![\"Cher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sut-l-stage-cher.jpeg\")
Cher speaks at a women\u2019s march in Las Vegas in 2018. She\u2019s the subject of \u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d a biographical musical opening April 29 at Vista\u2019s Moonlight Amphitheatre. (AP)<\/p>\nThere are those icons who are so big, so transcendent that they\u2019re known by their first names only: Beyonce. Shakira. Madonna.<\/p>\n
Before any of them, there was Cher: Pop star. TV star. Fashion icon. Oscar-winning movie star.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been more than 60 years since Sonny & Cher hit the pop charts with \u201cI Got You Babe,\u201d but it\u2019s not like Cher has gone anywhere. Just a few weeks shy of her 80th birthday (on May 20), she\u2019s reportedly planning a \u201cOne Last Ride\u201d farewell tour and will publish part two of her \u201cThe Cher Memoir\u201d books in the fall.<\/p>\n
Cher speaks at a women\u2019s march in Las Vegas in 2018. She\u2019s the subject of \u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d a biographical musical opening April 29 at Vista\u2019s Moonlight Amphitheatre. (AP)<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also a presence onstage \u2013 times three \u2013 in the jukebox musical \u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d which is making its regional premiere Wednesday at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista.<\/p>\n
With a book by Rick Elice (\u201cJersey Boys,\u201d \u201cPeter and the Starcatcher\u201d), the show features performances of 35 songs made famous by, or associated with, Cher. Three actors portray Cher at different stages of her life. At Moonlight that will be Logan Eliza as Babe, the youngest Cher, Samantha Tullie as Lady, the Cher in her 30s, and Morgan Scott as Star, the Cher of the \u201880s and \u201890s.<\/p>\n
Crucial figures in Cher\u2019s life are also portrayed in \u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d including Beau Brians as her first husband Sonny Bono, Adam Lendermon as fashion designer Bob Mackie and Meghan O\u2019Brien Lowery as Cher\u2019s mother, Georgia Holt. Tony-nominated actor and \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d alum Constantine Maroulis, whose Broadway credits include the lead roles in \u201cRock of Ages\u201d and \u201cJekyll & Hyde,\u201d\u00a0 will play Cher\u2019s second husband, Gregg Allman.<\/p>\n
![\"Tony-nominated](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sut-l-stage-cher-maroulis.jpg\")
Tony-nominated actor Constantine Maroulis will play troubled rock star Greg Allman in Moonlight Stage Productions\u2019 \u201cThe Cher Show\u201d musical. (Moonlight Stage Productions)<\/p>\n
Morgan Scott is returning to the Star role after having played it throughout the first national tour of \u201cThe Cher Show\u201d that began in 2023. A \u201cchild of the \u201880s,\u201d Scott\u00a0 discovered Cher watching reruns of \u201cThe Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour\u201d and \u201cThe Sonny & Cher Show\u201d on Nick@Nite and TV Land, then later Cher videos on VH1.<\/p>\n
Now, \u201cgetting to know her on a more intimate level and learning the things she has had to overcome has been an incredible experience,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI can\u2019t relate to the icon\/diva fame, but I can relate to her as a human being who has love and self-worth issues, stage fright \u2013 the parts of Cher we don\u2019t think about.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe says \u2018I\u2019m not a diva. I\u2019m just Cher.\u2019 It\u2019s not about seeing herself through the public eye. With her, it\u2019s \u2018Take it or leave it.\u2019 And everybody takes it,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
At Moonlight \u201cThe Cher Show\u201d is being directed and choreographed by Nikki Snelson, who did the same with the company\u2019s production of \u201cGrease\u201d last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a huge Cher fan for years,\u201d Snelson said. \u201cI saw her at Madison Square Garden when I was in New York doing \u2018Legally Blonde\u2019 on Broadway. She\u2019s such an icon, such a strong survivor, and I really relate to that as a woman in this crazy business. I wanted to be a part of telling her story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t shy away from a spectacle, and that\u2019s what this is. It\u2019s a bit of a rock concert,\u201d Snelson said.<\/p>\n
The 35 songs performed in the show span the years from \u201cI Got You Babe\u201d in the \u201860s to \u201cHalf-Breed\u201d and \u201cGypsies, Tramps and Thieves\u201d in the \u201870s, to \u201cI Found Someone\u2019 in the \u201880s and \u201cBelieve\u201d in the late \u201890s.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the only person in history to have seven No. 1 hits in seven consecutive decades,\u201d said Scott. \u201cShe clearly struck a chord with generation after generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snelson pointed out that \u201cBecause of the seven decades there are so many different styles of music in the show. We get a disco number and a hard-rock number and a tap number. \u2018The Beat Goes On\u2019 is a full-blown (Bob) Fosse spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott attributes Cher\u2019s enduring popularity to her \u201cauthenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the queen of reinvention, but with every reinvention she is still herself. She presents this new look or new vibe or new style, and yet it\u2019s still Cher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d Snelson emphasized, is not just for older, nostalgic fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully,\u201d she said, \u201cthere\u2019s going to be some little girl in the audience who will be inspired by this strong, incredible woman who started when she was 16 and who is now 80 and frigging still doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Cher Show\u2019<\/p>\n
When: Opens Wednesday, April 29, and runs through May 16. 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays<\/p>\n
Where: Moonlight Amphitheatre, Brengle Terrace Park, 1200 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista<\/p>\n
Tickets: $44-$66<\/p>\n
Phone: 760-724-2110<\/p>\n