing fight. Time is a fighter that doesn’t relent; do not let time knock you out by letting this rare diamond in the rough production escape you!

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission

Rocky plays through June 5, 2022 at Toby’s the Dinner Theatre of Columbia— 5900 Symphony Woods Road in Columbia, MD. For tickets please call (410) 730-8311 or purchase them online