The Cher Show — Page 9

ghostlight2 said: " Who plays Altman?

eta: I'd heard Michael Berresse, but isn't he playing Mackie? I suppose he could be playing both roles."

Berresse is double cast as Mackie and Altman (Altman only appears in that one scene). Outside of Sonny, the major male roles are all split between Berresse (Altman/Mackie), Hydzik (Allman/John Southall), and Campayno (Rob Camilletti).

ghostlight2 said: ""Being a theatre fan, I was disappointed that they had a scene of Robert Altman convincing Cher to be in his Broadway show, but never mentioned the title or anything about it"

I guess you know what show it was, but for those playing at home, itwas COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN,also starring Karen Black and a young Kathy Bates. A remarkable play that was made into a movie, definitely worth the watch. It was well ahead of its time regarding LGBT issues. Who plays Altman?

eta: I'd heard Michael Berresse, but everything I've read says he is playing Mackie.I suppose he could be playing both roles."

I'd love to see a revival of this.

Popular said: "The @SiteCherBrasil twitter account has a few great pictures posted!"

That's me! hahahah Thanks!

anominondas said: "Does anyone know if it's true that "turn back time" wasn't featured on the show??"

Oh, it's most definitely featured. In fact, it's a crucial song to starting the whole enterprise.

ohh they confirmed that turn back time was done... but sadly i was only briefly in the beginning

anominondas said: "ohh they confirmed that turn back time was done... but sadly i was only briefly in the beginning"

Yep. Turn Back Time and I Found Someone were done briefly. A twitter follower said that they focused on the early years, up until the split with Sonny, and the "musical 80's" act was a bit short, cuz they focused on her film carreer

The comparison to "Three Tall Women" makes this incredibly exciting to me. I'm very interested in this once it comes to New York.

In the photos on @SiteCherBrazil's Twitter (thanks btw!), I find it interesting how Diamond and Wicks don't look amazing in the black wigs. I was thinking about how both of their colorings are much different than Cher's, but it might just be the photo here! I just couldn't even imagine either of them with black hair before seeing those photos and it looks a little off, IMO. Can anyone who saw it last night comment on this? Am I right or does it work?

CherBrasil said: "anominondas said: "can anyone post the song list here?"

So far, the confirmed songs (mentionedon interviews/forum posts, instagram stories, ...) are 17:

Strong Enough
Differente Kind of Love Song
Song for the lonely (last song of Act I)
Superstar (sung by Teal Wicks)
You Havent Seen the Last of Me
Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves
Half-Breed
Dark Lady
All I ever Need is You
I Got You Babe
Just Like Jesse James
Dov'e L'Amore
Bang Bang (1987 version)
I Found Someone
If I Could Turn Back Time
Take me Home/Believe (Final songs)"

The songs ARE listed in the Playbill, but they appear way at the back in minuscule print. This is probably done on purpose in order to maintain some element of surprise for the audience. Part of the "fun" of attending a juke box musical is to see how the creators have shoe-horned well-known songs into the plot-line. In addition to the songs already listed, the following songs are featured in the music credits:



A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES (the plot indulges heavily in fairy-tale elements, with Babe Cher/Cinderella slaving away at her sewing machine dreaming of a better future; Star Cher, dressed in a yellow gown that is clearly intended to enhance her Fairy Godmother function, consoles Babe Cher and encourages her to dream BIG and also reprises the song towards the end of the show).

AFTER ALL (as a duet between Lady Cher and Sonny; it was a bit jarring because the actor playing Sonny, while really good at imitating Sonny's vocal stylings on songs Sonny actually recorded, was less convincing when called on to interpret songs that weren't in his catalogue).

AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS IF I DO

ALL OR NOTHING (I have no recall of this song; maybe it was cut?)

ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO (the Bob Dylan song)

BABY DON'T GO (no recall)

BE MY BABY (Phil Spector is featured in a scene where Babe Cher replaces a missing Darlene Love as a back-up singer; the actor who plays Phil Spector is not identified in the cast credits)

A COWBOY'S WORK IS NEVER DONE

DA DOO RON RON

HEART OF STONE (no clear recall of this in the show; maybe it was cut -- also possible that there was just a snippet: not all of the songs receive full blown performances)

I HOPE YOU FIND IT

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (performed by a boy band, presumably the Dick Clark Five, during Sonny and Cher's trip to the U.K.)

