The three Chers of Wick Theatre’s The Cher Show: (from left) Catherine Ariale, Kristin Rose Kelleher and Ella Perez (Photos by Amy Pasquantonio)
By Britin Haller
Shamelessly borrowing from the title of one of Cher’s biggest songs, The Cher Show, now playing through May 31 at The Wick Theatre, closes their 12th season not with a whimper, but with a “Bang Bang.”
Fans of the legendary singer will be in Cher heaven, while others will no doubt recognize many, if not all, of her hits. This jukebox musical features a collection of songs from Cher’s six decades in show business, over thirty tunes in total.
Cher was a producer on this story of her life and was reported to have acted as a “mother hen” to the production, both creatively, and as an overseer. This production is directed by Jeffry George, and backed by a glorious eight-piece live band led by Donya Lane.
The premise is thus. Three Chers known as Babe, Lady, and Star take us on a journey of the ups and downs of Cher’s life from growing up with a struggling, single mother in California, to meeting the love of her life, Sonny Bono, to going out on her own, to winning an Oscar, to losing Sonny in a tragic skiing accident. Along the way, discrimination, severe dyslexia, failed romances and poor choices knocked her down, but never out. This is a story of resilience and hope.
But first, let’s talk about the fashion elephant in the room. We don’t want to sound trite by saying the fabulous Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie original costumes (now owned by the Wick family), are the star here, but they are definitely a star, and how cool that when not being utilized in a production somewhere, they are often on display at the Wick’s Costume World Theatrical store in Pompano Beach. We’ve been told that over 450 costumes appear on-stage, and with all the quick changes involving twenty-four cast members, we believe it.
For over fifty years, Mackie and Cher had what has been called the “most iconic designer-muse relationship in entertainment history,” despite the fact he also dressed Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Elton John and Ann-Margret among others.
Looking good is always half the battle, but the three women who play Cher at various points in her life have the performing chops as well. As well they should, since they’re all veterans brought in from the National Broadway Tour and have been playing Cher on-stage for years.
There’s Ella Perez as the younger Cher (Babe), shy, but headstrong enough to cause her mother worry, Catherine Ariale as the sassy middle Cher (Lady) who appeared with Sonny during their heyday, and Kristin Rose Kelleher as the more mature Cher (Star) who became a legend of stage and screen when she had the chutzpah to break off with Sonny and go out on her own. Each woman excels in different facets of Cher, but it’s Ariale who most closely resembles the icon both vocally, and in her mannerisms, like when making the Sonny short jokes Cher did so well.
Translation: Cher is too much for one person to play. Which works surprisingly well especially when the trio share the stage, have conversations/give warnings to each other, and even harmonize in such gorgeous numbers as “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me.” We loved the “Snap out of it!” callback to Moonstruck.
Catherine Ariale and Mick Anastasia
Nick Anastsia, as Sonny Bono, nails the role of the man who stole Cher’s heart when she met him at the age of sixteen. Although their relationship was illegal since he was eleven years older than her at the time, not to mention Cher was underage and her mother threatened to jail him for statutory rape, Cher often romanticized the coupling, comparing their meeting to when Maria first saw Tony in West Side Story.
In reality, as we find out here, Sonny was kind of a creep, manipulating and controlling her even to the extent of not giving her any financial ownership in the business, and calling Elijah Blue, her child by Gregg Allman, “Rapunzel’s kid,” making fun of Allman’s long hair.
“I know you never got to be a teenager, but you can’t turn into one now,” Sonny tells her in a high intensity moment. But Cher loved him deeply for the way he saw something in her when no one else did, and she was loyal to Sonny until the end, even giving a deeply emotional eulogy at his funeral. A touching bit with the two of them near the close of the show gave us chills.
For some reason, Sonny appears clean-shaven throughout, and we sure did miss his signature thick, droopy mustache. It was nice however to see him at the keyboards, just like he used to do on their weekly TV show, and with much-loved nostalgia for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour playing a big part here, two of our favorite numbers were “I Got You, Babe,” and “All I Ever Need Is You.” Ditto “Little Man.”
In a scene reminiscent of their television act, Catherine Ariale (Lady) is very cute in her red sparkly dress, and we could swear that was really Cher on stage flipping her hair and making those short jokes about Sonny. We would have been happy with more of “Vamp” (a Vamp skit would be fun) which featured Star Cher on top of the piano, instead of Lady who would have been the appropriate one for the time period. Perhaps this choice was made because Lady’s big Bob Mackie number is next up, and they needed costume-change time.
Local favorite Larry Buzzeo appears as the “Raja of Rhinestones” Bob Mackie, and while we adored him as Jacob Marley in The Wick’s A Christmas Carol last December, we’re more than mildly obsessed with him as Mackie, and seriously have never loved Buzzeo more.
Cher said Mackie changed her life. Mackie said that without him she’d be “a peacock without feathers.” Mackie and the Chers have a similar chemistry here, especially when Buzzeo joins Lady and Star in “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,” and Babe in “The Beat Goes On/It Don’t Come Easy,” the latter being our favorite dance number of the evening with Mackie and his assistant (Max O’Connell) hamming it up to the point where it’s impossible to take our eyes off them.
Buzzeo also has a nice turn as Robert Altman dealing with a nervous dyslexic Cher who keeps bringing up his groaner film Popeye and doesn’t think she deserves to act with Kathy Bates.
Aaron Bower
Aaron Bower shines as Cher’s frustrated mother, Georgia Holt, who didn’t want Cher to drop out of school at sixteen and definitely didn’t want her to get involved with the much-older Sonny Bono. Bower also knocks ‘em dead while smoking and belting out “Heart of Stone” with Lady Cher. Ball encourages Cher to leave Sonny. “I know something about leaving a co-star,” she quips dryly.
