Nothing worthwhile comes easy, unless you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth or are not adverse to performing sexual favors. Well, my spoon is not silver and sex is not on that table either. So, I have had to rely on my talent, brains and personality, like most everyone else.
However, the one talent that has been very good to me in a weird way has been my ability to look, talk, sing and act like Cher.
(Marvin Nathan, Frank Marino and myself)
At first thought, one might think "how cool it is to impersonate a famous person!" And, on some levels, you'd be correct. I've had the honor to entertain audiences for decades in top Las Vegas shows like "Legends in Concert" and "American Superstars." I've guest-starred on national TV shows such as "The Nanny," "The View," "Leeza Gibbons" and "Ellen DeGeneres." I've entertained for major corporate events which has given me the opportunity to perform on the same stage with numerous stars such as Kenny Loggins, Jay Leno and Barry Manilow. And, I was featured in a national book release about the real Cher called "The Cher Scrapbook" as well as a few beautiful table top books, "Planet Vegas" and "Made You Look."
I've also traveled most of the world working with some of the most talented persons I've ever known. So yes, there have been some major perks. As for the down side, I've really never been able to express my own talents as a singer or a writer. I've had a job, not a career. Of course, there are always plus and minuses in anything, and we choose the paths we take whether we know it or not.
Okay, so you've got a bit of the back story now. I've been a top Cher impersonator for decades, all the while desiring to create a career for myself as a singer/writer. There are some pretty cool highlights such as nearly getting one of my musicals on Broadway in 1985. But I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it say, I've gotten in some big doors many times and was close enough to taste success before the fires were put out in one way or another. Did that leave a bitter residue in my mouth? I'll let you decide.
So, how does all of this relate to this latest idea of my writing a musical comedy starring myself and two amazingly talented drag queens? (BTW, Frank Marino pictured above is the star and producer of his own iconic show called "Divas" and is not affiliated with my project. Marvin Nathan, pictured above, was asked by me to be one of the cast members) I've been working on getting a musical to Broadway since 1983. For the past two years, I worked on a wonderful play that went nowhere due to several things, the largest being cost. I knew I had to create a play that could be produced in a lower budget in order to get my foot in the door. Thus, the idea of taking my "Cher-ness" along with some of my other crazy characters and placing them all in a play with two drag queens who also did "Cher" along with other crazy characters was born!
Why drag queens? Well, I've met practically every queen who impersonates Cher along with their female impersonator friends, my husband has had drag queens as clients in his recording studio for decades and I thought it to be an interesting idea. So, I put together a short outline of the show, some photos and some casting ideas. Then, I presented it to an amazing husband and wife team who are affiliated with a production company boasting 40 Tony Awards. They saw the potential in the idea and I ran with it!
I've got to confess that the journey thus far has been filled with so much drama, that I'm not sure which is more powerful, the play or the story behind getting the play completed. And so, this blog! Everyday, I will post pictures and recount the timeline of what has happened along the way. I hope you will join me because it is a story worthy of a daytime soap opera!
I thank you for reading this and I look forward to your company as I continue down this "Yellow Brick Road!" See you tomorrow!
Heidi
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