The singer admitted she's 'the most critical person who ever drew breath.'
Cher is weighing in on what she thinks about the new Broadway show about her life.
The 72-year-old musical legend headed to Chicago over the weekend for three preview performances of The Cher Show, ahead of its official opening on Thursday.
The show chronicles the musician’s life, work and love, with a focus on the key men in her life (Sonny Bono, Gregg Allman and Robert Camilletti), but she admitted that some parts still need work.
“Some parts of it are really fabulous,” she told the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. “We’re going to work on the other parts. In many parts, it was much, much better than I thought it would be. And there were no parts where I wanted to gouge my eyes out.”
“It needs work,” she continued. “I’m not supposed to say that but I don’t care. But you know, I was really very surprised by how close to real these people feel. Some of the boys are so on the mark, it’s creepy.”
The “Believe” singer went on to point out who she thought had performed well and noted how difficult she is to impress.
“I am the most critical person who ever drew breath,” she said. “If they can impress me, they’re doing good. The girls who play me have so much to do. The lady who plays my mom is great. That’s a very important part. It starts the whole tenor of the project: How my mom treated me as a child. That is why I am how I am who I am now.”
Cher added that it was the scenes of the show where she found her mind “wandering” that need the most work. She sat next to director Jason Moore during the performances and says her brain was “going so fast” as she offered him suggestions.
“There are lines in the show that sound like quotes but aren’t quite right,” she said. “I’ve been telling him the real quotes. I have a lot to say. And I am pushing them to do three dance songs in a concert-style way at the end, a bit like they do in ‘Mamma Mia.’ I think the audience would like that.”
During the interview, Cher indicated she wasn’t afraid of how she might be painted in the production, noting she’s been open about her life and that it wouldn’t make sense if she was portrayed as “a Mother Teresa.” In fact, she has encouraged the team behind the show to be “more truthful” about her life.
Reflecting on the hardest part of the production to watch, she said the fights were difficult.
“The fights. The breakups. The people who are lost,” she said. “Everything that was hard in real life. But I really love it when all the girls are together. In art you are talented or you're not, so people are either talented or they’re not, and these people are all really talented. And those songs are hard.”
See more on Cher below.
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