“The Cher Show”

[rating=3]Another musical is getting its “jump-start” in Chicago! It seems as if New York producers are now realizing the value of the best of theater audiences, those in Chicago! The latest to join the ranks is ” The Cher Show”, the story of Super-Star Cher and her rise to being that someone special she is. With a book by Rick Elice, the story takes us from Cher’s teen years, meeting Sonny Bono ( Jarrod Spector has him down to a tee), Gregg Allman ( deftly handled by Matthew Hydzik) and Rob Camilletti (Michael Campayno).. We learn of her poverty as a child, her rise to stardom thru Sonny and the way that he supposedly took all of the money, while she was the true star.

The story lays out as a TV Special being shot and Cher is the story-teller.  Cher is played by three wonderful ladies, but in a way that truly makes the story move better. Her personality is broken down into age and style. There is 16 year old Babe ( Michaela Diamond is adorable ) who we watch mature during this 2 1/2 hours ( there is one 15 minute intermission) of story. As she matures, she becomes Lady ( handled to perfection by Teal Wicks) and then she becomes Star ( the powerful and almost Cher-like Stephanie J. Block). These ladies can all sing and act, and what makes the story-telling work is that the three alter-egos help each other to make it through some of the hardest parts of thier life.

The music is THE music that made Sonny and Cher “Sonny & Cher”, “I Got You Babe”, “Bust Out” and many others that were hits as well as on their hit TV Show There is a marvelous tribute to designer Bob Mackie (Michael Berresse, who also does a solid Robert Altman as we learn how Cher got into movies). The TV Documentary format is fairly easy to follow and after the first few numbers, the audience “gets” the three ladies as one. The story covers six decades and is filled with 35 songs, although some of them are not from start to finish. We do watch a wonderful sequence as Cher gets into the movies and how she works her way from actress to star and Oscar-Winner.

From the get-go, her desire was to be someone, despite her lack of education or ability to read. Her mother (Emily Skinner) always led her to believe that she could be anything she wanted to be ( or so we are told) and in this story, she does become just that. In fact, I am sure that while she was in town she made suggestions as to how she should be portrayed. Why not? After all, she is loved and adored by all ages and is “Cher”. The set (Christian Jones & Brett J. Banakis) is glitzy and yet simple, never distracting from the star (s). I loved the projections and the feeling that we were indeed eavesdropping on the making of the documentary ( Derrel Maloney) and of course, the amazing costumes were by Bob Mackie ( who else?).

The ensemble is important to a show such as this because of the dance numbers ( choreography by Christopher Gattelli) and the ease of movement ( director Jason Moore). They are: Marija Juliette Abney, Carleigh Bettiol, Taurean Everett, Michael Fatica, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald,  Michael Graceffa, Blaine Alden Krauss, Sam Lips, Allie Meixner, Tiana Okoye, Angel Reda, Christopher Vo, Alena Watters and Charlie Williams. Nice work!

“The Cher Show” will continue thru July 15th at  the Oriental Theatre located at 24 West Randolph Street ( between State and Dearborn) with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2 p.m. and 8 .m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

NO PERFORMANCES  July 4th and NO Evenings on July 1st and 15th.

Tickets range from $35- $115 and can be purchased at any of the Broadway In Chicago box offices, by calling the Broadway In Chicago Ticketline at 1-800-775-2000 or online at http://eee.BroadwayInChicago.com

To follow the show, visit www.TheCherShowBroadway.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Cher Show”