Review Roundup: Mike Tyson's UNDISPUTED TRUTH

MikeTyson: UNDISPUTED TRUTH, directed by Spike Lee, opened last night at Broadway's Longacre Theatre for 12 performances only, July 31-August 12.

In the show, Tyson "reveals untold stories, peeling back layers of tragedy and public turmoil while unfolding his tale of triumph and survival. In an up-close-and-personal setting featuring images, music and video, Tyson, in an intimate and theatrical setting, will share the stories of his life and experiences as a professional athlete and controversies in and out of the ring."

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Neil Genzlinger, NY Times: Yet that incongruous, almost childlike Tyson charm pokes through occasionally and makes you momentarily forget how ham-handed and manipulative the show is. Sure, we should save our accolades for the many people who have transcended difficult beginnings without abusing drugs, racking up a rape conviction and biting off a piece of another guy’s ear. But by the end of “Undisputed Truth” you may at least be willing to grant that it would be swell if Mr. Tyson has finally found a nondestructive way to exist in the world.

Joe Dziemianowcz, NY Daily News: But Iron Mike is gifted with iron-clad charisma and can work an audience. He dances jigs and twists his high-pitched Baby Huey voice to mimic characters in his life who appear on a huge screen. “This is all about forgiveness,” he says several times.

Robert Cassidy, Newsday: Tyson often goes on the attack, using humor to jab at promoter Don King, heavyweight rival Mitch Green and ex-wife Robin Givens. To the audience's delight, he spends the most time talking about Givens, even suggesting her career might be revived because of the amount of time he spends talking about their failed marriage.

Mark Hughes, Telegraph: There are many funny moments in his anecdotes too. I doubt anyone in the audience will forget the night they saw the former heavyweight champion of the world hugging himself in a pretend clinch before prancing across the stage and leading the audience in a falsetto singalong of ‘Loving You’.

Mike Weatherford, LV Review Journal: Tyson, wearing a sports jacket with no tie and frequently mopping sweat from his head, was sometimes so soft-spoken as to be nearly inaudible. Early in the show, he seem peeved when a joke about his childhood (" 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,' my ass!") drew a big laugh: "This ain't no stand-up comic (stuff) guys. This is my life, my pain."

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: Boasting about his standing as the youngest heavyweight champion of all time while assuring us that he’s no longer the angry young man he used to be (“I don’t even want to get into an argument”), he begins with an account of his hardscrabble years growing up in the tough Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where he quickly established a reputation as a formidable brawler while getting into constant scrapes with the law.