By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
The biggest problem Broadway has with so-called “jukebox musicals” is they always seem to get mired down by the exposition of the story regarding the person or persons whose music is oftentimes represented.

In the case of bookwriter Rick Elice, he drafted what is widely considered as the best of the genre, Jersey Boys. But, truth be told, he wrote that in collaboration with the late Marshall Brickman, best known for partnering with Woody Allen in several of his early pictures including “Annie Hall,” for which he received an Academy Award.
Elice was selected as the book writer for The Cher Show, which debuted on Broadway in December of 2018 following a Chicago tryout earlier that summer. The show received mixed reviews but was noted for the performance of Stephanie J. Block, who garnered a 2019 Tony Award – her first – for Best Performance in a Musical by a Leading Actress.
While Elice’s book is punctuated by several one-liners. The story moves along with the insertion of a number of songs representative of the pop star’s six-decades long career. But it’s that problematic exposition that drags the first act down.
Writing without the input of Brickman this time out, Elice strays from the previous formula that served so well in the book for Jersey Boys. There is something amiss in The Cher Show when compared to Jersey Boys, but to his credit, the second act moves at a much brisker clip and with more dramatic tension.

The biggest hurdle needing to be addressed is how Elice and the producers elected to present Cher in her long career. Rather than using a conventional approach to utilize a single actress reflecting on her career as a memory play, it was decided there would be three separate actresses, each portraying a specific time period and mindset in the pop icon’s show business career that crossed the worlds of pop music, movies and concert performances. The three aspects of Cher are mindfully aware of each other.
Morgan Scott, who probably emulates the persona of Cher best, is cast as “Star.” Catherine Ariale covers the middle period of her TV show success and early film career billed as “Lady,” while Ella Perez is “Babe,” the young and talented vocalist who first finds fame opposite her husband Sonny Bono in the hit charting duo act of Sonny and Cher.
While all three have very powerful voices, it is Scott who looks and sounds the most like the Cher of today and, perhaps, the last 25 years. The three actresses are all talented in different ways so it makes sense that some of the songs would be better served with three different voices.
But, as talented as they are individually, the three-person split in which they converse with one another about crises or challenges in their collective life seems like a convenient device at times. In another, more recent jukebox musical – A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical – it made sense to split the star into two distinct roles: the first, a younger, glittering star performer, and the other, an older non-performing retiree recounting his earlier career to his therapist. A dynamic and charismatic young actor performed as the star at the height of his fame and success, while the other was played by a much older, more sedate actor reflecting on his career.

However, in The Cher Show, the ongoing dialog between the three is confusing. It’s almost like a wrestling tag team in which one enters the ring at the urging of the other two, presumably to confront a problematic husband or financial crisis.
Lorenzo Pugliese does a great job emulating the charming and manipulative Sonny Bono, the man responsible for launching her career when she was just a teenager. Played as an opportunist and an egomaniac, Elice’s depiction of Bono is hardly flattering. While his role is largely painted on a two-dimensional canvas, Bono’s shady business dealings and insensitivity to his wife’s needs make him a very small person in stature and deed.
As Gregg Allman, Gary Paul Bowman doesn’t rise high on the scale as a doting and sober husband either. Chase McCall plays Rob Camilletti, a 20-something boy toy for cougar Cher after she has tired of the antics of older men.
There are several spectacular numbers in both acts and the costumes are nothing short of dazzling, particularly the scenes in Las Vegas and those that depict TV’s “The Sony and Cher Show.” Tyler Pirrung, who plays Bob Mackie, is also a standout, especially in one scene in which he proves there is no better way of doing than by overdoing. (Pirrung also portrays director Robert Altmann in one other scene.)
Costumes were executed beautifully by Janine Loesch complemented with wig designs by Roxanne De Luna.
Casey Hushion served as the director of the production with musical direction by Eddie Carney leading a small but powerful nine-piece band. Antoinette Dipietropolo’s choreography worked extremely well with the dance arrangements provided by Zane Mark and Darryl Waters. Kristin Stowell was the show’s music supervisor.

Cher fans will love the early hit songs like “The Beat Goes On,” “Dark Lady,” “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” as well as more recent hits like “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe.” At the conclusion, Star breaks the fourth wall and transforms the musical into a concert by calling out to her “New Orleans” audience. (Thanks to previous jukebox musical juggernauts like Mamma Mia and Jersey Boys, endings like that are now expected.)
In a more conventional musical, such an action might be considered a bit cheesy, but Cher’s outfits and style have never been what one would call reserved or conservative. There is little doubt the overture would meet with the iconic star’s approval and with that urging from the stage, the audience response, was to enthusiastically jump to their feet, engage in an enthusiastic dance in place and give the show their final standing ovation.
The non-equity cast of the national tour of The Cher Show (2 hours and 25 minutes with a 15-minute intermission) ended its five-day run at the Saenger Theater, 1111 Canal Street, on Sun., Dec. 22.