Jesse Luttrell is Cher’s second husband, the cocaine-addled rocker Gregg Allman. With his signature long blonde/red hair and extreme sideburns, embroidered suede pantsuit, open shirt/chest hair, and chukka boots, Luttrell oozes just the right amount of sleaze and charm. Allman flirts openly with any woman within his reach and fails to see the hypocrisy in being upset about Cher’s “toilet mouth,” as he calls it, all the while he’s shoving coke up his nose.
Even though Luttrell/Allman is sexy during “A Midnight Rider/Ramblin’ Man,” we’re still left wondering what the anti-drug Cher ever saw in the man known as “Coyotus Maximus” because of his appetite for women. Clever thinking by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family), who wrote the book, for pairing Cher’s hit “Just Like Jesse James” with Allman. Even though the song’s release was way past when she ended her relationship with the musician, the lyrics could have easily been written about him.
And Rob Camilletti is the twenty-three-year-old Queens “Bagel Boy” Cher met on her fortieth birthday while out with friends. Surprisingly, they lasted three years, and according to Cher are still good friends who holiday together. Matthew J. Brightbill plays the good-looking Camilletti, who was paparazzi-shy, during “I Found Someone.” Side note: Camilletti is referred to as “Bagel Boy” in the book.
Ensemble members who also take on small roles throughout the show are Amber Arevalo, Matthew J. Brightbill, Brooke DeBeer, Santiago Garza, Erica Kaylee Gouldthorpe, Matthew Green, Kevin Hincapie, Caila Katz, Amanda Lopez, Christopher Milligan, Max O’Connell, Daniella Santos, Cameron Scott and Lauren Wickerson.
The F-bombs and scantily-dressed cast members might be too risqué for the typical Wick crowd, although who knows, perhaps they find it refreshing. We always love it when a bed gets wheeled out on-stage, and the “Shoop Shoop Song” with ensemble members Lopez, Gouldthorpe, Katz, and DeBeer is no exception. Lopez, Katz, and DeBeer are also featured as Vegas showgirls with feathers and kicks in “When the Money’s Gone.”
Choreographer, and ensemble member, Sabrina Gail Lobner deservedly gets her moment in the spotlight in “Dark Lady,” a richly rewarding ensemble number with lifts.
We were pleasantly surprised that “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” (1971) and “Half-Breed” (1973) were included, as both are now considered by some to be in poor taste for promoting hurtful stereotypes. Even Cher herself has acknowledged it was “way past time” to stop singing the latter and removed it from her tour. That being said, both songs are a big part of Cher’s history, and it seems appropriate to include them, as the lyrics to both tell the story of a woman facing discrimination, not propagating it.
With 450 costumes and twenty-four cast members, Naihla Mancuso and Micaela Mercado have their hands full managing the stage. Thankfully Wick in-house designers Justin Thompson on sound, Clifford Spulock on lighting, Kacey Koploff and Josieu Jean on projections, and set coordinator Kimberly Wick came together as a team to make their jobs easier.
A special nod to former Broadway performers (and real-life spouses) Leslie Wolfe and Douglas Walker for their incredible spotlight work, especially in “Bang Bang” and “Song for the Lonely.”
While The Cher Show often felt like a parade, and an excuse to show off Mackie’s brilliant costumes, we didn’t mind. “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” with racks of color-coordinated dresses of peach, orange, blue, red, pink, green, and yellow is visually stunning.
It takes a village, and an army of backstage dressers, to pull off something of this magnitude, and to not mention Tanner Pippert on wigs, and Nikki Adams, Scott Poche, Lorena Berardi (Costume Coordination), and John Beltre (Costume Coordinator NYC) on wardrobe, would be a crime.
The Cher Show opened on Broadway in December of 2018 and ran for 296 performances, winning a Tony Award for one of the Chers (Stephanie J. Block as Star), and one for Mackie’s incredible talent.
So, what is The Cher Show? It’s certainly not a deep dive into the darker corners of Cher’s life, although you will likely learn bits about her that you didn’t know before, like what movie roles she regrettably turned down. And it’s certainly not short on (sorry, Sonny, we couldn’t resist!) great music, dance, and costumes.
What it is is Cher. It’s a flashy and loud fashion show, exhausting, entertaining, chaotic and mostly unapologetic. It’s a celebration, a spectacle, a two-plus hour reminder that Cher has always existed exactly as she pleases.
To paraphrase, Cher is a scamp, a camp, and a bit of a tramp, she is a V-A-M-P, vamp. Cher will turn eighty on May 20.
So, buy your tickets today, because you won’t be able to turn back time after The Cher Show leaves town at the end of May. And life is too short to live with regrets.
Just ask any of the Chers.
Major Kudos: An increased public-appeal effort by The Wick, and actor Aaron Bower who lent her ideas and voice, resulted in, for the first time ever, no cell phone going off during a production we attended there.
The Cher Show plays through May 31 at The Wick Theatre & Museum Club 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; 7:30 p.m. Thurs-Sat; 2 p.m. Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun. Running time approximately 140 minutes includes an intermission. Tickets starting at $89. Call 561-995-2333, or visit thewick.org.
Britin Haller is a journalist, editor, and author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie, sports, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with NY Times bestselling authors. After appearing in local musicals and all-state choir, Britin studied theater at Indiana University (a Big 10 college) and the University of Evansville (Rami Malek’s alma mater).
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