On a recent summery Saturday evening in Chicago, moviegoers had the opportunity to take in any number of current releases, from “Michael” to “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” from “Obsession” to “The Sheep Detectives.” There were even some limited engagement showings of the two “Top Gun” movies.
Still, the largest crowd for any single screening—by far—was for a film that turns 50 this November.
“Rocky.”
Some 1,540 fans flocked to the Auditorium Theatre in the Loop for a “live-to-picture” screening, with the Chicago Philharmonic performing Bill Conti’s iconic, Oscar-nominated score. I saw “Rocky” twice at the River Oaks Theatre in Calumet City in the winter of 1976-1977, and I’ve watched it somewhere around a million-trillion times on TV over the years, but this was my first time seeing it with an audience in nearly five decades. It was also my first time ever seeing it with a live orchestra providing the musical accompaniment, from the melancholy, piano-driven sounds of the early scenes to the rousing “Gonna Fly Now” during the world-famous training sequence.
It made for a glorious night at the movies.
Live music and cinema have co-starred together for more than a century—a move borne in part out of practical necessity. Early 35mm projectors produced loud, grating mechanical clatter, and with no recorded audio track for films of the 1910s and well into the 1920s, organists, pianists, or even entire orchestras were brought in. Movie palaces such as the Mark Strand Theatre on Broadway, the Million Dollar Theatre in Los Angeles (built by Sid Grauman), and the Chicago Theatre on State Street in Chicago featured full orchestral accompaniment.
Cut to the early 2000s and the Live-to-Projection concerts of “The Lord of the Rings” movies, with orchestras in cities around the world performing Howard Shore’s music to the films in the original trilogy. Over the last decade, the live-to-picture event has become a staple of popular culture, with films ranging from the “Star Wars” and “Spider-Man” franchises to “La La Land,” “Hook,” and “The Lion King” getting the full orchestral treatment. The trend has extended to the video game industry, with live concert experiences highlighting titles such as “The Legend of Zelda” and “Final Fantasy.”
The “Auditorium Philm” series in Chicago officially launched in 2024 with “Blade Runner.” This year’s roster includes “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”–yes, “Home Alone 2.” Says Rich Regan, CEO of The Auditorium: “Experiencing these iconic films with each magnificent score performed by the Chicago Philharmonic amplified by The Auditorium’s perfect acoustics creates an unforgettable energy.”
You could feel that energy for the “Rocky” screening. Couples, groups of fans, guys wearing vintage “ROCKY” and “Mighty Mick’s Boxing Gym” T-shirts. 1976, meet 2026.
Settling in for the screening of “Rocky,” I was reminded of the darkness of Sylvester Stallone’s screenplay. Director John Avildsen and cinematographer James Crabe leaned into the grittiness of the story–and the music, at first, is spare and achingly sad. At times, the orchestra stood rigid still on the stage, as we bear witness to the hopelessness of Rocky’s world, from his brutal bout with fellow “tomato can” Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell) to his daytime job as an enforcer for the loan shark mobster Gazzo (Joe Spinell) to his halting and awkward attempts at courting Talia Shire’s Adrian. Sometimes the music would gently underscore glimpses of Rocky’s humanity, whether he’s opting not to break the thumbs of Bob, the dock worker who owes Gazzo, or trying to give a life lesson to Jodie Letizia’s Marie. Not that Rocky is rewarded for such efforts; Gazzo chastises him, and Marie delivers a parting shot: “Hey Rocky! Screw you, creepo!”
Many of these early scenes are punctuated by just a tinkling piano or a plaintive French horn, with the unresolved, hanging cadences sounding even more lonely and wistful in the live orchestral setting. It’s a minimalist score, punching home the desperate reality of Rocky’s day-to-day existence.
Still, a shard of optimism begins to emerge with the recurring strings and piano of “Adrian’s Theme,” which highlights the tender, sweet budding romance—the love story at the heart of “Rocky.” By the time Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed literally picks Rocky’s name out of a book of fighters (“The EYE-Talian Stallion”), Rocky and Adrian are a couple. The music reflects that for the first time in a long time or maybe ever, they’re experiencing something new.
Hope.
After the intermission, the Chicago Philharmonic really went to work.
As you’d expect, the audience loved the orchestra’s note-perfect rendition of “Gonna Fly Now,” with that familiar horn fanfare and the bass line driving home Rocky’s triumphant training sequence, culminating with him conquering the museum steps that knocked the wind out of him earlier. That scene has been played, replayed, and parodied countless times over the last 50 years, but seeing it on the big screen with the live orchestral accompaniment took me back to my teenage years watching “Rocky” in Cal City. The thrill is decidedly not gone.
My favorite musical passage in the entire film is “Going the Distance,” which accompanies the punishing, round-by-round montage of the fight, with Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed exchanging blows and knocking each other around the ring, until they’re both bloodied, bruised, exhausted, and barely able to lift their arms into a fighting stance. The Chicago Philharmonic’s performance of the swelling and stirring suite was so brilliant and so spot-on that if you didn’t see them onstage, you’d swear you were listening to a particularly pristine audio track. The climactic bell of the fight is synced to “The Final Bell” number, with Rocky crying out “Adrian!” until they embrace in the ring.
We have a lot of big event films coming out in the summer of 2026, but I’m not sure I’ll have a better moviegoing experience this year.
