By way of Germany and Broadway, Rocky comes home in a new musical

After the Oscar-winning 1976 film and its innumerable sequels, and the controversial statue, Rocky Balboa has come home. Rocky, the Musical has finally landed in Philly, at the Walnut Street Theatre, following its 2012 premiere in Germany and a 2014 Broadway run.

In case you need a recap: The low-budget movie, written by and starring a charismatic Sylvester Stallone, has a certain rough charm, plus those great Philadelphia settings, from the Italian Market and City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art at dawn. Stallone’s Rocky is a gentle brute — an underperforming boxer, an ineffective loan shark enforcer, and a lover of turtles. He’s enamored of Adrian, a bashful, virginal pet shop employee transformed by a fairy-tale kiss into a strong, passionate woman.

Against the backdrop of the pending Bicentennial, Apollo Creed, the world heavyweight champion and a Black man who unironically celebrates the promise of America, offers Rocky the unlikely opportunity to meet him in the ring.

Not surprisingly, the Walnut’s opening night audience greeted familiar images from the film — the raw eggs Rocky imbibes, the carcasses of meat he punches, those iconic art museum steps — with delight.

Director-choreographer Richard Stafford’s intermittently enjoyable staging adds a crowd-pleasing bonus: a New Year’s Day Mummers strut. It kicks off the climactic bout in which Rocky stands up for gritty, underdog fighters everywhere — and for the city he represents.

The musical adaptation is by Stallone and Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray), with a serviceable score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Once on This Island, Ragtime) — top talents who have all done better work. They keep the mid-1970s time frame and track the film’s plot, scenes, and much of its dialogue closely, while filling in some of the screenplay’s sketchiness and updating its treatment of gender.

Adrian (Gianna Yanelli) and Rocky (Matthew Amira) now know each other from fifth grade. Adrian gets three friends who urge her to take a holiday from herself in the song “Holiday.” Paulie (Walnut favorite Fran Prisco), Adrian’s violently misogynistic brother, acquires a girlfriend, Gloria (Rebecca Robbins), who touts his sense of humor. Rocky’s seduction of Adrian is less forceful, with him kneeling before her rather than blocking her exit.

Amira is likable, handsome, sings well enough, and evokes Stallone’s performance without imitating it. He also has the stamina to do pushups, sit-ups, and, most impressively, jump rope without a stumble. Nichalas P. Parker’s Apollo is beefy and imposing, but, as a character, even less defined than in the film.

Yanelli is a fine, expressive singer, mining poignancy and triumph from two of the show’s better melodies: “Raining,” a pretty ballad about her longing for Rocky, and “I’m Done,” her declaration of independence from Paulie. Bill Van Horn, as the trainer Mickey, briefly makes his mark with a musical reminiscence of his own boxing career, “In the Ring.”

The show incorporates two memorable film compositions by Bill Conti (uncredited in the program). “Gonna Fly Now,” retitled “Rocky Fanfare,” is performed by an 11-member orchestra. “Eye of the Tiger” becomes an exciting ensemble number that successfully melds boxing and ballet.

The fight sequences, staged with help from boxing consultant Maleek Johnson, use slow motion to suggest the worst hits. Sound designer Ed Chapman injects the roar of the crowd, amplified by the Walnut audience. Set designer Roman Tatarowicz provides an authentic-looking boxing ring, as well as shabby row house interiors and those magical steps. For fans of the franchise, all this may well be enough. Musical theater sophisticates won’t be knocked out.

“Rocky, the Musical” runs through Nov. 6. Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., Tickets: $25-$175; walnutstreettheatre.org