Broadway-bound 'Cher Show' needs work
“The Cher Show” — ★ ★ ½
You know a Broadway-bound tuner isn't Broadway-ready when the costumes elicit more sustained and effusive applause than the musical numbers. Which is what happened at Thursday's opening of “The Cher Show,” the latest celebrity-inspired jukebox musical to premiere in Chicago before previewing on Broadway in November.
Designer Bob Mackie re-creates those bedazzling, body-baring outfits — everything from fringed, feathered retro numbers to glittering Academy Award gowns — which for decades reflected the outsize glamour that defined Cher's public persona. More than once, the costumes stop the show.
Unfortunately, clothes don't make the musical.
The show has a compelling subject in 72-year-old Cher. Vital and determined, with an expressive if limited vocal range and a tart sense of humor, she's sustained a more than 50-year career that includes pop music, TV and film success, and several reinventions.
Musically, the show is solid thanks to its skilled stars Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond and music supervisor/supervisor Daryl Waters, who does a fine job re-imagining solos as trios. Moreover, the stars, who portray the titular character at different ages, have mastered not only the Cher-isms (hair flips, lip licks, hand-on-hips) but her distinctive vocal timbre.
Unfortunately the overlong, inconsistent “Cher Show” needs some tailoring, beginning with the conceit that drives the first act and is all but abandoned in the second. Written by the ever-clever “Jersey Boys” writer Rick Elice and directed by Jason Moore (“Avenue Q”), the musical opens during a rehearsal for a fictional, TV variety special about Cher's life. Unhappy with the opening number, the Star (the formidable Block, the oldest of the Chers, who commands the stage every second she's on it) calls for a change. That sparks a consultation with her younger selves: Lady, the 30-something TV star (the vivacious Wicks) and the teenage Babe (a vulnerable Diamond), a backup singer whose life changed when she met songwriter Sonny Bono, played with authentic nasality by the superb Jarrod Spector.
Flashbacks chronicle her triumphs and disappointments including her marriage to Bono, a partnership that produced chart-topping singles and a top 10 television show, and her emergence as a successful solo artist and TV personality after their divorce. Over more than two hours, we experience her collaboration with Mackie (Michael Beresse), her turbulent marriage to rocker Greg Allman (Matthew Hydzik) and her affair with young Rob Camilletti (the sweet-voiced Michael Campayno). Finally, in a delicious montage choreographed by Christopher Gattelli and set to “The Beat Goes On,” we watch the pop culture icon transform into an award-winning actress. Providing endless support is Cher's mother Georgia, played with warmth and wisdom by pitch-perfect Emily Skinner.
The Chers harmonizing on the poignant “You Haven't Seen the Last of Me,” Block's powerhouse vocals on “The Way of Love” and a satisfyingly counterintuitive “Believe” that turns the anthem into a ballad make up the musical highlights in a pleasant spectacle that shortchanges fans by delivering abbreviated versions of the hits.
I guess that's what farewell tours are for.
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Location: The Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, through July 15. Also 2 p.m. June 27, July 11. No show July 4. No 7:30 p.m. shows July 1 or 15
Running time: About 2 hours, 30 minutes, including intermission
Tickets: $35-$157
Parking: Paid parking lots nearby
Rating: For adults; contains mature subject matter and strong language