Valerie Cherish achieved sitcom fame with the iconic workplace series I’m It!.
Then decades later, she shot to reality show stardom with the The Comeback—we’d be remiss not to mention we live for her moments as poor Aunt Sassy on the short-lived Room and Bored.
So after conquering scripted TV and reality TV, the only thing left for Ms. Cherish to do is Broadway! Below, BroadwayBox picks five roles we’d like to see the People's Choice Award winner bring her signature flair to before she returns to HBO this fall.
Katharine in Mothers and Sons
Wouldn’t it be a kick to if Valerie replaced her old Hollywood Squares pal Tyne Daly as Katharine in the Tony nominated play Mothers and Sons. While not immediately known for her dramatic work (though her Lifetime movie When Soccer Moms Sext was quite moving), Valerie could stretch herself into the role of a family matriarch visiting her dead son’s former lover. And during the scene where Katharine is rummaging through old photos, Cherish can add in an, “I don’t need to see that.”
Sally Bowles in Cabaret
You can almost see the ad: Valerie Cherish IS Broadway’s Oldest Sally Bowles. Yes, Cherish may be a little long in the tooth to play the Berlin nightclub singer, but just imagine that Liza-esque energy Cherish could bring to the book scenes.
Donna in Mamma Mia!
Cherish can put her Dancing with the Stars skills to work as the dancing queen in the hit ABBA tuner Mamma Mia!
Helen Sinclair in Bullets Over Broadway
If Cherish and Woody Allen could move past their epic feud—which began after she was fired off two his movies—then she would be great as theatre grande dame Helen Sinclair in Bullets Over Broadway. The way Valerie can spin a catchphrase, her “don’t speak” would soon be printed on t-shirts and coffee mugs.
Madame in Cinderella
Valerie Cherish was made to play the wicked stepmother in Cinderella; and who better to play her coconspirator Sebastian than Cherish’s real-life hair stylist Mickey Deane? Maybe producers can even rope in Oscar winner Juana Millken, Cherish’s old Room and Bored co-star, to play Ella.
