Millie O'Connell Archives - charleshutchpress

November 16, 2022November 17, 2022

REVIEW: The Cher Show: A New Musical, Grand Opera House, York, to Saturday, 3.5/5

*Millie O’Connell’s young Cher, Babe, with Tori Scott’s Georgia, her mother, in The Cher Show. Picture: Pamela Raith*

THERE may be only one Cher, 76 and now ‘dating’ Alexander Edwards, 40 years her junior – “Love doesn’t know Math,” she says – but it takes three Chers to portray her in The Cher Show: A New Musical.

Sharing out Cher are Millie O’Connell as Babe (childhood, Sonny Bono and Cher up to The Sonny And Cher Comedy Hour); Barnsley-born Danielle Steers as Lady (the Seventies’ solo years) and Debbie Kurup as Star, the Cher-leader role of narrator and “oldest and wisest” Cher (the movie years, her relationship with bagel factory worker, bartender and actor Rob Camiletti (Sam Ferriday), the “Comeback” finale, auto-tune anthem Believe topping the charts et al).

Missing out are the Dead Ringer For Love duet with Meat Loaf and any direct reference to the 2002-2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. Meanwhile, the 2018-2020 Here We Go Again tour of America (and the postponed 2022 British leg) and Cher’s role as Ruby Sheridan in Mamma Mia! 2: Here We Go Again, the 2018 excuse for a second Abba movie, have both added to her legacy since The Cher Show made its June 2018 debut in Chicago.

No complaints at any absentees: the running time of two and a half hours (including a 20-minute interval) has so much to cram in already from Cherilyn Sarkisian’s life as the 100 million record-selling “Goddess of Pop” and “Queen of Reinvention”, singer, actress, television host, fashion icon, drag queen favourite and charity founder.

*Seventies’ shimmer:* *Danielle Steers as Lady in The Cher Show. Picture: Pamela Raith*

No time to lose, Rick Elice’s book seeks to crack the whip in trademark Cher style, opening with Kurup’s Star undergoing a crisis of confidence in her dressing room and seeking words of comfort from her younger selves, Babe and Lady.

Hearing all three speak in that quavering Cher alto with her distinctive vowel sounds is a tad freaky at first, but it instantly establishes their rapport, as they observe each other, comment and banter, sing together, overlap but never undermine. When shall we three meet again? In studio, divorce court or in pain? When the hurly-burly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won.

Battles aplenty there are, from childhood days of dyslexia and feeling she did not fit in at school as an Armenian American with dark hair, days when her truck driver father, with his drug and gambling habits, just upped and left. Yet there is humour aplenty, a knowing Cher trademark, both in Elice’s book and in Arlene Phillips’s direction, from the moment O’Connell’s Babe enters on a bike, aged six, in Sixties’ Cher garb and already with an adult voice.

The balance of light and darker; of being funny and being laughed at; success and slumps; falling in love and out of love; the tongue in cheek and not turning the other cheek; having hits and fallow spells; singing and acting; concerts and TV, (over)working and motherhood, ebbs and flows throughout. All played out against a backdrop of a woman having to fight against a man’s world, rebelling against convention, whether dealing with Phil Spector (Ferriday), Sonny Bono (Guy Woolf this week, alternating on tour with Lucas Rush), Greg Allman (Ferriday again) or TV directors.

*Cher leader: Debbie Kurup’s Star in The Cher Show. Picture: Pamela Raith*

There are constants too: the love and support of her mother Georgia (Tori Scott); the constant drive for reinvention; the eye for a costume of her designer, Bob Mackie (Jake Mitchell).

Whether singing solo, in duets or sometimes, better still, as a trio, the three Chers do Cher proud, capturing the drama, passion, swagger, yearning, defiance, assertiveness and droll melancholia of that extraordinary alto voice. Never settling into broad impersonation, they find the heart and humour and hurt in Cher, both individually and collectively, attuned to the facial and bodily mannerisms, the gradual change in the singing tone too.

Woolf seeks to make Sonny a rounded figure, a man of talents and faults alike, but one who kept playing his part in her career; Ferriday has a field day with assorted cameos as men who came and went.

If you enjoyed Gabriella Slade’s costume design brio with bling dazzle in SIX, then you will love it in The Cher Show, where she broadens the colour palette, denoting a different mood board for each Cher, but with black and silver still to the fore for Star and the ensemble alike.

*Three Chers: Millie O’Connell, as Babe, left, Debbie Kurup, as Star, and Danielle Steers, as Lady. Triptych picture: Matt Crockett*

Tom Rogers’ set combines row upon row of garment bags and wig stands with recording studio and concert hall paraphernalia and room for home interiors and spectacular performances on towering steps.

Oti Mabuse’s choreography plays true to the Cher trademarks and is thrilling for the three Chers, rather less so for the well-drilled but somewhat monotone ensemble.

Best number? Every detail coming together, from singing to choreography, orchestrations to design, for Bang Bang. Believe seeps in and out, acting like a theme tune; Half-Breed is poignant; Strong Enough, resilient; I Got You Babe as love-struck as a crush could ever be; The Shoop Shoop Song, cannily returned to its 1960s’ roots.

