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CHER ... SPECIAL
By Boston Q
As a young girl, Cher's mother Georgia always told Cher that she was special. Cher didn't always agree, wishing that she was a blonde, blue-eyed beauty like her mother and younger sister. Cher knew she was different, but she really wanted to be famous, and she knew that not many people with "bumpy noses" and "vampire teeth" were famous. But Georgia knew that one day her daughter would be famous. She knew that Cher was special, and she always told Cher that someday the world would know just how special she was. She would tell Cher that she may not be the prettiest, the most talented, or the smartest, but she was special... and she knew just how special Cher was from a very early age. When Cher was five years old, Georgia and her husband took Cher to see the movie Cinderella. In the car after the movie, Cher started singing a song from the movie: A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes. Georgia knew right then that Cher had that something "special." She was totally in awe of her young daughter and said to her husband, "Are you hearing what she's doing? Do you hear this child?"
Georgia used to love to buy the cast albums from hit Broadway musicals, and young Cher loved to listen to them over and over, memorizing the songs so that she could put on shows for her mother and sister. But it was the cast album to "West Side Story" that was Cher's favorite -- she loved it so much and she could relate to the story, the characters, and all the songs that she spent months memorizing the entire album. But listening to "West Side Story" was a private, personal experience for Cher while she was growing up, and she would only listen to it whenever she was home by herself. In her 1998 book, "The First Time," Cher wrote:
I'd wait till nobody else was home, and then I'd turn up the volume on the record player full blast, and I'd dance around the living room singing all the parts. I identified with every character, not just the women. It takes a long time to learn a whole cast album, and I kept working on that musical for months. I never showed it to anyone, not even my mom.
On Monday, April 3, 1978, the appropriately named Cher...special aired on ABC-TV, and for the opening number, Cher decided that those many months of practicing the songs from "West Side Story" would finally pay off.
As the special begins, there is a spotlight on the floor and Georgia's voice is heard calling for her young daughter: "Cher? Cher? Cher, is that you? I thought I asked you not to mess up my record albums." As Cher steps into the spotlight, she is made up to look like a younger version of herself with her hair in pigtails. Taking a page from real life, the young Cher sits on the floor and tells her mother that she is upset because she is not blonde and she says that all the pretty girls have blonde hair and blue eyes. Georgia tells her daughter that she is beautiful and someday she will realize just how special she really is. Cher tells her mom that she will try to understand and explains that she got into the record albums so that she could learn the songs from "West Side Story" for school. When Georgia asks Cher what part she is going to play, Cher replies, "all of them."
Cher stands up, looks directly at the camera, and says, "Ladies & Gentlemen, for tonight’s entertainment, I am proud to present 'West Side Story.' I will be playing all the parts. Thank you." And for the next fifteen minutes, Cher did exactly that. Singing and dancing to a medley of well-known songs from the musical, Cher amazed the television audience by playing both the male and female characters. To this day, it is Cher's favorite thing that she has ever done on television.
Other segments of "Cher...special" include guests Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart performing their hit songs "Two Doors Down" and "Hot Legs"; Cher and Dolly having a conversation by reciting lyrics from pop songs; and Cher working by day in a boring secretarial job but getting funky on the dance floor at night in the discos. Even Laverne, Cher's most famous character from the early days of "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour," stops by for a quick chat to give Cher some words of wisdom that only Laverne
could deliver. The final segment was a big production number with a medley of songs performed by Cher, Dolly Parton, and The Tubes that has to be seen to be believed. Described as a "musical war to save Cher's soul," The Tubes try to lead her astray to the dark world of evil and sin while Dolly and several gospel singers try to save her and show her the light.
"Cher...special" concludes with Cher, now all grown up, saying, "Momma, I'm still here. I've got the same hair, the same bumpy nose and vampire teeth. But you were right, I feel better about myself now." But some things never change...this time it's Cher's nine-year-old daughter Chastity who asks, "Mom, have you been into my records again?" Cher proves that she truly has come full circle when she says, "[my children] Chastity and Elijah both have blonde hair. I guess they don't have the advantages of having black hair, but nobody told them it was going to be easy." Then, she performs the song that started it all: A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes. As the final credits roll by, Cher's young son Elijah Blue comes out and sits on her lap.
NOTES:
Cher ... Special was a huge ratings success for ABC and it was ranked among the Top 10 most watched programs of the week. In the Fall of 1978, it was honored with a technical Emmy Award for Best Achievement in Lighting Direction. It also received an Emmy nomination for Best Art Direction for a Comedy-Variety or Musical special and Dolly Parton was also nominated for an Emmy in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Variety or Musical Special.
Featured Clip
![]() West Side Story Medley
The full video of Cher's West Side Story Medley in which she plays and sings all the parts is available as a special feature on the Cher: The Farewell Tour DVD
- CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE CHER ... SPECIAL PHOTO GALLERY
Copyright © by Just Plain Cher - Cher Music, Photos, Movies, Pictures, Videos All Right Reserved. Published on: 2004-11-30 (22126 reads) [ Go Back ] |
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