As the lights grew dim inside CD&ME in Frankfort, a familiar voice flowed from the stage, “I have climbed the highest mountains … only to be with you.”
Dressed in a sparkling costume, Mokena’s Lisa McClowry had traveled from out West, coming home to perform.
Since February, McClowry has been in Las Vegas, performing as Cher in the Legendary Divas show at the Tropicana, taking the stage six days a week.
When she’s able to break away from Vegas, where she’s booked through the end of October and lives in a hotel suite, she takes her show, “The Beat Goes On,” on the road, including last month’s performance in Frankfort.
It was the first return engagement in a while for McClowry, who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary with husband Perry Krokidas, and who will be back Saturday for a show at the Des Plaines Theater. In mid-November she’ll finally have a few days to return to the area to spend time with family.
But her parents, MaryEllen and Jim McClowry, as well as some old friends, had a chance to see her perform at the CD&ME show.
“The best way to describe performing for family and friends was opening a door to a massive party and the party was called This is Your Life,” Lisa McClowry said. “My whole history was in this night. All the love coming at you, is quite humbling.”
Old friend Jason Baumann was on hand for the performance, recalling a time when he shared the stage with McClowry when he was in seventh grade for a community theater production of “The Sound of Music.”
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“Lisa was Maria von Trapp and I was Friedrich, the oldest son,” he said. “Lisa was probably in college at the time. She taught us so much especially as young aspiring theater kids.”
Even then, Baumann knew his friend was going to go far in her career.
“For many high school students, there seems to be a dream to be a professional athlete. For me and many others, it was the dream of doing something impactful in the music industry,” he said. “It never surprised me that Lisa has become so successful. While she has had so much success in her life, as a vocalist, actor and woman, she is so incredibly humble and true to her South Side roots. She is the kind of person, despite her busy schedule, who is always there to help.”
Some of McClowry’s friends are still part of shows she has taken all over the country. Mary Jonke, a close friend since age 7, assists with the eight, 90-second wardrobe changes incorporated in the Cher revue. Her band, Mike Aquino on guitar, Ed Breckenfeld on drums, Klem Hayes on bass and John Blasucci on keyboards, has been performing with her for 16 years.
When she’s not on the road, she’s been in Las Vegas lately for a Legends in Concert residency. Besides her Cher portrayal, the show includes performers representing Adele, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga.
McClowry’s Cher persona came from an idea from a fan as she was touring in 2015 with a show she produced called “Rock the ’80s,” in which she performed songs from Journey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Styx and other hitmakers.
“I produced a show where there are dancers, costumes and videos,” she said. “We would perform in various theaters and festivals.”
At one of those festivals, a fan told McClowry she sounded like Cher.
“So in 2016 I started the Beat Goes On Cher Tribute show,” McClowry said with a smile. “I began to offer that show to my corporate clients in Chicago. The first show my husband videotaped me with an iPad which was a Saturday night. On Monday morning I sent it to Legends In Concert in Las Vegas, first time I ever played Cher. I heard from them two hours later where I would do an audition via Skype. Two weeks later I was on the road doing a Cher tribute show.”
The show took McClowry as Cher to venues as far away as Australia and Canada, but she doesn’t want to be singled out as a tribute artist.
“I see myself more of a singer, actress and producer,” McClowry said. “The Beat Goes On is different because I approach it like a Broadway show. There is a plot and there is dialogue. I see this as an acting role.”
Tribute artist “is a Las Vegas term, that’s how they identify us,” she added. “To me it’s just one part of me.”
McClowry also does voice-over work, and writes and records songs. She teamed up for a duet with Carl Giammarese, lead singer and founder of The Buckinghams, of a new version of the band’s 1967 hit “Don’t You Care.” as well as a new song, “I Will Love You Forever.”
McClowry said she “wears many hats.”
But, “when I’m done at the end of the night, I put everything back in a box and shut it off,” she said. “My mom always tells me people think you just get out there and sing but it’s so much more.
“Unless you’re a professional, they have no idea what it takes to put a show together. I arrange the air travel, the car making sure all the musicians know what they’re doing to what they’re wearing as well as putting the sound and lights together. That’s where the real work is.”
As she prepared to perform last month in Frankfort, it took her two hours to transform into Cher. But it took her years to perfect her act.
“I groomed my character,” she said. “I became better with the makeup and hair. I really began understanding the character of Cher.”
McClowry has come a long way since growing up on the South Side of Chicago and graduating from Maria High School.
“My dream has come true, plus some,” she said. “There has been some extremely good things that have been happening. I’ve just been open to it, I’m where that I should be.”
McClowry will be back in the area Saturday, performing as Cher in “The Beat Goes On” show at the Des Plaines Theater. More information is at www.beatgoesonshow.com.
Mary Compton is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.