Three cheers for the three Chers, but if I could turn back time, a tightening of the text would have been beneficial. Less Cher to share, yes, but better for the glitter and the grit, the wow factor and the wit before the party finale.

The Cher Show: A New Musical, runs at Grand Opera House, York, turning back time until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York

November 15, 2022November 16, 2022

‘She’s funny, she’s a consummate entertainer, not afraid to reinvent herself,’ says Debbie Kurup, Cher-leading Star

*Cher leader: Debbie Kurup as Star, centre stage, in The Cher Show: A New Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith*

THE Cher Show’s “oldest and wisest” Cher, Debbie Kurup, is full of admiration for the American singer, actress, television presenter and charity activist.

“She is amazing,” she says, ahead of tonight’s opening performance of a week-long run at the Grand Opera House, York. “Some of her inner strength comes from when she was bullied at school, dyslexic and never felt she fitted in.

“When she met Sonny Bono at 16, it was her trajectory into the industry, but because she felt like an outsider, she’s always worked harder. She’s funny, she’s a consummate entertainer, not afraid to reinvent herself. That’s what sets her apart and makes her a megastar.”

The role of Cher in The Cher Show, A New Musical on the European premiere tour is shared by Debbie, Danielle Steers and Millie O’Connell. In a case of Cher, Cher and Cher alike, the trio of musical actresses will portray the American “Goddess of Pop” and “Queen of Reinvention” in three different stages of her career: Millie as Babe; Danielle as Lady and Debbie as Star, each accompanied by a different colour scheme.

From a young child with big dreams in El Centro, California, the shy daughter of an Armenian American truck driver, to the heights of global stardom, The Cher Show tells the story of Cherilyn Sarkisian’s meteoric rise to 100 million record sales, an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, three Golden Globes and even an award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

“We actually start the show with ‘Star’, having a bit of a confidence crisis and calling on the other two Chers to help her and go through the eras together. I pick up the baton again in Act Two, although I narrate throughout,” says Debbie.

As she defines it, the story will progress through her break-up with Sonny Bono to going solo, from the mid-1970s into the ’80s, diversifying into acting and her rock phase, followed by “a bit of a slump”, and onwards to the comeback “where nothing can stop her”.

“Because it’s tongue in cheek as well, it’s at the stage where she’s friends with her counterparts and she knows she’s sending herself up now, but there’s something unique about her; a power to her, and she’s fun too,” says Debbie.

On the road since April, the year-long British and Irish tour of this Tony Award-winning 2018 Broadway smash is directed by Arlene Phillips and choreographed by two-time Strictly Come Dancing professional champion Oti Mabuse, with a book by Tony and Olivier Award-winning Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family) and costume design by Gabriella Slade (Six, In The Heights, Spice World 2019 Tour).

As the publicity blurb puts it, “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”.

“Obviously a lot of research went into this show and into portraying Cher, because when you create a character, you can let your imagination run wild, but with a real person you have to be more contained in your imagination, and then you can add the layers on top.

“So I want to stay true to Cher, working with a really strong book by Rick Elice, who did Jersey Boys. We have the benefit of him meeting Cher and really getting to know her from spending time with her to imbue all those idiosyncrasies into the script and capture the essence of who Cher is. It jumps off the page, so we can really run with it, and enjoy all the one-liners in there.”

*I got you Babe, Star and Lady: Millie O’Connell, left, Debbie Kurup and Danielle Steers in The Cher Show. Picture: Matt Crockett*

As for Cher’s costumes, “oh my goodness, I have so many, I’m going to have to guess, maybe 15,” says Debbie. “Some of my costume changes are only 20 seconds, and they all have to be so well choreographed, timed to perfection, with five dressers and wig assistants working at the same time.

“Foot goes here, arm goes here, head goes here for the wig, to make sure I’m ready to re-enter on time. The team we have are incredible; we really work as a unit.”

Thirty-five hits feature, from I Got You Babe, Bang Bang, Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves to I Found Someone, If I Could Turn Back Time, The Shoop Shoop Song and Believe, from a songbook of the only artist to have a Billboard chart number one hit in six consecutive decades.

“The way the story of her musical legacy works, we’re using the songs to push the narrative, and whereas jukebox musicals are so reductive, this is so much more than just wedging songs into the storyline, especially as they are her songs,” says Debbie

“They have that weight to them because they have meaning in her life as stand-alone songs, so they mean so much to her. Like at the time of Heart Of Stone, she was breaking up with Rob [Camilletti], and when I sing it, I’m thinking of the pain she must have been in because I know she would have been suffering.”

Turning the focus to Cher’s distinctive voice, Debbie says: “She’s always had, even when she was very young, this alto range that set her apart from all those pretty, pretty soprano voices that were glamorised by Hollywood. Here she comes with this rich alto sound – and I love it because I’m a mezzo-soprano!”

On a technical level, “lots of diligent prep goes into getting the right tone to the voice, and some of that is to do with the work she’s had done on her face, which made her voice more up in her nose but also still in her throat,” notes Debbie.

