Rocktopia

"Can best be described as what might happen if Mozart and Beethoven were having a party and Freddie Mercury and Pete Townsend walked in...The show is impressive from the start, with an open-feel stage complete with highly skilled and energetic back-up singers...Every single artist was mind-blowingly good, but it was Lowery who won the audience's hearts...'Rocktopia' is at once both clever and joyous, both disciplined and radical, and certainly earns its title of Musical Revolution." Full Review

"Eccentric and addictive...An impressive feat from its opening notes to its final crescendo...The evening is a well-oiled machine, and each musician who graces the stage shows exceptional charisma and technical accuracy. The vocal power of the five singers is a force to behold...Doesn't hesitate to give us what we want as a listener...The marriage of classical music with modern rock doesn't debase the age-old symphonies in the slightest...A true rock experience." Full Review

"Uniquely relevant and musically satisfying...The wonderful production has the best of the best performing an arsenal of classical compositions and some of the biggest radio hits of all time...Aside from the incredible performances and wide array of beautiful music, the thing that makes 'Rocktopia' so uniquely special is its scalability. Here is a production that will change as the weeks roll on and new guest vocalists are introduced...An ever-evolving production that’s never the same twice." Full Review

"Basically a concert, but with its Broadway trappings, it could be a final step in the evolution of the jukebox musical...Make sure that just about every number gets a tumultuous arrangement, with a compact 20-piece symphony orchestra well amplified, a rock band, an energetic chorus and featured singers...And voila!...You've got yourself a show...'Rocktopia' may well be a shortcut to tinnitus, but it’s also surprisingly inventive and at times exhilarating. Be tempted and be warned." Full Review

"Much of the evening is basically like watching an enormously talented cover band performing classic rock oldies, it is nonetheless consistently entertaining. However, although most of the mash-ups are melodic and innovative, not everything works...Gifted singers...Not really a Broadway show. It's also nothing like a traditional rock concert or a classical recital at Carnegie Hall. Whatever it is, it's certainly unique and that must be why the show has such a following worldwide." Full Review

"A whole lot of cliched yet still powerful classic rock fun...The evening as a whole leans toward the pleasantly accessible...The only real failure is a too-gentle version of Led Zeppelin powerhouse 'Kashmir' accompanied by images, not of the region of India that gives the song its name and sound, but of Egypt...The most rock-solid part of the show: the vocals...The most consistently magnificent - and versatile - singer is Chloe Lowery...Recommended." Full Review

"One of the highlight vocals from the first half of the show was Chloe Lowery belting out Heart's 'Alone,' in an eloquent, expressive fashion that complimented the neat orchestral arrangement...Overall, 'Rocktopia' was a solid Broadway production...The all-star cast of entertainers were able to fuse the classical compositions with the smash singles on the contemporary radio airwaves. It was definitely a modern-day rock opera that is recommended for fans of rock and classical music." Full Review

"A big, loud, in-your-face, knock-down-drag-out evening of very well-known classical melodies, very-well known classic rock tunes...A lot of the mash ups were less than graceful. Yes, the setlist was all arena rock anthems. Yes it caters to baby-boomer nostalgia. Yes, some of the projections were just silly...It is, however, a hell of a lot of fun! What it may lack in sophistication, it makes up for in pure exuberance. It is two plus hours of loud, ruckus, joyful noise." Full Review

"'Has some good moments, but it suffers from indecision – rock show or night at the theater – resulting in a mushy show that works too hard and repeatedly gets in its own way...At its best when rock and opera intertwine...The mishmash of styles begins to wear thin, however, long before intermission...The orchestra is very good...They offer a refreshing respite...It’s too loud; it tries too hard; it’s a bit cheesy, but in the end it is good fun. Just bring ear plugs." Full Review

"A different kind of jukebox musical, with no narrative, consisting of overly familiar songs...An up-and-down affair, as vocal histrionics get carried away, the setlist is about as standard as it comes, and amateurish, seemingly unrelated visuals are projected onto fifteen large, vertical piano keys...But then something magical happens, where it all suddenly comes together for an absolutely smashing last few numbers that brought the crowd to its feet." Full Review

"One of those odd, crowd-pleasing…shows that occasionally show up on Broadway and drive traditionalists up the wall…The renditions are all traditional, none offering notably original takes…There's nothing here you haven't seen before; too often,…the [video] images distract from the performances in front of them. The idea of including…some artfully created…background on the songs, including composer, original artists, year of creation, and so forth, seems never to have occurred." Full Review

"A classical revolution...Everybody works. Hard. Conductor, musicians, soloists, vocalists...Nothing looks easy, nobody holds back. Every number builds to wall shaking. It's seventy percent an old fashioned outdoor arena type rock show brought to Broadway welded to a road show classical concert...Applause is summoned - and earned during the first act, after which there seems to be a general sorting in the audience, from the standing ovationers, to the bolters, and the snoozers." Full Review

