Arturo Hilario
El Observador
Cher is all you need to know. The iconic figure of pop culture seems to flow from decade to decade, bringing with her a lifetime of talent and mystery as one of the first and most pure definitions of a pop artist. From variety TV host in the ‘70s to her 1998 comeback “Believe” being the first commercial song to use autotune, Cher’s influence and essence has touched plenty of pop music history.
Now her life story is coming to a stage near you, with the hit new musical The Cher Show, which brings the dazzling lights, glitter and powerful performances that tell the story of the different eras of Cher, and brings audiences into her life while dropping some of the mystery of who she is and what her life was like through three eras.
These three eras are the young version, Babe, her transformation into the glam pop star, Lady, and her at her most mythic, known as Star. In order to capture these different versions of the artist across sixty years of career, there needs to be three performers to get it right.
Catherine Ariale as Lady, Morgan Scott as Star, and Ella Perez as Babe in The Cher Show. Photo Credit: Meredith Mashburn Photography
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with one of those performers, Ella Perez, who portrays the youngest of the three interpretations of the performer. As Babe, she is described as the fresh-faced and rawest voice of Cher, exhibiting the grit and raw qualities of her younger voice.
Perez has been playing Cher since she graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2023, when she applied for the show and was surprised to get it on the first try. From there she has been on one full national tour of the musical, with her second year starting just weeks ago.
In the following interview, hear from Perez as she chronicles how she ended up interested in the performing arts because of a famous mermaid, what similarities she sees in herself in the role of Babe, and how one of the most important aspects of being on the show has been the sisterhood she has formed with her fellow Chers.
The Cher Show comes to San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts from March 18-23, 2025. Tickets and more information are available at broadwaysanjose.com.
I wanted to start off from the beginning. What was your pathway to the performing arts and what were your influences growing up that led you to this career?
So I grew up dancing, actually, first, before I did any theater, like singing. When I was five years old, my mom put me in dance classes. I did ballet, tap, jazz, all that. And I did dance competitions. I was a competition kid growing up. So I did that for most of my life. And I didn’t really start looking into musical theater until, I think, middle school. And I auditioned for my school musical, we were doing The Little Mermaid, and I was cast as Flounder in The Little Mermaid, which was super cool that I got a lead role as a sixth grader in middle school.
And I loved it. I loved everything about the process of putting up a show and rehearsals and singing and having a microphone and all of the things. Once I did that, I just never looked back. I always did all my school shows, and I was really lucky to have a really well-developed drama program in my high school. We did four productions a year, which is really cool for a high school. I was really able to discover my passion for musical theater in high school, and I was given so many opportunities to perform and cultivate my skills.
That’s when I decided that I was going to pursue it as a career. When I found out that you could go to school for musical theater, that changed everything for me. I was like, “Well, I don’t really want to do anything else than this.”
The thought of having a corporate nine to five made me miserable. I was like, “That’s just not my path. I don’t think that’s my path.” I did the whole college audition thing, and I ended up going to SUNY Cortland for musical theater and got my BFA. I somehow got this job right out of school, which was really weird and really cool. Basically, The Little Mermaid changed everything for me.
Could you tell me a little bit about what the experience was of graduating, then jumping into your first job out of school with the story of Cher out of all things?
It was really strange. I remember just initially, it was the tail end of my senior year, and I was just starting to submit myself for just summer jobs and contracts for the summer. I remember seeing The Cher Show, and I loved [it] when it was on Broadway. I was absolutely fascinated with this production.
I was really excited to see that they were casting a national tour, and I just threw my name in there just to see what happened. I really wasn’t expecting much from it because it was such a huge thing, and I was like, “There’s no way I’m going to get something like this right out of school.”
I didn’t hear anything for a little while, but when I did hear back that they wanted to even see a tape from me, I couldn’t believe that it had gotten that far. Then eventually, I was in for callbacks, and I remember getting the phone call from my agent. I just kept asking her, “Are you serious? Are you serious?” I don’t know why she would be lying to me, but I literally couldn’t believe that they had given me the real part, not just a cover or a swing or something. They had given me the real part. I really couldn’t believe that.
