Cher’s show features three versions of Wilmington’s first diva [Sonny & Cher video] – Daily local news

The first diva comes to Wilmington’s The Playhouse at Rodney Square.

Actually three versions.

The Cher Show, a Tony Award-winning musical, will take over the theater on January 31st and February 1st.

Tickets can be purchased online at broadwayinwilmington.org, by phone at 302-888-0200 or by visiting The Playhouse at 1007 N. Market St., Wilmington.

Ella Perez, who is in her second year as part of the traveling show, believes she has found her muse as the young Cher.

“I have to say that me and her are birds,” said Perez, who officially plays Babe in the play. “I just fell in love with her every chance I got because we’re so similar. I just really feel very connected to her and especially the stage fright like. I grew up dancing before doing musical theater. I just related to being more of a dancer and then I went to college and got an A in musical theater. My voice teacher in college helped me kind of find my voice.”

Cher, as she spoke in her recent memoir, suffered from debilitating stage fright at an early age. Although there are many films and videos of Cher from the mid-1970s onwards, Perez found it more difficult to study the young singer.

“That particular era of Cher’s life was interesting to learn about because there isn’t that much live footage,” Perez said. “There are a lot of things that I just had to read about and create on my own. It’s interesting because Babe is not like the Cher we know today. She was very insecure, really insecure, and so I had to find a healthy balance between the two because there are definitely flashes of the Cher that we know. I got to embody this younger version of her who is definitely more timid and less confident and aware of her talents.

Perez was able to find a video of Sonny and Cher singing their 1965 hit “I Got You Babe.” and that gave her an idea of ​​the role.

“It’s one of the first times they’ve done it and it’s so sweet and intimate,” Perez said. “She can barely even look up at the camera, she’s just so shy and scared. I studied this video and her body language and everything about it. I try to go back to it every now and then so I can remember what that is because we try to recreate that on stage every night.”

As a young performer, Perez relishes the journey of being Cher every night.

“I also think it’s really special that we can bring a show of this caliber to smaller cities and markets that don’t necessarily have access to a professional theater,” Perez said. “Sometimes our really small nights have the most enthusiastic, rowdy crowds and it was just really really special. I’m just seeing all these places I never would have otherwise.”