It is the glittering musical spectacular that chronicles the remarkable life of iconic singer Cher.

But The Cher Show has been panned by critics following its opening night on Broadway on Monday.

The musical, which originally opened in June in Chicago, Illinois, was lambasted by critics in early reviews for being a 'maddening mismash', as criticism was also levelled at the show's 'flat jokes', and favouring style over substance.

Oh dear: The Cher Show has been panned by critics following its opening night on Broadway on Monday (pictured Stephanie J. Block playing Cher and Cher herself)

Iconic: It follows Cher's epic rise to pop stardom over the course of six decades and will run at the Neil Simon theatre until May 2019

It follows Cher's epic rise to pop stardom over the course of six decades and will run at the Neil Simon theatre until May 2019.

It sees three lead actresses- Stephanie J.Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond- take on the role of the star at three different stages of her life, the kid with a dream 'Babe', the glamorous pop star 'Lady' and the icon 'Star'.

It takes in the star's six decades of stardom, including her rocky marriages to rockstar husbands Sonny Bono and Greg Allman, her fabulous fashion and scooping an Oscar, a Grammy and an Emmy - complete with 35 of her hit songs.

Calling the show a 'maddening mishmash' New York Times reviewer Jesse Green said: 'Except for the dozens of eye-popping outfits Mr. (Bob) Mackie gorgeously recreates for the occasion, it's all gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing.

Panned: The musical, which originally opened in June in Chicago, Illinois, was lambasted by critics in early reviews for being a 'maddening mismash', as criticism was also levelled at the show's 'flat jokes', and favouring style over substance

Panned: It sees three lead actresses- Stephanie J.Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond- take on the role of the star at three different stages of her life, the kid with a dream 'Babe', the glamorous pop star 'Lady' and the icon 'Star'

He also hit back over the musical's mishandling of the star's backstory, writing: 'You can almost hear a groan on the laugh track when, later in the show, Cher asks Sonny's ghost, 'Are you really dead?'

Praise was however given to the show's musical numbers, and the show's actresses who play the three incarnations of Cher for their 'gleeful staging' of the star's hits.

Variety's Frank Rizzo criticised the show for relying too heavily on the television variety show format which shot Sonny and Cher to fame in the 1970s, which riddled the show with cliches.

He said: 'Choosing to recreate the spirit of the television variety shows that Sonny and Cher — and then Cher sans Sonny — headlined in the '70s is a choice that lands as flat as the jokes in Broadway's latest jukebox bio,

Musical moment: New York Times reviewer Jesse Green said: 'Except for the dozens of eye-popping outfits Mr. (Bob) Mackie gorgeously recreates for the occasion, it's all gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing

'Its attempt to celebrate the resilience of its 'bad-ass' star and her half-century career of highs and lows rarely rises above that TV series' taste for cliches, corn and cheese.

Praise was given to the strength of the singers and the show's cast.

Adding to the negative reviews, Sara Holdren from Vulture said the show was 'not good' and criticised the spectacular for focusing on the sequins and glamour as opposed to Cher's backstory.

She said: 'The Cher Show is not good. It's extravagantly, almost triumphantly not good.

'It's such a garish, obvious pastiche, such an unabashedly soulless explosion of wigs and trite memoir wisdom, that somewhere in the midst of its overinflated two and a half hours—probably during one of its dips into stodgy, life-lesson-y sentiment between showstoppers—you start to wonder: Is this gusher of shamelessness the only thing that could have happened here'.

Criticism: Variety's Frank Rizzo criticised the show for relying too heavily on the television variety show format which shot Sonny and Cher to fame in the 1970s, which riddled the show with cliches (pictured Jarrod Spector and Micaela Diamond as Sonny and Cher)

Adding that the show feels stuck between 'blowout jukebox concert' and 'schmaltzy bio-play' Sara said she had more enjoyment from watching old Cher videos than the musical itself.

Greg Evans from Deadline also singled out the show's 'skimpy' story while saying the musical didn't push the boundaries as its namesake had done.

He writes: 'The Cher Show doesn't budge outside lines already drawn for other mediocre bio-musicals, dragging Cher where Donna Summer, Gloria Estefan and even Janis Joplin have already been.

'The lack of creative ambition and innovation is dispiriting, especially when Jersey Boys, Beautiful and Lazarus have already proven these things needn't be dreadful.'

Oh no: Adding to the negative reviews, Sara Holdren from Vulture said the show was 'not good' and criticised the spectacular for focusing on the sequins and glamour as opposed to Cher's backstory

The work of Block as Cher was given high praise for her similarity to the Believe hitmaker's vocal register, along with her famous hair swish.

However Evans slammed the 'cartoonish' performances from the supporting characters, including Matthew Hydzik's 'silly' Gregg Allman and Michael Fatica's 'sillier' Phil Spector.

Giving the show three stars out of five, The Guardian's Alexis Soloski called the show a 'mixed bag' of pop excess, and outlined the difficulties of the musical jukebox genre.

The Cher Show: What the critics said

'All gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing'- New York Times critic Jesse Green 'The Cher Show is not good. It's extravagantly, almost triumphantly not good' - Vulture critic Sara Holdren 'The lack of creative ambition and innovation is dispiriting' - Deadline critic Greg Evans 'Choosing to recreate the spirit of the television variety shows that Sonny and Cher headlined in the '70s is a choice that lands as flat as the jokes in Broadway's latest jukebox bio' - Variety critic Frank Rizzo '{The fashion} is so garish and delirious and literally show-stopping, that it highlights the lack of imagination elsewhere' - The Guardian critic Alexis Soloski Advertisement

She said: 'Mashing song and story together is the great problem of the genre. The Cher Show doesn't solve it.

Speaking about the emphasis of fashion in the show, she added: 'It's so garish and delirious and literally show-stopping, that it highlights the lack of imagination elsewhere and the show's need to gloss over – sequin over, brilliantine over – anything too uncomfortable or hard.'

Soloski singled out stellar performances from Emily Skinner as Cher's mother and Michael Berresse as an 'infectious' Bob Mackie.

The book is by Rick Elice, with the musical directed by Jason Moore, with costumes by Bob Mackie and Cher herself involved as a producer.

Speaking to Page Six after a November 18 preview, Cher, 72, said: 'It's hard to see your life portrayed onstage, but I couldn't have asked for a better cast to portray my life.'

The Montclair College Prep drop-out is clearly after a Tony Award - which would complete her EGOT status - with the Broadway show based upon her successful six-decade career.

'35 smash hits, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy, an Oscar, an Emmy, and enough Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequins shortage in New York City,' the website said.

The Cher Show will run through May 2019 at the Neil Simon Theatre.