Queen of Nashville Dolly Parton may have warned would-be dolly birds that took a lot of money to look that cheap, sultry diva Cher reminded her fans that absolutely everyone invented themselves.
“Some of us just have more imagination than others,” she added.
And if The Cher Show, playing at Oxford’s New Theatre this week, is any hint at what her imagination looks like, the superstar’s cerebellum is sequin-studded, tasselled and tickled by the tip-toe tapping of a sailor-suited entourage.
Directed by Strictly Come Dancing legend Arlene Phillips, this is an all-singing, all-dancing romp through the highs and lows of the Believe singer.
Played by three different actors – Millie O’Connell as young Cher ‘Babe’, Danielle Steers as Lady (played on the Press Gala night by Ingrid Olivia) and Debbie Kurup as ‘Star’ - we follow Cher from naïve schoolgirl to global megastar.
Ditching school at the age of 16 to move to Los Angeles in the early 1960s in search of fame, she meets performer Sonny Bono (slick jawed Lucas Rush).
She becomes his housekeeper then, eventually, his lover, singing partner and wife. He is also her business partner; trapping her into a contract that required her to perform exclusively for the company that he ran.
I Got You Babe topped the charts in 1965, but things soon unravelled – with a series of commercial flops.
They enjoyed TV success with variety show Sonny and Cher’s Comedy Hour in the early 70s. But their relationship was poison; after his death, Cher said Sonny had treated her more like a Golden Goose than a wife.
On stage, we see the break-up of that union in its painful death throes. ‘Lady’, her hurt audible in her rich alto singing voice, sees the scales fall from her eyes as she realises that she is stuck fast in her contract.
There are further trials and tribulations in store for Cher as we witness the traumatic divorce.
But she finds she can, in fact, believe in life after love - finding new success in Hollywood in the 80s and reaching new commercial heights in the 90s with dance hit Believe.
On stage, the performers are note-perfect, expertly matching the American’s beefy singing voice and her sing-song drawl of a speaking voice.
The fact it is three Chers telling the story of her life rather than one prevents this show from becoming a karaoke tribute concert.
That said, by the final curtain call almost everyone in the audience is on their feet clapping and singing along to a medley of hits.
The staging is extravagant and unapologetically camp. The chorus – ‘Cher’s entourage’ – compete with the set to see who can shimmer with more flair, and a total of 48 wigs and a forest of clothes hangers nod to the ‘Goddess of Pop’s’ love of fashion.
If you want to find out whether you believe you’d better be quick, The Cher Show is at the New Theatre until Saturday, February 25.
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