Stephanie Block: Cher and Cher Alike

The first time Stephanie J. Block had the opportunity to meet Cher in person, she ran and hid.

That might strike some as odd since Block eventually went on to earn a Tony Award for playing the legendary singer — well, one of the three “Chers,” the more mature one — in Broadway’s The Cher Show last season.

It was the fall of 2017 and the new musical was being presented to Cher for her approval before heading to Chicago.

“She came to this presentation with about 12 or 15 of her friends and she wanted to meet the cast before we performed for her,” Block says. “I just felt [like] if I was going to adequately perform Cher for Cher I needed to not be shaken and needed to stay the course that I had rehearsed for weeks, so I hid. But the producer came up and I had been summoned specifically to meet her so I came downstairs and she was — remarkable.

“She was protected in the sense that she had this big velvet fedora/sombrero hat on. She had reflective aviator sunglasses on, too, so you couldn’t really see the whites of her eyes — or her emotions. But her handshake and hug were firm yet gentle, and she certainly gave me all the words I wanted to hear. She told me as an artist she knew how vulnerable I was and she understood that I was there to honor her and the material and she thanked me for that. She was lovely.”

Naturally, Block sang a few songs from the Broadway show when she performed in concert Jan. 31 at the Ridgefield Playhouse.