I would call myself a casual Cher fan. I’m familiar with the hits, watched The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour on Nick at Nite as a child, and have vague recollections from tabloid covers of her so-called “Bagel Boy.” So, with The Cher Show coming to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars, it seemed like a good opportunity to fill in the blanks and get a more complete picture of this legendary figure.
The mission of The Cher Show is fairly straightforward: Show how a painfully shy little girl from Southern California named Cherilyn Sarkisian, alienated by her dyslexia and mixed ancestry (specifically, her black hair and olive skin), ends up becoming the “goddess warrior” we know today as Cher. The journey includes plenty of reinvention, from pop stardom as a teenager with Sonny Bono to today being the only solo artist to rock the Billboard charts in seven different decades, as well as being an Academy Award-winning actress and overall pop culture icon.
To tell such a story, book writer Rick Elice uses three embodiments of Cher, dubbed “Babe,” “Star” and “Lady.” The Cher trio walk us from her childhood to her “Believe”-era (circa 1998), which includes her rise to stardom with Bono to her eventual decision to strike out on her own to massive success.
In this way, The Cher Show is not unlike an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music (a series which, of course, covered both Sonny and Cher separately during its long run). Biographical and chronological, it hits the highs and lows of an icon’s storied career, and yet, despite being about twice as long and incorporating three Chers, Elice’s book manages to feel even more cursory than an hourlong TV show.
It boasts a superficial skating of Cher’s life and career, relatively trite messages (as one character says, “Fear holds you back, love opens you up”), and the feeling that despite the adversity woven in, it’s been made looking back through rose-colored lenses (exemplified when the Chers worry amongst themselves that they’re making Sonny sound too horrible). The point is, I don’t think I learned a lot.
Like many a jukebox musical, the show is banking on the draw of good feels and nostalgia, both for the artist and the music, to get butts into seats, and Elice, along with the keen-eyed direction of Casey Hushion, has propped up just enough story to link Cher’s most beloved hits together and keep the production from being little more than a revue. Not that there’s anything with a revue. The music is most definitely here, though, with all the hits you’d expect including the sweet “I Got You Babe,” a richly dark “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” and an exposition-driving “The Beat Goes On/It Don’t Come Easy.” There are also some less expected songs, like Perez’s delicate “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes.”
Of course, Cher is the focus of this show and we get three of them. Morgan Scott, as “Star,” nails Cher’s one-of-a-kind voice and mannerisms, so much so that you could say the performance leans dangerously close to caricature at times, with just one too many turns toward the audience, mugging for the crowd after a zinger. Catherine Ariale’s “smart mouth” Cher, called “Lady,” seems to possess her chutzpah and sarcasm, while Ella Perez’s “sweetheart” Cher, named “Babe,” is a ball of nervous energy and fear. The three together form a strong picture of Cher, and the fourth star of the show complete the picture: Bob Mackie’s costumes.
The costumes are undoubtedly a focal point of the show, not just because of the fact you can’t look away from them, but because they mark a mode of expression for Cher that dates back to her TV show with Bono, a time in which she was told to “just stand there and look pretty.” Also, it emphasizes a certain aspect of her personality because, as she says at one point to Tyler Pirrung’s fun take on Mackie when he comments that she’ll wear anything, “Anything is easy. I’m willing to wear nothing.” And, in terms of material, never have ensembles seemed to incorporate both so much and so little material all at the same time.
Unapologetically bold, fearlessly daring and always over-the-top, Mackie’s costumes still command the eye, a visual feast of sequins, feathers, lace, beading, fishnet and fringe. While little fault can be found in the costuming – even Sonny and Cher in their classic fur vests and bell bottoms appear note-perfect – the one weak link may be in the appearance of Cher’s friends in the first act. It’s the ‘60s, so why exactly are they dressed like it’s 1986 and they’re on their way to their aerobics class?
Also, not to say that it doesn’t happen, but the show-stopping number in the first act is “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” and it’s not because of the performers’ vocal prowess or the number’s intricate choreography. It’s because it’s a dedicated fashion show sequence, a parade of Mackie-designed get-ups that the audience happily eats up (just as they do the appearance of Cher’s iconic ‘86 Oscars black dress with spiky, feathery headdress in the second act).
Lorenzo Pugliese’s Sonny Bono is immediately recognizable – diminutive, long-haired and bellbottomed – with a nasally inflection that is equally recognizable and gets an appreciative rise out of the audience. We’re told that it’s hard not to like Sonny, and that aspect Pugliese captures beautifully. We briefly spend time with two of Cher’s great loves, Gregg Allman (played by Mike Bindeman) and Rob Camilletti (Gary Paul Bowman), both of which lend themselves to two great sequences. Bindeman’s duet with Pugliese on “Dark Lady” – accompanied by the impressive dance work of Emma Jade Branson – and a gripping use of “I Found Someone” performed by Bowman and Scott.
Kelly James Tighe’s set is more so a canvas for Tighe and Jonathan Infante’s video designs, which bring a lot of life to the production which, along with Charlie Morrison’s rock concert-style lighting and Daniel Lundberg’s in-your-face (or more accurately, in-your-ear) sound design, create a full-on sensory experience, one that certainly matches the legendary music of Cher, even if the story leaves a little to be desired.
So, did I get a more complete picture of who Cher is? Yeah, but not by much. The songs are still bangers, though, so while I may not feel any more connected to Cher’s story, I will be revisiting her catalog on Spotify.
Performances of The Cher Show are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sunday, April 21; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through April 28 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.com. $40-$139.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