"Uneven attempt to intermingle 'classic rock' with classical music and even a touch of opera with alarming back-and-forth speed...However, here's the good news: when 'Rocktopia' gives the fans what they came for -- what might be termed the ultimate 'jukebox musical' - it can be a truly entertaining experience...As for the show's supposed purpose, the hoped-for connections between the music of true yesteryear and recent decades only rarely take hold." Full Review

"Some major missed opportunities for expanding awareness and appreciation...What 'Rocktopia' does offer, is an array of talent...All of the musicians are impressive, but Bruno’s guitar solos are especially electrifying, and Nesbitt’s featured performances on Celtic violin are the most consistently thrilling highlights...Though 'Rocktopia' has some rousing peaks and powerful performances that will have you rocking and cheering, it isn’t quite the 'classical revolution' it claims to be." Full Review

"It's fun to hear some favorites, whether you're into rock or the classics, but it's the twist that raises some questions...Just because it can be played with a rock beat -- and very, very loudly, which seems to be the theme of most of this show's sound design -- doesn't mean it should be. Less is more might be a good philosophy to follow here...The idea of a concert fusing different musical styles is good. It just needs a bit more orchestration, pun intended." Full Review

"If you enjoy both rock and classical music and you want to see them combined in a unique way, you may enjoy this show. If you are looking for a show with a story or any sort of plot, this is not it. This is basically a glorified concert. The voices are good and the songs should be recognizable...This is not a show for young children who probably could not sit through it. Older children who are particularly interested in rock and classical music might enjoy it." Full Review

"Some of the song pairings work better than others, for the open-minded 'Rocktopia' is an intriguing idea...No shortage of musical talent. 'Rocktopia' does, however, have a shortage of stagecraft or stage smarts...Godawful tacky projections...Occasionally – maybe a total of 15 minutes out of the two hours – there is video artistry on those screens. But for most of the time, they might as well have written on them: 'we’re trying to save money;' that message came through clearly anyway." Full Review

"Right up until Anne Frank’s appearance, 'Rocktopia' made some sense...There is no unity between the differing styles of music-though the resulting chaos does make for an oddly entertaining spectacle...I’m not sure 'Rocktopia' has any business getting political, particularly in times like these...The show is too gleefully hilarious to be actually offensive." Full Review

"A hokey musical extravaganza that mashes together classical, rock and opera. Singalongs, coerced clapping, dancing in the seats and standing ovations abound. The cheerfully innocuous entertainment level is comparable to that of a bland PBS pledge break concert...Is it awful? Spectacular? Craptastic? Campy? 'Rocktopia' is arguably all of these adjectives in various gradations depending on one’s taste." Full Review

"About two hours in, the touring concert...had settled into a benign, dull groove. Then the slide show, which until then had been mostly sunsets and rolling clouds, jolted me awake...The vocalists generally acquit themselves well enough...Ultimately, the real problem is the set list's utter blandness...Taken individually, these songs are in the canon for a reason, of course; one after another, their effect is numbing." Full Review

"A huge problem with the classical moments is that though were composed to be performed without amplification, 'Rocktopia' blasts them through the sound system with the same lack of finesse used for hits by Elton John and Styx. Perhaps if they pulled a full switcheroo, having the classics performed in rock style with the newer stuff unplugged and given the longhair treatment, 'Rocktopia' would have a little more bite to it." Full Review

"The earnest spectacle, the overstated reverence...It knows its audience, and it serves them honestly and without cynicism...Co-creators Evan and Fleischer, respectively featured onstage as vocalist and 'maestro', have not cooked up some cockeyed plot or artist hagiography as an excuse to string together a series of familiar tunes. This is not a jukebox musical but a concert, and as such it can cater unabashedly to baby-boomer nostalgia." Full Review

"Turns out to be far more on the rock side of the concept than on the classical side...The result is thoroughly half-baked...Even when the mash-ups sounds more or less smooth there's nothing new to be gained...More invested in pandering to baby boomer nostalgia...Whatever crumbs of pleasure are to be found...come solely from the singers...Considering how unevenly balanced the acoustic is, one can't help but wonder if it was even worth bringing in the orchestral elements." Full Review

"It’s not a bad concept. Many music theorists agree that there is a kinship between classical music and popular music...Moderately entertaining, but an overall disappointing attempt to meld the two musical genres...There are one or two other numbers that work as well, but overall the numbers play out as classic rock songs with classical music introductions, and even then some of the introductions don’t give the songs their just due." Full Review

"Seems more fitting for Las Vegas...Vincent's highflying tenor is a nimble instrument, and he knows how to work a crowd, rock-god style...The connections uniting the selections are sometimes rather vague or hard to discern, although the music is stitched together with some finesse...It's all played live...but the amplification is of such a roof-rattling level that you'd never know if it wasn't...Not a show to my taste." Full Review