LITTLE MAN (no recall)

LIVING IN A HOUSE DIVIDED

RAMBLING MAN (no recall)

SATURDAY NIGHT IS THE LONELIEST NIGHT OF THE WEEK (the Jule Styne number, which serves the function of giving a nod to traditional Broadway show tunes and is staged as showy number for the ensemble)

SAVE UP ALL YOUR TEARS (no recall)

STRONG ENOUGH

THE BEAT GOES ON (one of the most effectively staged numbers)

SHOOP SHOOP SONG

THE WAY OF LOVE (performed as an audition piece for Robert Altman, who asks Cher to ditch attempts at reading from a script in light of her dyslexia and to simply use a song)

VAMP

WE ALL SLEEP ALONE

WHEN THE MONEY'S GONE

YOU BETTER SIT DOWN KIDS (also a bit jarring because it's one of the first of the Sonny & Cher songs that is given to a different character to sing; in this case, the song is performed by Cher's step-dad as he bids farewell to the family)



LOTS of songs in this show. And one reason the run time exceeds the three hour mark.

Updated On: 6/13/18 at 10:46 AM

New member here. I don't get to Broadway often enough to meaningfully contribute, but I registered in order to share my thoughts on the world-premiere of The Cher Show with those who are curious. It's my way of saying thank you for everything I've learned about other shows from the members of this community.



The problem with The Cher Show is that it purports to be a musical biography of a singular actress-singer-entertainer who is famous for being an embodiment of an archetype: the plain-spoken, earthy, salty-tongued, independent woman. Someone who glories in the fact that she is different and doesn’t really need a man to define her.



Notwithstanding all that, the narrative drive of The Cher Show is powered by scenes that present Cher’s life as nothing more than a series of scenes that focus attention on the singer’s relationship with men. The show, in fact, ends with a powerful monologue by Stephanie J. Block in which she recreates the emotional speech Cher delivered at Sonny Bono’s funeral and then proceeds to sing a wonderful rendition of “Believe” that gains depth thanks to the context and Block’s skill as an actress.



But Sonny died in 1998. Twenty years ago. And it seems like a big contradiction of the underlying premise (Cher as an archetype of the strong woman) to end a show about her life with a scene that is so focused on the final farewell to her former husband. Has Cher done nothing in the past twenty years that merits a dramatic recreation or some form of theatrical sublimation?



Well, in the past twenty years, Cher has had to come to terms with her child’s gender reassignment. She has also emerged as an outspoken opponent of the Trump administration and a master of social media. Yet neither of these defining episodes are even alluded to in this production. In fact, although the audience is given a brief glimpse of Cher nursing Elijah Blue, her son with Gregg Allman, Chaz isn’t given a single second of time on the stage nor is his name ever uttered. Trump is never mentioned. And no allusion is ever made to Sonny’s successful reinvention of himself as a Republican. Given the state of the nation, and Cher’s own positions on this matter, the show could have shown more courage and engaged a sympathetic audience with something that addressed personal responsibility, the role of the artist as citizen, and the fact that even certified gay icons need to overcome obstacles to embracing diversity.



These omissions are odd and undermine the integrity of The Cher Show. Much of the “book” could have been cut and paste from Wikipedia entries and youtube video clips (spoiler alert: a significant amount of material is taken verbatim from Cher’s eulogy to Sonny, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fba-YxHIm6c).



The three actresses playing Cher (listed in the program as Babe Cher, Lady Cher, and Star Cher) do their best to capture various aspects of her personality at different points of her life. But all three err in one fundamental way: they sing much better than Cher ever did and make a point of showing off their singing skills in ways that Cher never had to. Why? Because Cher had charisma and a unique style that set her apart. The actresses do their best to capture some of the mannerisms that render Cher such an iconic presence, but for long stretches their efforts only serve as a reminder that a myriad of drag queens have done at least as well (in fact, the audience was graced with the presence of several Chers who felt compelled to attend in full Cher-regalia). For that matter, so has Sean Hayes/Jack McFarland.



The real star of this show was Bob Mackie. The show made a point of noting that much of the appeal of The Sonny and Cher Show was in its wardrobe. Like most juke-box musicals, The Cher Show trades in the easy nostalgia that comes from repurposing unforgettable moments from a shared cultural past. In the case of The Cher Show, there are various points in which a few notes from a famous song elicit sighs of recognition. Part of the “fun” is in trying to guess how the show will shoe-horn in a greatest hit: how will the well-known number advance the plot? At what point will a cherished (pardon the pun) favorite make an appearance? The Playbill does not spoil any surprises: the musical numbers are not listed in the main body of the program; they appear at the very end, and composer/publishing credits are given in small print. At regular intervals, the audience took delight in recognizing the beginning strains of songs such as “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “The Beat Goes On” and “I’ve Got You Babe,” etc. But an even stronger nostalgic pull was exercised by the Mackie costumes: the audience gave audible sighs of approval each time one of the iconic costumes received its moment in the spotlight. A high-point of the evening was the actual cat-walk fashion show in which more than a dozen gowns were prominently showcased. A Tony nomination is inevitable, although one has to wonder whether it’s altogether fair to reward someone for simply showcasing on a Broadway stage gowns that were created for other types of stages all together. Mackie also features prominently in the script and he has more scenes than Gregg Allman.



