Germany’s stages have a new musical: “The Cher Show – The Official Musical by and about Cher” has just landed in Berlin’s BlueMax Theater, guiding and seducing audiences through the life and hits of the pop icon. The fact that the title itself repeats “Cher” twice is telling. Because one thing the musical production makes absolutely clear: no one is bigger than Cher!
Cher times three, times a hundred
Friday night in Berlin. On Marlene-Dieltrich-Platz, a bustling crowd of shoppers still swirls about as the premiere of the Cher Show begins to admit guests. The doors to the auditorium are still closed, the bar is open. Champagne flutes clink and dry-looking pretzels disappear as if by magic, until finally the theater doors swing wide. The audience still feels a bit tense and quiet. Drinks may not be brought in. Raise all the glasses one last time, and the flood into the auditorium begins.
The stage, though still empty: Cher! Nothing but Cher. From right to left, from top to bottom across wall and stage floor and ceiling, the name of the woman everyone is here for keeps appearing. It’s dizzying. But before eyes and consciousness can get lost in the Cher-letter storm, the announcement pulls us back to reality: Please switch off your phones. Just enjoy the moment, the show—please don’t film. Except for the big finale, where photography, filming, and (attention) streaming are permitted! Until then: Enjoy and try to believe in Life after Love.
The disco-glittering shadow of Cher’s gigantic dance anthem hovers over the entire evening from the start. But more on that later. First: curtain up and—Cher! And Cher! And Cher! Three times the show’s legend bounds onto the stage. The musical makes Cher so larger-than-life that she cannot be played by a single person. The three faces on the poster were not a lie. And: Cher loves sailors. So a group of neat dancers in leather seafaring outfits circles around her. But who needs the men? Now the women take over. And pop! A group of female dancers in the same leather outfits bursts forward and chases the boys off the stage. A somewhat feminist evening is proclaimed.
Turning back the time
The first notes of “If I Could Turn Back Time” blast out of the speakers in a loud rush. A wave of relief seems to pass through the audience, turning into immediate, eager, and largely on-beat applause. And then time is actually turned back — the literal phrasing “time back turn” might be cringe — and we’re whisked into Cher’s childhood.
The evening dances and sings through Cher’s life in chronological order. The three Cher performers represent three life stages. Pamina Lenn as “Babe” portrays Cher in the 1950s and 1960s. Hannah Lese as “Lady” represents Cher in the 1970s. And Sophie Berne as “Star” embodies Cher in the 1980s and 1990s. From mother Jackie, who tells her little Cher that she isn’t an outsider but something very special, to the life-changing relationship with Sonny Bono, the rollercoaster of a career in music, show, television, film, and theater, to the nagging sense of aging. The only real flaw is that one of the three leads occasionally slips into a caricatured Cher impression that nudges just past the silly line. Too hoarse, too throat-centered—like the standard bad Cher impressions you’ve seen. Fortunately she doesn’t always do it. And fortunately the other two are superb.
An entertainingly brisk stroll through the long, storied career of the singer—Cher’s musical beginning dates back to 1962, more than 60 years ago! Stop by Sonny and Cher before their breakthrough with “I Got You Babe,” drop in on Cher and Rob, the lover who, as an ordinary baker, can’t keep up with the paparazzi. In between, every hit you’d expect appears. Some are performed almost exactly as originals, others get brilliant reinterpretations. “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” arrives as a wild, furious rock-opera. The live band delivers a truly strong sound. A short teaser again for “Believe,” this time as a three-way conversation among the three Cher personas, who aren’t sure whether they want the men now or not.
Huh, a pause
Suddenly, rather unnaturally, a pause slips into the show. Step out, the bar is open, so perhaps another Aperol is in order. But haste is essential—the line is far too long, and the intermission bell rings, exactly as in school. Drinks are brought back to the table in record time. And the energy seems to pay off. The jokes that in the first half mostly drew laughs on stage—Cher’s and Sonny’s comic routine—now draw loud laughter from the audience as well.
A highlight of the evening are the costumes. Cher dancing in a rainbow-sequin pantsuit, a cowgirl jeans dress with fringe and tassels to the floor, leather jackets, garters, boots, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, studs. Everything is there, and the stage is a blur of rapid costume changes. By contrast, the background dancers in the same leather outfits at the start feel nearly interchangeable, though they traverse from sailor cap to cowboy hat to leather hood across the entire rack of headwear. They’re clearly playing for keeps. When the music-video shoot for “We All Sleep Alone” is staged onstage, someone in the background goes all-out with the fan, as if the entire show’s success rests on those little gusts. Simply wonderful!
Direct link | Official trailer for the show |
Too much for the night: fucking. Not the act, naturally. The whole show stays fairly decent. In bed, everyone still has their clothes on. The original Broadway-originated and German-adapted musical stays very American in its diction. “Fuck” as a dirty word is—that’s a dull, puritanical American topic that really only provokes a yawn in Europe. Also dull: a duet between Cher’s lovers. Cher: “If there’s one thing I’ve had enough of, it’s men who think they have the right to decide who gets the woman.” And she leaves the stage while the men sing. Sadly, she’s right. The men and the duet weren’t needed. The feminist kick would have been better. Cher simply refuses the duet. Well, you can’t have it all.
And then: Megamix
In the end, “The Cher Show – The Official Musical by and about Cher” is very much Cher, but also a lot of fan service. At the finale, Cher muses about how she might stage a comeback in the late 1990s. How she would not only remain the old diva but become a living legend. Then Mama Jackie returns to the stage, slips a little remote into her daughter’s hand and says: “Here, try this—it’s called Autotune. But I call it: Mom gets a new house in Malibu.” The audience laughs. Cher hits two notes from “Believe,” the crowd roars. And then the megamix of the finale erupts. A whole lot of glitter and feathers. It has the audience on their feet again. Clapping, singing along, energy through the roof. The last note fades, the house is on its feet, and the applause doesn’t stop.
Performances of “The Cher Show – The Official Musical by and about Cher” are still running through April 26, 2026 at the Berlin BlueMax Theater.
