Cher And Bob Mackie Reunite For Broadway Show About Her Life
Cher and Bob Mackie are together again. The legendary costume designer will reunite with the music superstar for The Cher Show, the upcoming musical based on Cher’s life, according to Entertainment Weekly. Mackie has joined the design team for the highly anticipated musical.
Cher will be represented in all eras of her life in The Cher Show. The musical will play out in three chapters that will be weaved together with a soundtrack of Cher hits including “I Got You Babe,” “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves,” “Believe,” and “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Now, Bob Mackie will bring his decades of experience with the Oscar-winning actress to The Cher Show. Bob is the man behind some of Cher’s most famous gowns, including the original “naked dress” she wore in 1974 and the jeweled crop top with feather headpiece she wore to the 1986 Oscars.
Mackie’s early design sketches for The Cher Show, which you can see in his Instagram post below, include a vest and flared pants for 1970s-era Cher and a feathery crop top stage look to represent her glam style. Mackie told EW he is thrilled to be a part of the musical tribute to his longtime friend.
“Thirty gazillion outfits later, the lady is about to be immortalized in a musical, for which I am delighted to be designing. Darling, my sketchpad is ready!”
Bob Mackie has dressed a long list of entertainment legends, including Judy Garland and Carol Burnett, but his collaborations with Cher are among his most iconic.
Of that famous “naked dress” that went on to inspire designers and stars decades later, Mackie told Vogue the sheer beaded gown with white feathered sleeves and a white feathered skirt created a stir when Cher was photographed wearing it on the cover of Time magazine in the early 1970s.
“It created a lot of hubbub,” Mackie said of the famous dress.
“In those days, Time reserved its covers for world leaders or someone who invented something important, like a vaccine. Then there was Cher on the cover in that incredible piece of clothing, and newsstands sold out of it almost immediately. Some cities even banned it from being sold.”
There may be a new generation of thong-strapped naked dressers, just remember, @Cher—and Bob Mackie—did it first. https://t.co/YcLKzlZlqF pic.twitter.com/NquqHf29Ko
— Vogue Runway (@VogueRunway) February 6, 2018
Cher later admitted at least one of her Bob Mackie outfits may have been a bit over the top.
“I knew some people in the Academy didn’t think that I was a serious actress,” Cher told Vogue of her headline-making 1986 Oscars outfit. “I always felt a bit sad that I presented Don Ameche with his Best Supporting Actor Award in that outfit. It seemed to make him a little nervous.”
Bob Mackie first dressed Cher nearly 50 years ago when she guest starred with then-husband Sonny on The Carol Burnett Show.
“I put her in a little outfit, it wasn’t much of anything, a dress with a bustle in the back,” Mackie told the New York Daily News. “It wasn’t exactly a creative moment, but Cher and I got on and she asked for me when she and Sonny started doing their summer specials. That was 1971.”
Forty-seven years later, this dynamic duo will turn back time to give fans another look at Cher’s life—and her costume closet.
The Cher Show will be produced by Flody Suarez (What’s New Pussycat) and Jeffrey Seller (Hamilton) and will kick off on June 12 with performances at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre for a limited run before heading to Broadway in the fall.
You can see Bob Mackie talking about designing outfits for Cher in the video below.
Jo Hale/Getty Images)
