SONNY DAYS
‘The Cher Show’ also honors her partner
The beat goes on for Sonny Bono — even 20 years after his tragic death.
The charismatic singersongwriter, producer and politician is brought to life in Broadway’s “The Cher Show,” opening Monday at the Neil Simon Theatre. But thanks to Cher — Bono’s former wife and singing partner — wanting an honest portrayal of their sometimes-rocky marriage, he may have been happy to sit out certain scenes if he were alive today.
“Cher just said yesterday to me, ‘I wish Sonny were here to see it,’” Jarrod Spector, the actor who plays Bono, told the Daily News. “Then she corrected herself. She said, ‘Well he wouldn’t love all of it. He might have some things about it that he doesn’t. But he would love so much just to be represented up there.’
“It shows some of Sonny’s warts, but he’s the kind of guy who would just so love being a character in the show that it would all be forgiven,” Spector added.
Spector, who’s 37 and was born in Philadelphia, has plenty of practice playing well-known musicians. He was nominated for a 2014 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of songwriter Barry Mann in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” Spector also starred as singer Frankie Valli in “Jersey Boys.”
“Playing the other two guys has certainly helped in knowing what it takes to navigate playing a real person,” Spector explained. “Your range of options is much more limited because you’re honoring a real person. You have to work so hard to recreate that person for the audience, especially someone like Sonny.
“Sonny was a television star and recording star and such a big personality,” he added. “I’m from Philadelphia, so Frankie’s style, his mannerisms, the accent — it all comes pretty naturally to me, whereas Sonny is big stretch. He’s got this very strange accent that’s a combination of Midwest and Southern and with this laidback California energy and he also had this energy of a New York guy who was always pushing and moving and he’s very business savvy.”
Three different actresses play Cher, now 72, each representing different stages of her life. The jukebox musical starts out depicting the early life of the singer, actress and show producer, born Cherilyn Sarkisian. She’s portrayed as a shy girl with big dreams who heads to Los Angeles at 16 to launch her career.
She meets Bono, 11 years her senior, on the Sunset Strip. Their careers — and romance — sparked from there. They married in 1964, started performing together and then began calling themselves Sonny & Cher in 1965.
Their single “I Got You Babe,” a No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list for three weeks, is the first song Spector sings in the musical. As soon as he belts out his first lyric, the audience laughs, then applauds because he sounds so much like Bono.
“I’m embarrassed to say that it happens at almost every show,” Spector admitted. “By the time we get to ‘I Got You Babe,’ the audience is so ready for a real classic Sonny & Cher song. It’s their most beloved song. I’m glad that people are connecting to it.”
In between showcasing the duo’s talent, the show also paints their struggles, like Cher being upset that she works too hard and doesn’t get a enough time with their child, Chastity, born in 1969. Now, a transgender man, Chastity changed his name to Chaz as an adult and is depicted as Chaz from the start.
The only time he is represented is when Cher is handed her baby wrapped in a blue blanket.
The show also detailed the couple’s nasty breakup, including their child custody fight and when Cher discovered she had no share in her namesake company and Sonny allegedly refused to make her a partner.
Spector says that Bono — who died in a 1998 skiing accident at age 62 while he was a Republican congressman from California — is redeemed by the end of the show.
“I like the idea that he has a chance to almost say that he’s sorry for the way he behaved,” Spector said.
“It’s nice to show that he’s a human being who meant well but was on the wrong side of history in terms of his behavior. I want people to know about him so that we can all progress in hopefully the way that Sonny would have if he were still alive today.”