Cher & Cher Alike

QLife Talks with Steven Wayne, Cher Impersonator!

by Garrett Pattiani
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QLife: Hello Steven. Thank you for talking with QLife for our very first issue. You are one of the most well known and well liked Cher impersonators in the world, so we are curious to get to know more about who you are and how you got to this point in your career. Please tell us more about your background. Help us see who is the person behind the makeup, the wigs and the persona(s). Let’s start out with the basics, like where are you from? What were you like as a kid? You know, all of the questions you would cover if we were on a first date, LOL. Give us a background to start off this interview.

Steven Wayne: Hello, and thank you for this opportunity! I am honored. I was a weird and dorky kid, born and raised in a small town in West Virginia. I was given the greatest gift a child could receive, which is a childhood surrounded by unconditional love. I am thankful for the amazing family that I have. I Thank God for them because school was a horrible experience for me. I was bullied starting in the first grade, and it got progressively worse all the way through college. I received death threats and attempted suicide as a teenager, but I’m proof that it does get better. Here I am in Las Vegas, living my dream.

QLife: Wow, that sounds intense. It shows how strong of a person you are. We are all happy that you are still here to entertain your fans. Now at some point you decided to start doing drag - did it start out as something fun or did you know that you wanted to make a career out of it early on? Tell us how you knew that drag was in your future and what your plans were.

Steven Wayne: I knew at an early age that I would become a performer of some kind. I loved music, and I would escape the pain of being teased daily at school by pretending to be a rock star in my room. I would pretend to sing in front of an audience composed of stuffed animals, a Wonder Woman doll, and the Lone Ranger. I first learned about female impersonators on talk shows and I was fascinated. Soon after that, I was dressing in drag and going to clubs with a fake ID. A couple of friends told me that I resembled Cher, so with their help, I put together a costume and performed “If I Could Turn Back Time” in a nightclub, and that was the night this Cher impersonator was born. 

QLife: That is an amazing story. I'm sure that those stuffed animals were the perfect first audience! What genre of drag would you say you are now? Help our readers understand the categories and sub-categories of drag.

Steven Wayne: I think Cher impersonation is a genre in itself. What a wealth of costumes, hairstyles, and music for impersonators! There are so many men and women who impersonate her because who wouldn’t want to be Cher? She is an icon, a superhero. In a way, I compare it to dressing up as Santa. There is only one Santa, but he has helpers all over the world who dress in a red suit to deliver gifts to boys and girls everywhere. It’s similar with Cher. There is only one, but she has impersonators who help deliver her music and fashion to the ladies, gentlemen, and flamboyant gentlemen all over the world!

QLife: We all know you as a star in Frank Marino’s Divas show in Las Vegas, what is that like for you and how did that change the trajectory of your life? What have you learned from being in the show and how do you apply it to your personal life?

Steven Wayne: I am so blessed to be making a living by doing something that I love, and I am thankful for the opportunity that Frank Marino has given me to be one of his Divas. Because of the show, I have traveled to so many places and met people from all over the world. One thing I have learned from this type of show business is that you have to be very consistent. We perform the same show every night, after night, after night. If I’m not careful, I might look bored, and I don’t want that to happen. It’s important to keep each performance fresh because although I may have performed it 1,000 times, an audience member might be seeing it for the very first time. Plus, I want good reviews on Trip Advisor!!

QLife: Naturally, being on in the spotlight night after night, after night, after night (lol) means that you become a role model to others out there. Can you give some advice to people who look up to you and tell them something that would be inspiring?

Steven Wayne: Yes and thank you for asking. I think there is way too much online bullying and shaming on social media and basically any website where you can leave a comment. People can be so mean. They develop such a false sense of power when they are typing on a device and it is so easy to become an a$$hole. So my advice is “Don’t be an a$$hole!”

QLife: Seems so simple, huh? I mean it's much easier to pay attention to the things we like instead of bringing others down. Great advice! How many personas do you have? We know about the iconic Cher that you do, can you list out all the people you impersonate? Do you have your own drag character?

Steven Wayne: I also impersonate the amazing Celine Dion. It has been a work in progress and I am proud of how that number has evolved. I enjoy impersonating her so much and I have always felt a connection to her music. She and I are the same age and she hit the American charts at the same time I started performing. I have such a love and admiration for her strength. I would love to meet her someday. #hinthint #hookmeup

QLife: Ha Ha! We will try our best! Now, we bet you have some other projects you are working on, what can we expect from you in the near future? Do you have anything that you want to share with your fans?

Steven Wayne: Yes! I’m excited to say that Frank has big plans for Divas Las Vegas in the new year!  We are revamping each number from top to bottom and it will be a brand new show in 2017!

QLIfe: Have you ever met Cher? If so, what was that experience like and what did you say?

Steven Wayne: If I could ever re-live one moment in my life, it would be the time I met Cher. I met her in 2001 at the Riviera. I was so nervous, I couldn’t speak, and I felt like I was going to vomit on her shoes. I tried to tell her that I impersonated her, but I was so choked up because I WAS STANDING NEXT TO CHER! I wanted a photo with her, and the batteries in my camera were dead. Luckily, someone else had a camera. I was trying to give her a photo of me, but she autographed it and handed it back to me. I guess she didn’t want it! It was a disaster.

QLife: Oh my gosh, that's hilarious! She must have thought it was her! Well, I think that is the BEST compliment you can get. You know you are good when the person signing the photo thinks you are her. We aren't surprised. You truly are the best. Thank you so much for talking to us! It was so much fun, we wish we could "turn back time" and do it again! Cheers and we will see you in the new show soon!

Garrett Pattiani

Publisher