THE CHER SHOW Previews — Page 6

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CT2NYC said: "Won the lottery for today's matinee, and I got orchestra A 6, full view. Definitely wasn't expecting that!"

OMG LUCKY! How did you like it??

robskynyc said: "CT2NYC said: "Won the lottery for today's matinee, and I got orchestra A 6, full view. Definitely wasn't expecting that!"

OMG LUCKY! How did you like it??"

I thought it was a little cheesy, but I have to admit I kinda loved it, and the great seat didn't hurt! Especially liked SJB and Jarrod Spector, but I thought Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond held their own. The show is just a lot of fun, and it goes out on a high note with the dance medley at the end. Definitely a crowd-pleaser.

CT2NYC said: "robskynyc said: "CT2NYC said: "Won the lottery for today's matinee, and I got orchestra A 6, full view. Definitely wasn't expecting that!"

OMG LUCKY! How did you like it??"

I thought it was a little cheesy, but I have to admit I kinda loved it, and the great seat didn't hurt! Especially liked SJB and Jarrod Spector, but I thought Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond held their own. The show is just a lot of fun, and it goes out on a high note with the dance medley at the end. Definitely a crowd-pleaser."

Would you say it is comparable to Mamma Mia in regard to its cheese-factor?

Miles2Go2 said: "CT2NYC said: "robskynyc said: "CT2NYC said: "Won the lottery for today's matinee, and I got orchestra A 6, full view. Definitely wasn't expecting that!"

OMG LUCKY! How did you like it??"

I thought it was a little cheesy, but I have to admit I kinda loved it, and the great seat didn't hurt! Especially liked SJB and Jarrod Spector, but I thought Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond held their own. The show is just a lot of fun, and it goes out on a high note with the dance medley at the end. Definitely a crowd-pleaser."

Would you say it is comparable to Mamma Mia in regard to its cheese-factor?"

I never saw Mamma Mia! on stage, so I can't compare. Honestly, I expected some cheese, so it really didn't bother me.

robskynyc said: "CT2NYC said: "lifeisinyou said: "Dark Lady would have been sung by Sonny and Greg, and it had a big dance number that was stunning. Big big bummer if that’s gone ??"

"Dark Lady" is most definitely still in the show."

Ah ok. Yeah it was hard to remember them all cause there was A LOT"

Kinda surprised you forgot Dark Lady because the "dancing Cher" practically stopped the show. Yes, the Mackie fashion show is everything as well.

WAIT. is dark lady the one where its a girl (none of the chers) dancing a tango with all the male ensemble and shes doing these INSANE acrobatics? if so, i was to busy gagging at the choreo to even notice the song if im being honest LOL and i dont even remember if it was sung by a female or male. the choreography was THAT mind blowing.

Yup. That's the one. After Star Cher (Stephanie J. Block) announces we're going to be seeing, for the first time, a duel, Sonny and Gregg sing "Dark Lady" with the main focus on stage being that tango number with the male dancers and the solo girl being tossed around to the audience excitement.

Anyway, as I had mentioned before, I'm attending Opening Night but wanted to see the show beforehand due to my excitement. Last night I finally saw the show and I'll share my assessment in capsule form without going into what others have said.

Fantastic opening number to set the tone: 80s Cher in the famous black outfit with the sailors then breaking the fourth wall (as Cher would do) and establishing that concept immediately. As mentioned, Stephanie is doing full-out Cher: speaking voice and singing. I'm sure this was done by Cher's notes as without that, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the audience to accept her (or anyone) as Cher. In seconds, Stephanie magically puts Cher on that stage and carries the rest of the show. Yes, she will get Tony Award notice. Impossible to overlook the work she is doing, which is almost a one-woman show.

Smart choice having Star introduce Babe and Lady during her opening monologue so audience knows what's up and "gets" the interweaving of ALL the Chers, even in sections that don't correspond to the Cher of that era. It works as that certain Cher is looking in at the Cher of that period. They could have easily done this with each Cher only appearing in her own era and just follow the story chronologically. Kudos for not going with this concept.

One FABULOUS example (and one of my favorite moments) is the insanely great montage of Cher's film career with a gold fringed Babe (Micaela Diamond) dancing with male dancers to the song "The Beat Goes On" and Star (SJB) rising out of the stage in all of Cher's famous crazy Bob Mackie Academy Awards/Oscar gowns). Cher's entire film rise with Babe telling us tidbits all done with a cinematic staging. Wow!

