The Cher Show Costume Designer Bob Mackie on Revisiting the Iconic Looks of His 'Most Notorious' Client

Bob Mackie’s name is synonymous with glamour. The nine-time Emmy winner and three-time Oscar-nominated costume designer is known for his impeccable construction and outrageous looks—which includes feathers, beads, sequins and strategic body-baring. Mackie, who was the costume designer for the entire 11-year run of the wildly popular The Carol Burnett Show (he’s famous for the Gone with the Wind parody), has dressed a wide array of celebrities, but he is perhaps most closely associated with Cher. The designer and the legendary star have collaborated for more than 50 years and made some splashy headlines together. Now, Mackie is creating and revisiting the iconic performer’s ensembles as costume designer for The Cher Show. On the latest episode of the new Broadway.com show Front Row, Managing Editor Beth Stevens chatted with Mackie to find out more about the designer who is such an important part of Cher’s life and career that he’s also a character in the new musical.

Mackie met Cher in 1967, when she was a guest star on The Carol Burnett Show. A few years later, Cher and Mackie reunited for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, and a true collaboration was born. “When I knew that I was going to be working with her the first time, I thought, ‘Oh, she’s this hulking goth.’ I didn't know what to think of her,” Mackie laughs, adding that his first impression proved to be wrong: “She was delightful and cute and a little Audrey Hepburn-esque kind of girl. She had this black hair, beautiful skin and long neck—just somebody you’d want to dress.”

Cher, decked out in Mackie’s showy designs, was a smash with audiences. “Nothing intimidates her,” the designer says of his muse, whom he dressed in everything from Native American getups to “nude illusion” gowns to unforgettable Oscar-night ensembles. “I didn’t train her, but I exposed her to things,” Mackie says. “I would bring in books about the 1930s or the 1920s or just about different kinds of people from around the world, and she was quite fascinated by that because she knew—smart girl—she would fit into those looks.”

When Mackie was brought on board during the development of The Cher Show, he realized he would be recreating some of those famous looks, and, at first, he recoiled: “I thought, ‘I don’t want to do that again,’” he laughs, “but then you have to. [They] became so iconic. I mean, nobody dressed like that.” There was something else he had to get used to—being a character in the show: “When you’re going through the script, and all of a sudden, you see where the name is listed,” he says. “I jump a little bit. But then I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just dress him up. I’ll make him a little more flamboyant than I really am.’”

“Literally the first thing he said to me, ‘Just so you know, I would never wear anything I’ve designed for you,’” says Michael Berresse, who plays Mackie in The Cher Show, “which I thought is true. He would never ask for that kind of attention that he affords all of us who are lucky enough to wear his designs.”

Berresse notes that there is a “Bob Mackie number” in the show with a parade of stunning Mackie costumes getting gasps of appreciation from audiences. “Oh my God, if for nothing else, just come see the show for that,” Berresse says. “It’s staggering. The audience goes crazy, and I know that it’s not for the performance necessarily. It’s because they have a target to say thank you to Bob. I love being his stand-in.”

Berresse researched Mackie’s craft as he prepared for The Cher Show. “[I learned] a lot about his history with couture and how he doesn’t like his clothes to ever appear vulgar,” Berresse says.

“Despite the fact that [his designs are] over the top, he has such a strong sensibility about shape and body, and he makes everybody he designs clothes for feel beautiful. He loves sex appeal, and he loves old Hollywood glamour.” The actor also dug into the man behind the designs: “He’s very wry and impish. Having that sort of inner joy as part of this character is very important to me,” Berresse notes. “I also learned a lot about his life and his losses and his difficulties.” Mackie’s son died of AIDS in 1994, and he has dealt with serious financial woes over the years. “It hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows for Bob,” Berresse continues. “I think that’s something that he and Cher have in common. They are survivors, and they are optimists.”

“I think she just realizes that, that I kind of understand her,” Mackie says about his enduring relationship with Cher. “I have lots of other clients who are not like her at all, but she’s the most notorious.”