Three Chers are better than one. Well, maybe not in real life — indeed, that might represent more personality and firepower than the pop/celebrity universe could actually handle. But it certainly proved true on opening night (Wednesday, June 19) of “The Cher Show” at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.
The three women who perform as Cher — Morgan Scott, Catherine Ariale and Ella Perez — during this fun, breezy jukebox musical are all suitably fabulous. They tackle different eras in the life of this recent inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Perez playing the young Cher (known as the “Babe” Cher, covering her rise from childhood to the early success of Sonny & Cher with the No. 1 hit “I Got You Babe”), Ariale as “Lady” Cher (detailing the massive success of “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” and other TV work) and Scott as “Star” Cher (who takes us through the late ’80s and early ’90s music comeback/Auto-Tune era to pretty much present day).
All three women take turns under the spotlight, corresponding — more or less, but not entirely — to what part of the Cher story is being told. That’s what one would expect with such a production, tracing the many challenges, trails and successes of a major pop culture figure. Yet, what really separates “The Cher Show” from other such celebrity-focused jukebox productions — where the story is told to a soundtrack of that particular star’s songs — is the way the three different vers.