The European premiere of The Cher Show, which will tour the UK and Ireland from April 2022, has announced its cast.
The role of Cher will be played by Debbie Kurup, Danielle Steers and Millie O’Connell – with the three actresses playing Cher in three different ways throughout her iconic career: Debbie as ‘Star’, Danielle as ‘Lady’ and Millie as ‘Babe’.
Further casting will be announced shortly.
The tour kicks off at the Leicester Curve from 15 April 2022, and concludes on 1 April 2023, taking in venues that include Sheffield, Hull, Manchester, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Woking and Belfast.
The Cher Show, which has a book by Tony and Olivier Award-winner Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family), made its debut on Broadway in 2018 in a production that won two Tony Awards.
The musical features over 35 of Cher’s greatest hits, including ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, ‘I Got You Babe’, ‘Strong Enough’, ‘The Shoop Shoop Song’ and ‘Believe’.
This European premiere production is directed by Arlene Phillips (Saturday Night Fever, Starlight Express, Grease), with choreography by two-time Strictly Come Dancing champion Oti Mabuse and costume design by Gabriella Slade (Six The Musical, In The Heights, Spice World 2019 Tour). Set design is by Tom Rogers, musical supervision by Rich Morris, lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Dan Samson, music production by Gary Hickeson, wigs, hair and make-up design by Sam Cox, associate direction by James Cousins, associate choreography by James Bennett and casting by Will Burton CDG.
From a young child with big dreams, the shy daughter of an Armenian American truck driver, to the dizzying heights of global stardom, The Cher Show tells the incredible story of Cher’s meteoric rise to fame. Cher takes the audience by the hand and introduces them to the influential people in her life, from her mother and Sonny Bono, to fashion designer and costumier Bob Mackie. It shows how she battled the men who underestimated her, fought the conventions and, above all, was a trailblazer for independence.
With over 100 million record sales, an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, three Golden Globes and an award from The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Cher has influenced popular culture more than most. She is the only artist in history to have a number one hit in the Billboard chart for six consecutive decades; an achievement that caused Vogue to deem her “eternally relevant and the ruler of outré reinvention”.
Check their website for tour details.
Photo: Millie O’Connell, Debbie Kurup & Danielle Steers, credit Matt Crockett
More about the lead cast and creatives of The Cher Show
Debbie Kurup’s theatre credits include Bonnie & Clyde (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Queen Tuya in The Prince of Egypt (Dominion), Blues in the Night (Kiln), Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse), Mrs Neilsen in Girl From The North Country (Old Vic/ Noël Coward), The Threepenny Opera (NT), Anything Goes (Sheffield Crucible/UK Tour), Nikki Marron in The Bodyguard (Adelphi – Olivier Award nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical), Velma Kelly in Chicago (Cambridge/Adelphi), Sister Act (London Palladium), East (Leicester Curve), West Side Story (Prince of Wales), Tonight’s The Night (Victoria Palace), Rent (Prince of Wales/UK Tour), Fame (UK Tour), Guys And Dolls (Sheffield Crucible), Pal Joey (Chichester) and Boogie Nights (Savoy).
Danielle Steers’s theatre credits include The Empress in Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Plymouth), Catherine Parr in Six The Musical (London), Zahara in the original cast of Bat out of Hell: The Musical (Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto, Dominion Theatre, New York City Centre), Carmen in Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse), Lead Shirelle in the original London cast of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre), swing and cover Nikki Marron in The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre) and cover Killer Queen in We Will Rock You (International Arena Tour). Her debut album, The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be, was released in 2021.
Millie O’Connell’s theatre credits include Maureen in Rent (Hope Mill Theatre – WOS Award Nomination), Jeanie in Hair (Turbine Theatre), Chloe Valentine in Be More Chill (Shaftesbury Theatre and The Other Palace), Anne Boleyn in SIX: The Musical (UK Tour and Arts Theatre, London – Olivier Award nominated), Ensemble/cover Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK Tour), Ensemble/Understudy Annie in 42nd Street (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Ensemble/Understudy Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street (Theatre Du Chatelet).
Rick Elice (book writer) is the Tony and Olivier award-winning book writer of global phenomenon Jersey Boys. His play, Peter and the Starcatcher, was nominated for nine Tony Awards and won five. He also wrote the book for The Addams Family and is currently working on Disney Theatrical’s upcoming new musical adaptation of The Princess Bride.
Arlene Phillips (director) is one of Britain’s leading directors and choreographers behind musical mega brands including Saturday Night Fever, Starlight Express, Grease and We Will Rock You to name a few. Founding member of 1970s dance group ‘Hot Gossip’, she went on to choreograph for music legends including Freddie Mercury, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross, and for Hollywood. Her time as lead judge on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing cemented her as one of Britain’s most recognisable entertainment legends, a status recognised with a CBE for services to dance.
Oti Mabuse (choreographer) is a champion dancer and choreographer; eight times South African Latin American Champion, and 2019 champion of both BBC’s The Greatest Dancer and Strictly Come Dancing, the two biggest dance shows on television. She was champion of Strictly Come Dancing again in 2020. She is a judge on the new ITV light entertainment show, The Masked Dancer. In 2019, she made her stage choreography debut for Tamasha Theatre Company’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ followed by Kiss Me Kate at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury.
Gabriella Slade (costume designer) is the award-winning designer behind the unforgettable costumes of West End and Broadway musical Six and the force behind the Spice Girls’ reinvented look for their Spice World 2019 tour. She has designed recent West End productions of Curtains and The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as David Walliam’s Billionaire Boy and Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. She is also designing the costumes for the upcoming UK tour of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
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