On August 9, Sonny Shores hosted a “Cherry Grove Pride Celebration,” a true community effort by performers from the organizations and the businesses, as part of the Sunday Variety Show Series at the Ice Palace. DJ Chuck McTague was responsible for music, sound, and lights.
Sonny began, modestly, with “Mr. Cellophane,” from “Chicago,” and emoted in ethnic number, from “Spamalot,” “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway (if you don’t have any Jews).” Ginger Snap probed the dancer’s lot in “What I Did for Love,” from “A Chorus Line,” and I sang “L-O-V-E” and, from “Follies,” proclaimed that “I’m Still Here.”
Bubbles Atlantic looked hot, selling it, in “Fashionista” and “Show Me How You Burlesque.” Lee Sharmat seduced by singing “Big Spender,” from “Sweet Charity,” and returned to query, “Would I Lie to You?” Barbara Hirsch and Linda Dickerman, as Sonny and Cher, evoked the Old West in “A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done” and declared devotion in “I Got You Babe.” Ruth and Susan Freedner morphed into the Everly Brothers for “Bye Bye Love” and “Bird Dog.”
JB McLendon sang a paean to booze in “Alcohol (my permanent accessory).” To great acclaim, Matty Kennedy sang a powerful “21 Guns.” Sonny lavished praise, in English and French, in “For Me Formidable.” Peter Chmiel lent his sweet tone to singing “The Night Chicago Died.” And Sonny closed the show with a tribute to Frank Sinatra, consisting of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “New York, New York.”