ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Cher has been a fixture in the entertainment world for multiple decades now, and last week gave me and my mom the closest opportunity I’ll probably ever have to seeing one of her concerts thanks to “The Cher Show,” whose national tour rolled through Wichita’s Century II last weekend.
“The Cher Show” is a jukebox musical that tells the story of the life and career of Cher featuring songs she has performed throughout her multi-decade career. The part of Cher is played by three actresses: one portraying her in the 1950s and 60s (nicknamed "Babe"), one for the 1970s (nicknamed "Lady"), and one for the 1980s and 90s (nicknamed "Star"). Throughout the show, the three interact and help each other out.
To begin, the casting for the show was absolutely spot on for everyone. Morgan Scott is a force of nature as Star and kicks off the show with a huge bang (and lots of strobe lights, but I’ll get to that later). She portrays Cher’s cockiness at having achieved her success and stardom very well, and also does a great job showing vulnerability, especially near the end of the show during a scene when Cher is facing a career slump as well as the scene when she’s shown dealing with her husband Sonny’s death. Her excitement at playing such a huge icon is absolutely palpable every moment she’s onstage, and I would absolutely love to hear more from her in the future, whether it’s with another show or an album deal. Catherine Ariale is fantastic as Lady and also shows off some out-of-this-world vocals, and it truly didn’t take too much imagination to see her as Cher at that particular age. She does a great job of portraying Cher’s initial excitement and fun at her newfound fame and then her eventual exhaustion due to working non-stop for Sonny, and she also showed some wonderful vulnerability near the end of Act One when she’s contemplating what life would be like upon leaving Sonny. Rounding out the leading ladies is Ella Perez as Babe, and like her fellow leading ladies, has some wonderful vocals throughout the show. She did a great job portraying young Cher’s vulnerability and naïveté about how the music industry (and to an extent, the rest of the world) works, and she’s also able to convey the confusion and shyness of first love in her scenes with Sonny. I felt like she had the most surprising vocals out of the trio and found it amazing how such big vocals could come out of someone so petite. There were multiple moments where the three got to share the stage and sing at the same time, and their harmonies were GORGEOUS.
A couple other standouts in terms of casting were Kristin Rose Kelleher in a dual role as Cher’s mother, Georgia Holt and Lucille Ball (who has a hilarious scene in Act 2). She’s funny and fierce and even kind of stole the show a couple times (not entirely unlike King George III in “Hamilton” in some respects), and she also had some standout vocals. The final standout for me was Frankie Marasa 5 as Cher’s first husband, Sonny Bono, and he’s able to show his initial infatuation with Cher as well as his ongoing volatility as their relationship deteriorates as the show goes on. He also had some fantastic comedic timing, especially in his scenes with Lady, and he’s another one I foresee a bright future for. Overall, the casting crew did an awesome job with this show, and everyone was absolutely spot on.
The costume crew for the show also deserves a HUGE shoutout because the costuming was absolutely out of this world. Bob Mackie’s original designs are used in the show, and I can’t even begin to imagine just how much blood, sweat, time and tears (and probably some curse words) went into recreating each one of the looks featured in the show. There were multiple moments in the show where the costuming had my jaw basically on the floor, and all three leading ladies looked absolutely STUNNING throughout the show. If someone asked me to pick, I would say my favorite looks were her famous 1986 Oscars dress and the outfit all three ladies wear during the “Believe” finale of the show. If the show were newer, I would absolutely be contributing to any campaign toward winning any and all costuming awards.
The musical numbers themselves are all performed really well, and the vocals and backup choreography came together perfectly, and again, I can’t imagine how much time and effort it took for it all to be perfected. I honestly couldn’t even pick a favorite number in that respect because the entire show was so well done.
While I overall enjoyed the show, my only minor quibble was the length, there were a few moments I felt could have used some tightening up – nothing major, but I just felt some tightening was needed to help make the show flow a little smoother. Also, if you happen to have photosensitivity issues, definitely plan on having some protection if you get the chance to see the show, because there are multiple moments in the show featuring strobing and other effects that could knock you out ... and that’s just within the show’s first 10 seconds. And if I could put in a request directly to the powers that be for Century II, PLEASE make some upgrades to your sound system, because it’s starting to sound its age.
Overall, I very much enjoyed my opportunity to see “The Cher Show,” and I would give it a solid “A” grade. It’s an overall solid show, and I could tell the creators showed a lot of care and wanted to do justice to its subject, with all three leading ladies spectacularly bringing her to life. EVERYONE in the cast was ridiculously talented, and everyone had such great chemistry with each other. The costuming was also done really well, and I couldn’t believe so many of Cher’s famous looks were able to be recreated so accurately, and the show’s musical numbers were also done really well. Overall, if you have the chance to see “The Cher Show” at some point in the future, I very highly recommend going and seeing it.