The show is long and will inevitably be cut. A prime contender for the cutting floor is a scene involving Lucille Ball. The Playbill did not provide a credit for the actress playing Lucille Ball, but I suspect it was Emily Skinner, who has the thankless role of Cher’s mother, portrayed as an ever supportive avatar. What function does Lucille Ball serves in The Cher Story? She’s brought in as a way of drawing a parallel to another famous husband-wife entertainment duo whose personal relationship was never as rosy as their professional one: when Cher is wondering whether she can leave Sonny without incurring the wrath of the American people, she seeks advice from Lucille Ball who faced similar concerns when her relationship foundered to the point of making their separation a foregone conclusion. Lucille provides Cher with some advice and also take advantage of her time on the stage to sing a Cher song. Surreal? Yes. And acknowledged as such by the actresses on stage. It serves no real purpose and will likely end by the way side before the musical makes its way to Broadway. In some respects, this is a shame: the audience deserves to see more of Emily Skinner. Paradoxically, it is Skinner who seems to best convey the qualities that Cher has as a singer. She sounded the most like Cher, which led me to wonder whether, perhaps, Skinner may ultimately transition to Broadway as one of the Chers. She’s wasted in the role of Cher’s mother.



The actor playing Sonny did a good job mimicking Bono’s vocal qualities. A few idiosyncracies that might benefit from rethinking: Sonny was, notoriously, not a sex symbol. And yet, the audience is rewarded with a scene involving a shirtless Sonny that reveals him (or the actor playing him, to be more precise) to have been a buff hunk with a remarkably well-pronounced six pack. The gratuitous shirtless scene pulled me out of the already skimpy story line and was jarring precisely because the whole premise of Sonny and Cher was built on the “beauty and the beast” paradigm. (And, yes, as someone pointed out, the fact that Lady Cher appears to be actually shorter than Sonny is problematic in light of the fact that the disparity in height was also a cornerstone of the duo's act and is emphasized in scripted lines that are at odds with the visuals on stage.)





It seems slightly strange to have a rocker such as Gregg Allman portrayed as someone who might enjoy investing in Broadway-belting. No mention was made of the tours that Allman and Cher performed together or of the tension that existed between the two very different fan bases that these two artists cultivated. It was also strange to realize that the audience was never really given closure as to Gregg Allman’s departure from the story line. There was some degree of foreshadowing as far as his drug usage is concerned. But the audience was never really told what happened to Gregg; he simply faded from the story (Gregg died from liver cancer last year; Cher attended his funeral).





The audience really seemed to enjoy the show. Be prepared for behavior that is more typical at concert venues than at theatrical productions. The man sitting behind me, for example, adamantly insisted on proving that he knew the lyrics to many songs and wasn’t ashamed to sing loudly along with the performers on stage. Many in the audience also felt no compunction at filming with their cell phones or snapping photos of the stage and set (during the performance).



The end of the show was a bit odd. The three Chers were center stage singing the upbeat disco tune TAKE ME HOME, dressed in almost Abba-esque outfits, while the actors who had appeared throughout the show all paraded individually across the stage, but there was no applause to salute their entrances: I suspect that the director anticipated that everyone would immediately recognize that this was the finale and give the actors a send-off to wild applause. That didn’t happen (which is not to say that the audience didn’t like the number; they simply didn’t “get” that this was the finale and therefore didn’t realize that the individual entrances were intended as a type of curtain call). I suspect the director will be rethinking how to close the show. At the end of Take Me Home, the company took another set of bows. And then it was up to Chicago’s Transportation Authority to Take Me Home. The show was long. I was glad trains were still running.

Updated On: 6/13/18 at 11:12 AM

Quite the introduction. Thanks for the well-written review and welcome to the board.

A few additional thoughts: for all the detail paid to the costumes, the Cher wigs are not matching in style. Lady Cher's wig needs to be much longer, though I suspect it's kept short because Teal Wicks is not as tall as Cher. Similarly, Star Cher's wigs needs to be bigger - I wish it had some gray in it as well (though I get she's supposed to portray Cher in her 30s-40s).

Also, be careful with side seating. Because so many numbers are done by all three Chers, you often have one in the center and two on the sides and you may miss them if you're too far to the side. I was in the Orchestra Left - seat 25 and while my ticket was not marked as "restricted view", I missed a lot of the LED screen and much of the action taking place on stage right.

Finally, I thought it was funny that the theatre is clearly still trying to move some of the margarita mix inventory from their prior tenant "Escape to Margaritaville", the signature drink at this show is the "Icon Margarita". Good luck to them!

I felt that of the three Chers, Teal was the weakest of the three, She gets steamrolled by Block and even newcomer Diamond shows her up. I have never seen her perform before, but she didn't really standout from the other two...