Have you had enough of celebrity biographical musicals yet? Spurred on by the success of Jersey Boys, Broadway has served up show tributes to Carole King, Donna Summer, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and, this week at the Kravis Center, the national tour of The Cher Show, a flashy look at the up and down career of Cherilyn Sarkisian, a/k/a, well, you know who.
Dividing her life into three stages, book writer Rick Elice — who had better luck or maybe better material with the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons musical — gives us three Chers. There’s young Babe (Ella Perez), mid-career Lady (Catherine Ariale) and the contemporary icon Star (Morgan Scott). They show up sort of chronologically, but also often appear together, advising each other and breaking into three-part power ballad harmonies.
As presented in the sketchy narrative, however, Cher’s life is simply not that interesting. She grows up in the Southern California suburbs and struggles with school because of undiagnosed dyslexia. But, boy, can she sing, a talent recognized by a short, funny, ambitious guy named Sonny Bono (a delightful, dead-on Lorenzo Pugliese), who flies her to London where they hit it big with a flimsy but infectious tune, “I Got You Babe.” They parlay that into a CBS variety show, which runs for years, until a contract dispute leads to the end of the show and their marriage.
Still, going solo proves to be an asset for Cher, who has a string of successful recordings, which leads to an untrained, but notable acting career and a 1988 Oscar for Moonstruck. With a career that has spanned six decades, there are the inevitable downsides for Cher’s fortunes, but not enough to amount to much dramatic tension. The story line definitely takes a backseat to the more than 30 musical numbers.
All of Cher’s hits get a hearing — from “If I Could Turn Back Time” to “Bang Bang” to “Gypies, Tramps and Thieves,” and on and on. Most are delivered presentationally, with few attempts at twisting them into service to the plot. In any event, all three Chers sing with strength and gusto, and Scott in particular does an uncanny vocal impersonation of the actual Cher.
The choreography by Antoinette Dipietropolo (based on Christopher Gattelli’s work on Broadway) is energetic, if not particularly inspired. The same goes for the direction by Casey Hushion (after Jason Moore’s Broadway staging), more efficient than exceptional.
Chances are you will be drawn to the show for its song hits, but you will leave whistling about the Tony Award-winning costumes. None other than Bob Mackie was enlisted to design the scores of sequined and sparkled eye-popping feats of wardrobe engineering, for the Chers, the Vegas showgirls and other scantily clad ensemble members. It is easy to forgive the show’s liabilities when you are busy ogling these costumes.
The Cher Show runs nearly two and a half hours, and could stand about a 30-minute trim. But do not be in a hurry to head to your car at what seems to be the curtain call. Like several recent shows that worry you have not been sufficiently entertained, there is then a knockout medley of reprises as a coda to the evening.
THE CHER SHOW, Kravis Center Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sun., Jan. 12. $39 – $131, 561-832-7469 or kravis.org.