"Rocky" musical heading to Broadway

It's been a knockout in Germany. Now Sylvester Stallonehopes a musical based on his beloved boxing film "Rocky" will also be a hit on Broadway.

Producers said Sunday they plan to get "Rocky" up and punching at New York's Winter Garden Theatre by February following a successful debut in Hamburg last fall.

Based on the Oscar-winning 1976 film, the musical features a score by "Ragtime" veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and a story by Thomas Meehan, who wrote "The Producers" and "Hairspray."

Originally written in English but translated into German for its world premiere and billed as "Rocky: Das Musical," the show is produced by Stallone and Stage Entertainment USA.

The musical stays close to the film, which charted the rise and romance of amateur boxer and debt collector Rocky Balboa, played in Germany by Drew Sarich. No casting has been decided for New York.

Stallone wrote the screenplay for the film and it won the best picture Oscar in 1977.

The film made famous the image of Balboa running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the quote "Yo, Adrian!" The German production kept the trumpet-laden funky theme "Gonna Fly Now" and the anthem "Eye of the Tiger," written for "Rocky III." Both will also be in the Broadway version.

The musical will follow two other boxing-related works to appear on Broadway recently: Mike Tyson's one-man show about his life in and out of the ring, and a revival of Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy" about a young man torn between his natural talent as a violinist and the fast money of boxing.