Now, I'll say this, Micaela Diamond is a "diamond" and is at equal level with SJB. You simply can't take your eyes off her and she's a joy every time she's on stage. I did not like Teal Wicks at all. She's incredibly talented and shines in her acting sections (her Sonny and Cher argument scenes are acting gems), but there is a disconnect: visually she looks NOTHING like Cher at any moment, even in the wig and costumes. Whereas SJB and Micaela create the Cher essence and connect on stage, Teal just seems like she's filling in for someone else. She sticks out like a sore thumb. I appreciated her performance, just didn't feel THE CHER SHOW should have cast her in this.

The audience embraced Jarrod Spector as Sonny Bono when he first appears but when he started singing Sonny's section of "I Got You Babe", the audience just went wild. He will definitely get Tony Award notice for this as its impossible to not notice his performance/contribution in this show. He pops in throughout the show so his role isn't brief.

Emily Skinner isn't wasted whatsoever. Her brief scenes as Cher's mom are solid enough especially as she appears various times throughout the show. One bump is her Lucille Ball. She speaks in her regular voice, which broke the illusion. Hopefully they quickly choose to have Emily emulate Lucille's famous deep raspy voice, which I feel will enhance the illusion. The costume is fabulous; the none-Lucille Ball voice just didn't match the visual.

Wasn't blown away by the Bob Mackie fashion show staging. I would have done it a bit differently. It just didn't wow me though the audience was going crazy. The costume choices were great but it fell "flat" to me. Whatever.

Anyway, the show ends with an high-energy and great mini-concert as the section representing her famous 3-year "Farewell Tour". It was en par with a Beyonce' concert and how they do this 8 times a week is baffling. Insane.

I'm still thinking about the show today so that should speak for itself. Though the early portions are a bit bumpy, we needed to get all that info being established. The show kicked in gear for me when Sonny and Cher go to London and appear on Top of the Pops singing "I Got You Babe". Act 2 was perfect completely. I actually uttered out loud "wow!" when the set transitioned into the Cher set for her filming her "I Found Someone" music video. The use of the video screens showing the "live" feed off the stage cameras as they were recreating the video was mind-blowing. This technical gimmick was used throughout the show: video screens showing the on stage cameras "live" footage so the video footage was in real-time. JERSEY BOYS did this; THE CHER SHOW raised the bar with it.

For those curious ones, here’s the song list (in alphabetical order, not as it appears in the show). A few are song by the ensemble not the principal cast:

“A Different Kind of Love Song”
“A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”
“Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do”
“All I Ever Need is You”
“Baby Don’t Go”
“Bang Bang”
“Be My Baby”
“Believe”
“Da Doo Ron Ron”
“Dark Lady”
“Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”
“Half Breed”
“Heart of Stone”
“I Found Someone”
“I Got You Babe”
“It Don’t Come Easy”
“I Like it Like That”
“If I Could Turn Back Time”
“Just Like Jesse James”
“Little Man”
“Living in a House Divided”
“Midnight Rider”
“Ramblin’ Man”
“Save Up All Your Tears”
“Song for the Lonely”
“Strong Enough”
“Take Me Home”
“The Beat Goes On”
“The Shoop Shoop Song”
“The Way of Love”

robskynyc said: "Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "robskynyc said: "CT2NYC said: "lifeisinyou said: "Dark Lady would have been sung by Sonny and Greg, and it had a big dance number that was stunning. Big big bummer if that’s gone ??"

"Dark Lady" is most definitely still in the show."

Ah ok. Yeah it was hard to remember them all cause there was A LOT"

Kinda surprised you forgot Dark Lady because the "dancingCher" practically stopped the show. Yes, the Mackie fashion show is everything as well."

WAIT. is dark lady the one where its a girl (none of the chers) dancing a tango with all the male ensemble and shes doing these INSANE acrobatics? if so, i was to busy gagging at the choreo to even notice the song if im being honest LOL and i dont even remember if it was sung by a female or male. the choreography was THAT mind blowing."

Yes! It was mesmerizing!!!

Stephanie, Micaela, Jarrod and Emily are all amazing in this show. Saw the show two times in Chicago, didn't really have a lot of issues, I did, however, love the Mackie fashion show, made me feel like a child watching her on TV again. Sorry to hear that some of my favorite parts of show are gone, really want to see the show again badly!...