Like the era that first gave us Cher, this show too can boast of incredible simulation.
Credit for that goes largely to its star, Tony nominee Stephanie J.
But where the Beatles imploded beforeBeatlemania, we now have bothThe Cher Showand also… Cher.
Credit: Joan Marcus
Why dont you ask Mick Jagger?)
Do we need another Cher?
Do we need three of them?
Real Cher and the other producers ofThe Cher Showthink we do.
The three actresses, one diva structure is sure to invite comparison toSummer: The Donna Summer Musical.
Raised by a practical and profane single mom, Cher leaves home at 16 and soon meets Sonny Bono.
Mackie, Chers collaborator for 50 years, deserves special mention.
(Mackie is portrayed with controlled effervescence by Michael Berresse.)
But where the costumes are stitch-for-stich accurate, the story necessarily takes some liberties.
The career highs (an Oscar!)
and lows (an infomercial!)
So are her most significant relationships: Sonny Bono, Gregg Allman and… Oh, right, the former Queens bagel baker who appeared in her I Found Someone video.
The skill on display is impressive, but to what end here?
fears, something Real Cher has evidently struggled with and triumphed over.
At this momentThe Cher Showfeels less like storytelling than like the pop goddess staging her therapy sessions.
Other times it seems like her Wikipedia page set to music.
What it rarely achieves is becoming a fully realized evening of theater.
But it is, in the tradition of the American jukebox musical, a fair simulation.B
