Cher Plans Artistic Rebirth
November 24, 2008 by Vegas Baby
Filed under Caesar's Palace, Cher, Featured, Ongoing Shows
Cher beat the odds at every turn in her 44-year career, so it’s no surprise she’s betting on an artistic rebirth in Las Vegas.The indestructible diva, who retired from touring in 2005, will star in a song-and-dance spectacle starting May 6 at the 4,100-seat Colosseum in Caesars Palace. She’ll perform four shows weekly for one month, then return mid-August through early October, leapfrogging stints with Bette Midler. Her pact with promoter AEG Live extends three years.
Cher, 61, promises a “visually unbelievable” hit parade that entails elaborate choreography, complex staging, eye-popping costumes, 14 dancers and four aerialists.
“Creatively, we’re doing something that’s never been done with sets,” she says. “Getting the whole thing in book form, in pictures, has taken months. Our set moves down from the ceiling, in from the sides, up from the floor. We have screens in the foreground, the center and the back. We can change a city into a forest in two seconds. You’ll see a different stage for every song.”
The music will access all chapters of Cher’s career, from her Sonny & Cher start to her recent dance-pop phase, and she’s plotting updates of both old and new hits.
Cher’s extravagant 2002-05 Farewell Tour rang up $192.5 million from 273 shows, the ninth-highest-grossing tour in history, according to Billboard Boxscore.
“Cher definitely achieved elite status as a live performer on her Farewell Tour, which was a remarkable endurance test and a hugely popular draw,” says Billboard touring editor Ray Waddell. “With her elaborate costumes, long list of hits and over-the-top presentation, I can’t think of another artist more suited to Vegas. A Cher concert is just a really good time.”
Cher insists her Vegas splash won’t recycle Farewell’s motifs: “I’d like to be challenged.”
She hasn’t seen Colosseum concerts by previous residents Celine Dion or Elton John, nor the venue itself (“I saw a picture of it”). She’s furiously working out to gear up for rehearsals, and she likes the idea of bouncing between her home in Malibu and a steady gig in Vegas.
Show Dates (2009):
Feb.: 21 – 22, 24 – 25, 28
March.: 1, 3 – 4, 7 – 8, 10 – 11, 14 – 15, 17, 20 – 21
April.: 25 – 26, 28 – 29
May: 2 – 3, 5 – 6, 9 – 10, 12 – 13, 16 – 17, 19 – 20, 23 – 24
Kat M. on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:54 pm
I really wasn’t much of a Cher fan before I saw her in concert on Saturday night, 8/31/08. I mean, sure, I love the song “Believe” and, to be really stereotypical, most of the gay men in my life are pretty big fans. But… this show totally made my visit to Vegas and I will forever be a Cher devotee.
As the last reviewer said, Cher started her concert about 15 minutes late at 7:45. At 7:30 when the show was supposed to start, hardly anyone was in their seats anyway (for shame!!). The Colosseum is a great place to see a concert because there really are not very many bad seats in the entire venue. We had two tickets two rows back from the first row of the balcony. Her first number she came from the ceiling in this flying (cabled) apparatus singing “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” After she finished her song, she talked to the audience in the same way that you’d be talking to an old friend. As I said before, I wasn’t really a huge fan or a Cher groupie, but after she talked to this audience, I was totally in love with her. She makes her audience and fans feel like they are valued members of her group.
She sang a lot of songs (20ish?) and did a costume change after each one. So think about that: a woman who is 60+ is changing clothes about every 5 minutes into very heavy, very intricate and beautiful costumes. I was not bored for one moment during the entire concert. When she wasn’t on stage, her dancers were performing and performing well. This is definitely a great Vegas-y show to go to… with all of her flashy costumes and dancing it was almost like seeing one of the Vegas dancer revues but way less trashy.
The thing that I most liked was her use of video and all of her memories woven tastefully in to the concert. She would show clips during a costume change or down time. The clips were from the movies she acted in, some clips from the Sonny and Cher Show, and music videos, but not in that “look how awesome I think I am.” It truly showed what a great entertainer she has been throughout the years.
Cher at the Colosseum is a must-see!
Laurence on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:55 pm
We had to do quite a bit of searching for tickets to this show and finally got it a few days before leaving to Vegas. I was stoke because i’ve been watching Cher since I was very young and of course I didn’t appreciate her talent and taste for fashion until I was much older. Now that i’m all grown up, so is Cher and let me tell you… I hope to look half as good as she does at her age! Of course we all could never count the amount of botox injections and surgeries she’s had to keep up with the looks of a 20 year old but hell, they did her good.
She looks amazing and her body was amazing. I think she’s the only one who could get away with the ridiculous headpieces and costumes that she changes into. I think she only changed about 9 times during the show and each one was amazing on its own. Although we were in the nosebleed section, I didn’t mind it one bit. In fact, I wouldn’t mind to be spitted on sitting in the first VIP row !
Her acrobats were A+. I honestly couldn’t see myself half naked and twisting in mid-air on a piece of fabric. That’s as if i’m suicical!
I was teary when they started showing Sonny and Cher and their cute song “I got you babe”. They were such a great couple and I knew that deep down she still loves him.
The show is amazing and I totally recommend everyone to give it a chance and go see her. Plus, who knows how much longer she’ll be around until her retirement! Long lives CHER!
BBchick on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:55 pm
Fabulous show–whether you are a Cher fan or not. Her vibrant voice, divine costumes, wit and all-around good karma permeates the Palace.
Terry J on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:56 pm
It was a great show (8.20.08 @ 7:30 pm). It started about 7:45 and ended about 9:15. I think, she performed for about 30 minutes. I imagine when you are 62 and strutting around a huge stage in four inch heals wearing either really heavy costumes or next to nothing you would tire easily; especially when you are singing your heart out (even if you have a sore throat). And I once saw a special on TV where they showed how she did her custom changes and I know that is tiring, BUT . . . I would have enjoyed it more if she sang more or even just talked, as she did in the beginning. I would have much rather heard her sing more of her songs instead of the covers she did. She only sang the choruses from “Half Breed”, “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves”, and “Dark Lady” instead of the chorus from each. It took her longer to get into her “Half Breed” costume than she sang. With those three songs I was a bit disappointed. But it was great to walk down memory lane. I forgot how kooky she was. There was a lot of Sony and Cher. And her costumes were amazing, I just wished she would have sang more . . . .