There isn't much to say about Cher that hasn't been said already. For the last 60 years, the superstar has had an outsize impact on the nation's culture. Between her enormous, award-winning discography spanning from disco to dance pop to Christmas music, and her prolific work in the television and film industry, Cher has done it all.
And now the Tony award-winning Broadway musical The Cher Show is showcasing her legacy across the U.S. for the first time on its national tour. The nearly three-hour musical aims to tell a story that's spanned decades, and to do so three different actors were cast to play Cher.
Babe, played by Ella Perez, portrays the beginning of her career in the 1960s when she met Sonny Bono and made Sonny and Cher a household name. Lady, played by Catherine Ariale, focuses on Cher's career after Sonny when she began to make it on her own. And finally, Star, played by Morgan Scott, portrays Cher after her comeback in the '80s and '90s.
The rest of the roles involved significant figures present throughout Cher's career, like Bono, played by Lorenzo Pugliese, and the man responsible for Cher's infallible styling, Bob Mackie, played by Tyler Pirrung.
Plus, the show features 35 of the best songs from her career and many of the Mackie gowns Cher was known for wearing, according to Perez.
When the casting call went out for The Cher Show, Perez was still a student at the State University of New York at Cortland, but she applied for the role of Babe anyway. She visually fit all of the role's descriptions, yet she figured she likely didn't have the experience to be cast in a Broadway musical for her first professional job.
"I thought it was a good idea to just submit [an audition] even though I was still in school," Perez says. "And then a while later the casting director reached out for me to submit some more tapes, which is way further than I thought I would go."
After that, Perez received a handful of in-person callbacks from the casting director, until eventually she realized at one of her callbacks that she was the last person in the room. It then clicked — she'd gotten the role.
"I could not believe it, it was such a bold thing," she says.
That disbelief didn't fade for the 23-year-old actress until she'd already done a few performances with the show.
"I remember opening night, I was just openly sobbing as soon as I walked off the stage," Perez says. "I just tried to absorb every moment and soak in every smell and sound so I wouldn't forget this experience."
After some time though, Perez fell deeper into her role. Having been a child who'd always dreamed of the stage, she was able to draw some helpful connections between Cher's early life and her own.
"Babe is a version of Cher that we aren't really aware of," Perez explains. "She had a lot of stage fright, and she wasn't aware of all the talent she had. I see a lot of myself in her."
Now with more than 100 shows under their belt, the cast of The Cher Show is bringing their talents to the Inland Northwest for a weekend of performances.
"It's a really uplifting, powerful story that I think everyone can relate to — whether you are a huge Cher fan or not," Perez says. "It's all stuff we go through in our daily lives, so it's really just a feel-good show." ♦
The Cher Show • Sat, May 18, at 7:30 pm and Sun, May 19, at 1 pm • $49.50-$93.50 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • broadwayspokane.com
