East County to celebrate holidays with Cher musical, snow, other events

Cher steps onto a battleship and sings “If I Could Turn Back Time,” surrounded by sailors, for a video.

That moment and others are reenacted in “The Cher Show,” in which three actresses play the singer at various stages of her life and show her growth from a shy girl to an empowered woman.

Broadway in Thousand Oaks is presenting five performances of the musical on Dec. 8-10 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Showtimes and tickets are at bapacthousandoaks.com.

“The Cher Show” is part of holiday season entertainment, with events starting Friday, throughout eastern Ventura County.

The Cher musical features 35 of her hits — everything from “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” to “Believe.”

Ella Perez portrays Cher from first grade through her pre-TV career and sings “I Got You Babe” with Lorenzo Pugliese, who portrays husband Sonny Bono.

“I’m depicting a very different version of Cher than people knew. She was very shy,” Perez, 22, said. “Sonny definitely helped her a lot and saw something in her that she didn’t see and gave her the ability to realize her talent.”

Catherine Ariale plays Cher when she was on CBS’ “Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour." Ariale said she was impressed with the singer's growth, which resulted in her decision to start a solo career.

“There’s a moment in the show when she sees her contract for Cher Enterprises and starts to read the fine print,” Ariale, 26, said. “Sonny owns 95% of it. The lawyer owns 5% of it. Cher says, ‘Do I not own any of this?’"

Ariale found the singer's story fascinating. “She’s been through so much, but through every obstacle, she has come out stronger on the other end," she said.

Morgan Scott plays Cher after her divorce from Bono.

Scott, 41, said that instead of impersonating Cher's speech and mannerisms, she paid homage to the singer and actress' heartfelt emotions and distinctive singing voice.

“I think my approach is that she’s a human being at the end of the day,” Scott said. “She’s felt the same things we’ve all felt: fear, humor, triumph.”

Scott noted that Bob Mackie, who designed Cher’s glamorous costumes throughout her career, re-created them for “The Cher Show.” Scott added she's had to pause several times as the audience applauds the costumes she's wearing.

Other holiday productions include:

• “Christmas Magic!" Dec. 1-10 at High Street Arts Center, 45 E. High St., Moorpark. Adult and teenagers sing holiday favorites. Showtimes and tickets are at highstreetartscenter.com.

• “Rejoice! Songs of the Season:” 8 p.m. on Dec. 1 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. The Village Voices Chorale performs selections from “The Messiah." Tickets for this and other plaza productions are at bapacthousandoaks.com.

• Christmas on the Farm: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 2-24 at Underwood Family Farms, 3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark. Event includes Santa, tractor-drawn wagon rides and reindeer.

• Hanukkah Menorah Lighting: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at Simi Valley Town Center.

• Moorpark Civic Ballet's "The Nutcracker:" 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

• Chanukah Family Festival: 4-6 p.m. Dec. 10 at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks.

• Santa Claus’ Party: All day starting at 8 a.m. Dec. 16 at Simi Valley Town Center. Event features 17-plus tons of fresh snow.

• Pacific Northwest Ballet's "The Nutcracker:" 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 16-17 at Fred Kavli Theatre at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

• “Boleros de Navidad:" 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Scherr Forum Theatre at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Tres Souls performs boleros — love songs. “What I love about boleros is they allow me to be vulnerable, to be romantic, to live that era of the 1940s,” said Roberto Carlos, who performs with fellow guitarist-vocalist Jesus Martinez and lead singer Rocio Mendoza. “I would describe Rocio’s voice as powerful, unique, romantic, honest and soulful,” Carlos said.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: East County to celebrate holidays with Cher musical, snow, more