“Cher, I feel like, seems like just one of those people who are like an enigma. She’s like a superhuman, right? She literally goes by Cher. She’s like some other level of human. But the show really, really humanizes her.”
-Ella Perez, The Cher Show
I was just pacing around my house with tears flowing. I knew how huge it was, and I was like, “Why me? Why me?” And still, sometimes I think that. But I’m just so grateful. It’s an honor getting to portray someone like Cher. Are you kidding me? She’s the most iconic woman ever in the world. It’s so cool getting to be just a little part in telling her story, the really inspiring story. So yeah, it’s the best job ever, basically.
To follow that up, can you touch on what’s the history with you and Cher as an artist and her career? What research did you have to do to get in the zone for this part?
So, as a Gen Zer, my most prominent impression of Cher was “Believe”. Back in the early 2000s, I remember just hearing that song everywhere. It was everywhere. So that was my main impression of her. And getting to really dive into her as a person and her entire career was so cool because I knew that she was an icon. I obviously knew that she had dabbled in everything, but I didn’t really know how extensive her movie career was.
I didn’t know that much about The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and her whole literal rags to riches story. And I was watching a lot of Sonny and Cher, and a lot of old videos. I watched all of her music videos. I watched her movies. It was interesting, though, because I’m portraying her from her early childhood to her rise to fame, which was back in the ’60s. And so, there isn’t too much footage and material of her back then. So, I had to really scrounge around and take in as much as I could from the footage that they do have from her back then and put the pieces together myself, which was really interesting.
I feel like there’s a lot of me in my portrayal of her as well because I ended up seeing a lot of myself in her as I was learning. But just trying to emulate the way that she speaks and her body language, especially back then. She was not this huge, confident, diva-esque person that we see her. You picture Cher, you picture a very specific version of Cher.
But she was very different back then. She was super shy, super insecure. She had a lot of stage fright; she really couldn’t do anything without Sonny standing right next to her. So, trying to channel that side of Cher was a lot of fun. I get to portray this side of her that not many people are familiar with, but I think a lot of people can identify with. I know I can.
So, I was just picking up on a lot of her body language back then. There’s a few interviews of her, and I try to emulate the way that she speaks and her inflections and her little habits and ticks. There’s this one really special video of her and Sonny doing “I Got You Babe”, on top of the pops for the first time.
It’s the sweetest black and white video. They look like babies. I still go back to that video every now and then to make sure that I’m still channeling that. But we try to recreate that video every single night on stage when we’re doing that number. It’s really cool getting to show this side of Cher that many might not be familiar with.
You mentioned that for you in your age group, your first memories of Cher was “Believe” in the late 1990s/2000s. I think for me, I think I was in 5th grade when that song came out, but that was the big Cher song that formed my view of her.
Yeah, it was like her comeback. She was under the radar for a little bit before that. [Cher] literally put autotune on the map, like normalized autotune.
That’s a fun fact. I forgot that that was the first commercial song that had autotune in it.
Yup, she’s that girl.
Since there are multiple eras of Cher in this show and at times, you’re even on stage together, how is your relationship with your fellow Chers, and what is that dynamic like on and off stage?
I mean, they really are three very different versions of Cher. She went through a lot of reinvention, and she was the queen of reinventing herself. So they are very different. It’s fun because the three of us get to talk to each other throughout the show.
I know a lot of biopic musicals, if there’s three versions of the person, they have their era, and then they leave, and we don’t see them again. But the three of us talk to each other and interact and sing with each other the entire show.
“The three of us, I think, just really get to connect there. The three of us have been touring together now for so long that we have a really special relationship and dynamic on stage. We get to really just showcase that and show how close
our friendship is and our bond.”
-Ella Perez, The Cher Show
It’s like Cher is talking to her inner child when she’s talking to me, and I get to talk to my older self. They’re very, very different people, but it’s really funny hearing them talk to each other. Also, with Cher’s really dry, funny sense of humor. We’re poking fun at each other. We’re keeping each other on our toes.
But the three women, we’re very different, but we are very much the same person. But it’s sweet getting to see the little glimmers of Star and Babe, and there’s little glimmers of each other everywhere. But yeah, it’s really special in that way.
In your perspective, what does this show capture about Cher that you think is really incredible to show to audiences?
