A Sunderland couple are said to have walked out of opening night of The Cher Show, after expecting to see actual Cher, rather than a musical about her.
Having opened in Broadway in 2018 and becoming a real smash with Stateside audiences, has now had a revamp for the UK, has now hit the road for a tour, directed by former Strictly judge Arlene Phillips and choreographed by the BBC show's former champion pro dancer Oti Mabuse. The cast have been doing plenty of promo to get the word out about the tour, including an interview and performance on This Morning, but that clearly went unnoticed by two audience members who took their seats at Sunderland Empire on Tuesday.
One of the stars of The Cher Show is Danielle Steers, who shares the stage with two other Chers and delivers a knock out performance as Lady. She received a rapturous reception from the crowd on opening night on Wearside and took to Twitter on Wednesday morning with a very amusing tale of the couple who walked out disappointed.
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The actress posted: "Still thinking about the couple that left in the interval last night because they thought they’d booked tickets to see actual Cher!"
While a spokesperson for the Empire told Chronicle Live, they could not "confirm or deny," the walkout happened, Danielle's tweet was quickly commented on and shared by those who saw it, with one Twitter user replying: "I mean... i don't know whether to laugh or cry at that one. People astound me!" Using a Cher song pub, another respond: "If they could turn back time........" with a third telling Danielle: "When I booked for Leicester so many non theatre friends asked me if it had actual Cher in it."
Likening it to the behaviour of audiences at other musicals based on famous icons, another follower shared their own experience, tweeting: "It reminds me of when I went to see 9-5 the musical and the couple next to me said they thought Dolly Parton was supposed to be in it.," with another writing: "Oh dear god that’s like going to see Jersey Boys expecting to see Frankie Valli."
