Cher show is to make UK debut at Curve
BROADWAY HIT COMES TO THESE SHORES THIS YEAR
A musical about the life of Cher is set to debut at Curve, Leicester.
The Cher Show, will begin its tour of the UK at the city theatre after two productions in Chicago and on Broadway in the US.
Directed by Strictly Come Dancing’s Arlene Phillips, a lifelong fan of Cher, it will feature choreography by fellow-Strictly star Oti Mabusi and costumes by Gabriella Slade, an Olivier Award-nominated designer for the West-End production of Six.
The Broadway production was a massive hit and features some of Cher’s biggest hits, including I Got You Babe, Believe, Strong Enough and The Shoop Shoop Song.
It charts her rise from a young child with big dreams to the dizzying heights of global stardom, and documents her relationships with her mother, singer Sonny Bono and fashion designer and costumier Bob
Mackie.
Phillips told the PA news agency: “I am just over the moon that I am actually going to work on a show about someone whom I’ve idolised since the mid-60s with I Got You Babe.
“I just fell in love. I wanted to dress like Cher, look like Cher, definitely sound like Cher, which I did not and could not, but it’s the ultimate show for me.
“I remember on a black and white TV seeing Sonny and Cher and I think it was the sound of her voice. It’s a sound that raises the hairs on your arms and tingles your spine.”
Phillips, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, said she is yet to meet Cher.
She said: “I have made music videos for just about every pop diva, all these strong female singers, but never Cher. Our paths haven’t crossed.”
Mabuse told PA: “My mum is a big Cher fan and I just remember us playing songs, like Strong Enough, and feeling so empowered as little girls and being in wonder of her outfits and her looks and the confidence that she had.
“To be asked to actually choreograph her musical, it’s such an honour, because you get to really play a part in what you kind of feel her life should have looked like in dance, making all of those music videos, all of those concerts, all of those behind-thescenes stories come to life.”
The show will debut on April 15 this year and will tour the UK and Ireland.
My mum is a big Cher fan and I just remember us playing songs, like Strong Enough, and feeling so empowered