I would say NBC NY is mixed not mixed to negative, he sounds like he enjoyed the show, yes he has some issues with it but the review still reads mixed.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Then there is the music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens -- generic soft-pop ballads and inspirational-power songs that fade against the welcome return of "Gonna Fly Now" and "Eye of the Tiger" from the movies. Speaking of the movies, Christopher Barreco's sets, with lots of moving scaffolds and banks of lights, give Rocky some museum stairs to climb. He also drinks raw eggs for breakfast and runs through the city in training montages. Actually the city is on video and he runs in place. So does the show.
It features a score by "Ragtime" veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens that's intriguing — fortified by Bill Conti's song "Gonna Fly Now" as well as Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" — but fails to really land a knockout punch. Songs like "Raining," 'My Nose Ain't Broke" and "Keep on Standing" are rather lovely, but the rest of the tunes are either cookie-cutter or seem like they were simply abandoned
It's worth pointing out that singing and traditional showmanship are not really a part of the Big Fight — it is the first time all evening that anyone involved just lets the story tell itself, and it does so without a single stumble. It is also far more musical than anything that precedes it, suggesting that, despite Timbers's heroic efforts at convincing us otherwise, the organic sound of this place and these people is being stifled, rather than aired, by ham-fistedly forcing it into a form it does not naturally want to occupy.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
Rex Reed calls the score "rich and serviceable." He all but breaks out the lube and butt plug over Andy Karl.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Seems like, as predicted, everyone is impressed with the last 20 minutes and is "meh" about the rest.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
The real trouble is that, unlike 'Eye of the Tiger' or the snatches of Bill Conti's triumphal theme, Stephen Flaherty's bland new songs merely shadowbox at melody and never land the pop-rock punch they often seem to be seeking. Karl makes the most of his power ballad 'Fight From the Heart,' and his duet with Seibert 'Happiness' is pleasant enough despite her rather thin voice. But too many of Flaherty's songs play like missed opportunities, from Apollo's disco-tinged 'Patriotic' to Mickey's nostalgic 'In the Ring.' And Lynn Ahrens' lyrics, with clunky rhymes such as shoddy/body, are no help.
Not surprised by any of the reviews. I know people who loved it and hated it. What is getting me are the descriptions of the last 15 minutes. My favorite being that they take all of the seats out for the boxing ring. And I don't agred that moving the patrons grinds the show to a halt. Saw it twice and it went rather smoothly. JMO
Flaherty and Ahrens cover a lot of ground in building character with “My Nose Ain’t Broken,” and while a succession of ballads could put you to sleep, they do their job of winning hearts for Rocky and Adrian. The lean and graceful Karl may not match the original image of that bulked-up side of beef who dubbed himself “the Italian Stallion,” but his sensitive perf reveals the tough guy’s tender core. And with Seibert bringing her sweet voice and guileless manner to Adrian, these two misfits are a perfect match. As one lyric would have it: “Your little hand in my mitt / Funny how people can fit.”