Cher, I feel like, seems like just one of those people who are like an enigma. She’s like a superhuman, right? She literally goes by Cher. She’s like some other level of human. But the show really, really humanizes her. When you really learn about what happened to her and how her career went down. And she learned that she struggled with fear in the same exact way that we all do.
It really just humanizes this larger-than-life person with this story that we can all relate to. She struggles with fear and needing to reinvent herself and being absolutely at her lowest point and needing to get back up and keep going. I think that’s just really, really special that someone like her goes through the same emotions and struggles that we all do. That’s been my biggest takeaway.
And also, the rags to riches of it all. We all have the capability to become the best version of ourselves. She did it. She went from the lowest low to the highest high multiple times. And I just think that’s really inspiring, and everyone can learn from that.
What aspect of the show is your favorite so far now that you’re working on it for a second year?
I think my favorite part of the show is whenever I’m on stage with just the two other Chers, when it’s just the three of us. It doesn’t happen that often. There are usually all kinds of stuff happening behind us and whatever. But our Act One closer, “Song for the Lonely”, is my favorite moment in the whole show. It’s just the three of us in a very bare bones [setting]. It’s very exposed. We’re not wearing a big, fancy Bob Mackie costume, and it’s just the three of us in individual spotlights.
We’re just singing to each other and empowering each other. Lady is at a low point at this moment in the show, and the two of us come in to boost her up. It’s just really special. I just love that song. It’s one of my favorite ones to sing. The three of us, I think, just really get to connect there. The three of us have been touring together now for so long that we have a really special relationship and dynamic on stage. We get to really just showcase that and show how close our friendship is and our bond. It’s really, really special.
I think that’s one of my favorite things right now. It wasn’t necessarily this early on, but the three of us have formed such a sisterhood. I really think of those women as my sisters and getting to be the same person on stage every night with these two women who I admire so deeply is so special.
I don’t take it for granted at all. Every single night, I try and just be as present as humanly possible because I know that it’s going to be over one day, and we won’t get to do this take shows a week anymore one day. The sisterhood that I formed with those two women is so precious to me, and I don’t take it for granted.
And would you say that after two years of the show, you yourself, are not the same version of Ella as you were when you first started this show?
Oh, definitely not. It’s really cool. I feel like I’ve learned so much, and I’ve grown so much as a performer and as a person. Being on the road, really, you learn a lot about yourself. I’m just so grateful for this whole experience. I’m definitely not the same person. Changed for good.
For people that are fans of Cher, it seems they would be interested in the show simply because it’s Cher, and that’s it. But for people that might not be too familiar with Cher, why would you recommend that they come check out the show when it comes to San Jose?
Well, I really think, circling back to what I said before, it’s a story that I think everybody can relate to. It’s such a human story. Cher’s story is very inspirational. You might learn a lot of things that you would never think happened to her because, again, she seems like such a larger than life person that she’s gone through so many things that we cannot relate to.
Also, her music is so fun. You also may realize that you know more Cher than you think you do. We also have the Tony Award-winning Broadway Bob Mackie costumes, which I think is our biggest sell point. I mean, the costumes are just stunning, and it’s like their own character in itself. And it’s just like a big party. We have just the best cast. We all have so much fun on stage.
It’s just like lights and glitter and dancing, and it’s funny, and it’s emotional. And I think musical theater fans will just, in general, enjoy it and then walk out a Cher fan, and Cher fans, if you’re not a musical theater person, you’re going to walk out a musical theater person. I really just think it’s fun for everybody, whether or not you’re a Cher fan or not, because you will walk out a Cher fan, guaranteed.
Well, thanks again Ella. And if there’s anything else you’d like to add, please do.
Well, I would like to point out, I think it’s a really cool fun fact, we have these huge LED sliders that move around and are literally all set and I just think there’s always three to four people behind these sliders at all times. Our crew and our costume people are absolutely insane and deserve their own bow, in my opinion. Because if you see anything moving and these huge screens and all this stuff happening behind the scenes is crazy.
We have so many people that you can’t see making this show happen. All of these quick changes are so choreographed. It’s like a little dance. And I just have to shout out our crew and the people that you don’t see every time because we could not do it without them, seriously.
