Las Vegas Weekly

February 20, 2009 · 7:38 AM

Cher says desert dryness keeps her ‘living like a nun’

By Robin Leach

Cher onstage at The Colosseum.

Photo: Caesars Palace

Superstar entertainer Cher returns to her Caesars Palace home for another monthlong run as part of her three-year contract tomorrow, but according to her, we’re not likely to see very much of her around town! She’s been telling friends that she remains an at-home recluse here.

The 62-year-old award-winning singer and actress says that her lifestyle in Las Vegas is exactly the opposite of what Sin City represents. She says she doesn’t smoke and stays away from casinos, nightclubs and the all-night party scene -- and doesn’t even drink!

“My time away from the stage is at home living like a nun!” she said. “I go to work, do my job and return home again.” Cher says she doesn’t even talk during the day and blames it all on the toll our desert dryness takes on her throat.

Photo: AEG Concerts West

Cher.

Cher missed many shows at The Colosseum last fall because of a throat infection she couldn’t shake. “It’s hard for me not to talk during the day. I remind myself about 100 times each day not to speak, and I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t want to talk. I never anticipated the dryness getting to my throat the way it did.”

Desert Throat has long plagued singers and impressionists on the Strip. Caesars headliners Celine Dion and Bette Midler installed on-stage humidifiers for relief during their performances. Danny Gans has long said he doesn’t talk the entire day before a show.

Despite the weather, Cher says she loves performing in Vegas: “The theater is unbelievable, and I have a dream schedule that allows me to get home to Los Angeles twice a week in just 40 minutes.”

It’s not that well known, but Cher underwrites the financial cost of schools for underprivileged orphans in Africa and Nepal, and while away from Vegas, she visited and worked at both. This week, she spent a day relaxing at Disneyland in California getting ready for her monthlong, hermit-like lifestyle here. She’s finishing work on a new CD and also getting ready for a new movie with Johnny Knoxville.

Cher’s concerts resume tomorrow night and run through March 21; then she returns April 25.

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