“I do have to turn it up for the 1990s onwards, with the focus right forward in the nose, as opposed to when she was younger, when it was freer.

“For the big finale, the party – ‘OK, bitches, get your phones out!’ – it’s fun because it has to be slightly exaggerated. She does lean into that persona, the humour, the ‘bitch’, but we tread a fine line because we don’t want to turn her into the caricature sent up by drag queens.”

The Cher Show, A New Musical, runs at Grand Opera House, York, November 15 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

Debbie Kurup’s theatre credits

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 (National Theatre); 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 Theatre/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 Festival Theatre); Boogie Nights (Savoy Theatre); Star in The Cher Show, A New Musical, UK tour.

November 10, 2022November 16, 2022

Cher, Cher and Cher alike as three into one go Debbie, Danielle & Millie in new musical

*And then there were three: Millie O’Connell’s Babe, left, Debbie Kurup’s Star and Danielle Steers’ Lady in The Cher Show: A New Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett*

THE role of Cher in The Cher Show, A New Musical will be shared by Debbie Kurup, Danielle Steers and Millie O’Connell at the Grand Opera House, York, next week on the European premiere tour.

In a case of Cher, Cher and Cher alike, the trio of musical actresses will portray the American “Goddess of Pop” and “Queen of Reinvention” in three different stages of her career as a singer, actress and television personality: Millie as Babe; Danielle as Lady and Debbie as Star, each delineated by a different colour scheme.

On the road since April, the year-long British and Irish tour of this Tony Award-winning 2018 Broadway smash has visited Yorkshire already, playing the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, in late-October, directed by Arlene Phillips and choreographed by two-time Strictly Come Dancing professional champion Oti Mabuse, with a book by Tony and Olivier Award-winning Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family) and costume design by Gabriella Slade (Six, In The Heights, Spice World 2019 Tour).

*Oti Mabuse: Choreographer for The Cher Show*

Thirty-five hits feature, from I Got You Babe, Bang Bang and Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves to I Found Someone, If I Could Turn Back Time, The Shoop Shoop Song and Believe, from a songbook of the only artist to have a Billboard chart number one hit in six consecutive decades.

Let’s meet the three Chers in chronological order, firstly Millie O’Connell’s Babe. “I’d worked with Arlene [director Arlene Phillips] before; she gave me my first job at 19 on TV,” she says. “She’s followed my career since then, and it’s really great to be able to work with her again. She and Oti and Gabriella are a really good production team of women and that really drew me in the most.

“Cher came into my life when I heard Believe. I was like, ‘this is brilliant’! I used to impersonate that song as a party trick, and it’s been really exciting taking that impersonation so far that it now becomes naturalistic.”

*Millie O’Connell’s Babe in The Cher Show. Picture: Pamela Raith*

Millie plays Cher “before the high cheek bones”, from the age of six to her early 20s, having worked on voice, mannerisms and movement over an intense four weeks, all leading to a performance with multiple costume changes. “I’m going through all those eras, from before I Got You Babe to The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour; I even have one costume change on stage in the first act!” she says.

Picking out Cher’s enduring qualities, Millie says: “I love how she’s a star who never hides her vulnerability. She reveals her heart, which is really empowering, especially for women.”

Danielle Steers’s Lady takes up Cher’s story from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s. “I’m middle Cher! Starting with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and ending with the divorce,” she says.

“I was in a show called Bat Out Of Hell, when I was in the original cast in London and on Broadway, and I sang Dead Ringer For Love, the Cher and Meat Loaf duet. That’s when people said, ‘Oh my god, you sound like Cher, and I’d never thought of my voice that way before.

*Barnsley-born Danielle Steers’s Lady in The Cher Show*

“While I was in America, The Cher Show was on there and I used to have to pass the show sign on my way to work and I thought, ‘that looks amazing’. I became obsessed!”

Danielle, born and raised in Barnsley, went through “quite the audition process”, on Zoom and in person, for the UK tour but is delighted to now be singing multiple Cher songs.

“When you hear Cher, you just know it’s her. I can’t pinpoint it, but it’s the way she sings certain words and forms her vowel sounds,” she says.

“Everyone always tries to do their best Cher impression, but though it’s hard, in this show you have to find that fine line between gimmickry and reality, and of course Cher singing now doesn’t sound like she did in the 1960s, but we have to be true to her at all times.”

*Debbie Kurup’s Star, centre stage (where else!), in The Cher Show*. *Picture: Pamela Raith*

Debbie Kurup plays Cher, the Star. “She’s the oldest and wisest of the three Chers,” she says. “We actually start the show with ‘Star’ having a bit of a confidence crisis and calling on the other two Chers to help her and go through the eras. I pick up the baton again in Act Two, although I narrate throughout.”

Her admiration for Cher is boundless. “She is amazing,” says Debbie. “Some of her inner strength comes from when she was bullied at school, was dyslexic and never felt she fitted in.

“Because she felt like an outsider, she’s always worked harder. She’s funny, she’s a consummate entertainer, not afraid to reinvent herself. That’s what sets her apart, making her a megastar.”

The Cher Show, A New Musical, runs at Grand Opera House, York, November 15 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.