Review: THE CHER SHOW at Walton Arts Center

THE CHER SHOW on tour opened their First US Tour Sunday night, Nov. 19, at the beautiful Walton Arts Center, 495 W Dickson St, in Fayetteville, and I was so beyond excited that this production was my first introduction to this amazing venue. What is there to say about The Legend-Icon-Diva that is Cher? She is our Warrior Goddess, and this company of performers, led by Director Casey Hushion and Choreographer Antoinette DiPietropolo, brought her spirit, her talent, and her life to Northwest Arkansas, and it took all my Will Power to not sing at the top of my lungs through the whole show. I loved it so much! 

Confession time: I only knew an average amount about Cher coming into the show, but I learned so much more from these delightful storytellers. I did know most of the songs in the show, but I was unaware of all the awards she has won. I was also unaware that Sonny and Cher were the first hippies on the music scene. I didn’t know she was married to Greg Allman and had a son with him. I didn’t know she went broke several times. I have never seen Moonstruck....I know I know...I need to hand in my fan card. Sorry Cher!!! 

With Book by Rick Elice, THE CHER SHOW is not like any jukebox/documuiscal that I’ve seen thus far. When I heard they had three different Chers, I assumed it was young Cher doing the beginning, 20something Cher doing the middle, and older Cher at the end. What they did, however, is genius. They took the three Chers and intertwined them throughout the show, acknowledging her inner selves. It was part concert, documentary, and interpersonal teamwork.  

Here are the Chers broken down.....Star (Morgan Scott)-the mega star that Cher is now, Lady (Catherine Ariale)-Cher from the Sonny and Cher Show to the end of that marriage basically, and Babe (Ella Perez)-Cher age six to the Sonny and Cher Show. Though Scott sounds the most like Cher—seriously, I could close my eyes and would have thought it really was Cher—the other Chers sound super close as well. The trio works well together.  

The show opens with Scott and the rest of the cast singing “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Then they decide to take it back to when Cher was six (Perez) and complaining to her mother Georgia Holt (Lucy Werner) about looking different from the other kids and being call a “Half Breed.” After an outing with her mom and current husband John Southall (Mike Bindeman), Cher decides she is going to become a star, and shortly thereafter, the dad leaves. Once she is 16 years old, she meets Sonny Bono (Lorenzo Pugliese), they have a child and life goes on from there. Eventually show business with Sonny gets to be too much and they divorce. She meets with Lucille Ball (Werner) for advice about life without Sonny, in which she tells her she is going to do better without him. Then, she meets Greg Allman (Bindeman), they have a child, but his substance abuse leads to another divorce for Cher. She then falls in love with 23-year-old Rob Camilletti (Gary Paul Bowman), but the paparazzi helped with ending that romance. Somewhere in all of this, she makes movies, has hits in every decade, and is still a powerhouse performer to this day. 

I have so many starry heart eyes to pass out to this cast. I loved how funny Perez’s Babe was with her stage fright. I loved how poised Ariale was, and, of course, Scott really was our star heroine. I loved loved loved the fabulous Bob Mackie (Tyler Pirrung), but my fellow audience members were raving the most about how perfect Pugliese was as Sonny. And I quote, “They couldn’t have picked anyone better to play Sonny.” The only comment I heard walking to car that was negative was a man behind me in defense of Greg Allman. He said, “I know this is for Broadway, but I think they played Greg Allman too.... energetically. Greg Allman was always mellow,” in which someone else replied, “That could have been because of all of those drugs.” Ok, well, maybe so, but I loved the interpretation. In fact, this may be my favorite touring show of the year, and I’ve seen some really good ones.  

Now, if our Icon’s life and music wasn’t enough to make us go gaga, those costumes were F.I.R.E. Oh my goodness! There are 40 Bob Mackie outfits—all so beautifully ah-maz-ing! They received their own applause, and rightfully so. It was one right after the other....a parade, if you will, and so glitzy and colorful and gorgeous! This show brought the glamour! I have no idea how much those outfits weigh, but I know they had to practice a lot to wear those properly.  

After leaving Fayetteville, THE CHER SHOW heads to California and will return to Arkansas January 21, 2024 at Reynolds Performance Hall in Conway on the University of Central Arkansas campus. To get your tickets there, visit Reynolds website at https://uca.edu/publicappearances/broadway/the-cher-show, and to follow this fabulous show, check out https://thechershowtour.com. 

Coming up next at Walton Arts Center is The John Fullbright Band on Nov. 30 and Lorrie Morgan’s Enchanted Christmas on Dec. 1, and the next musical is TINA-THE Tina Turner MUSICAL beginning Dec. 12, and I can’t wait! Go to WAC website at https://waltonartscenter.org for more information.  

Orchestra: Conductor/Keyboard 1- Eddie Carney; Assistant Conductor/Keyboard 2-Isabella Mesenbrink; Drums-Marc McDuff; Bass-Lindsay Rosenberg; Guitar 1-Tonie Nguyen; Guitaar 2-Will Murphy; Trumpet-Nick Bruno; Reeds-Henry Hernandez; Trombone-Eric Spencer.

 Production: Director-Casey Hushion; Choreography-Antionette Dipietropolo; Executive Producer-Daniel Sher; Original Broadway and Tour Costume Design-Bob Mackie; General Management-Big League Productions Zach Krohn; Company Manager-Sophie Whitfield; Production Stage Manager-Owen O'Brien; Tour Press & Marketing-True Marketing Wendy J. Connor; Dance Music Arrangements-Zane Marc & Daryl Walters;Vocal, Song, & Incidental Music Arrangements-Daryl Walters; Musical Director-Eddie Carney; Music Supervisor-Kristin Stowell; Technical Supervisor-James Book; Casting Director-Alison Franck, CSA; Costume Coordinator-Janine Loesch; Wig Design-Roxanne De Luna; Video Design-Jonathan Infante; Sound Design-Daniel Lundberg; Lighting Design-Charlie Morrison; Set Design-Kelly James Tighe.

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