Interviews

Interview: Sherie Rene Scott Didn't Know Little Shop of Horrors, but It's Making Her a Better Artist

Down on Skid Row, the three-time Tony nominee is realizing where her true passions lie.

David Gordon

David Gordon

| Off-Broadway |

January 21, 2025

There are actors for whom Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors is a dream role. And then there are actors like Sherie Rene Scott.

Remarkably, the three-time Tony nominee didn’t really know that iconic role in that legendary musical — before joining the off-Broadway company last fall at the behest of director Michael Mayer, Scott’s only exposure to the Howard Ashman-Alan Menken classic was the New York City Center production with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Greene. And besides, she didn’t really want to be a performer anymore anyway. Right?

Scott hasn’t been on stage in a full musical since Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2010. She’s dedicated the last decade-and-a-half to writing projects like her and Norbert Leo Butz’s cabaret show Two-Hander and her prison rehabilitation drama Whorl Inside a Loop (in which she starred alongside her current Seymour, Nicholas Christopher). But being in Little Shop, Mayer asserted, would give her the opportunity to view a perfect musical from the inside to see how it was built.

As it turns out, Mayer was right. Being on Skid Row has helped Scott realize exactly what it is she loves about theater and performing and artistry. But she’s still glad she didn’t know what to expect going in.

Sherie Rene Scott (c) Emilio Madrid 5329
Sherie Rene Scott as Audrey (with Audrey II) in Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theatre
(© Emilio Madrid)

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How are things on Skid Row?
Going well, I think. It’s interesting when people ask that, because you’re like “Well, I don’t know. I don’t see it.” From inside of it, it feels like a great combination of people, and I love doing it very much, which is surprising.

Why surprising?
Just because…It’s not something that I know if I want to do anymore. I think we’re heading into a time where people are realizing that they don’t have to do the same thing for their whole life. You kind of feel like you grow out of things in a lot of ways.

From my perspective, I’m a writer who’s singing, who’s acting, who’s creating. I didn’t know if it was going to be enjoyable for me to be this person again. But Michael Mayer knew how much I would appreciate the show. It’s the perfect show to use as an entrance into a new phase of my life because I can perceive from the inside how well-written it is.

How much wooing did it take to get you on stage?
I mean, he didn’t have to woo. He just had to texted me to come see the show. Of course, people tried to get me to sing the songs through the years, but I had never seen it.

…What?
It’s hard to believe. I did see the City Center production with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Greene that one of my writing partners, Dick Scanlan, directed, but that didn’t feel like a real Little Shop. There was no plant. I loved it, but I didn’t understand the story necessarily. I didn’t get the whole gist of everything.

I was going to say, there were so many people who were like, “Sherie is the dream Audrey” when the announcement came out.
And that’s great. And it was great that I had no idea what they meant. It was the only way for me to be able to approach it from a pure, authentic place. When Nick Christopher came on board, I knew he and I woul dwant the same things for the show, for it to be fun and funny, but also moving and real. That’s what it feels like we’re doing.

Little Shop is one of those shows that doesn’t have an ounce of fat in the script. How does that leanness inform your writing work?
To me, that’s everything. When I write something, I always say there’s no intermission and no costume changes. I want it to feel like a ride that you don’t want to get off. This show wouldn’t have an intermission if they didn’t have to set up the plant, you know?

There have been so many things I’ve learned as a writer. This world has been created where fantastical stuff can happen, and the audience goes with it. You can have a man-eating plant on stage and people still really get invested. Also, you can write something that’s fun and it can still resonate in deeper ways. For instance, this show resonates with the greed mentality that’s in our world and how dangerous it is to be sucked into it. They may offer you fortune and fame, but whatever they offer you, don’t feed the plants. Are you feeding the beast? Is that what you’re doing with your life and work?

Sherie Rene Scott & Nicholas Christopher (c) Emilio Madrid 5151
Nicholas Christopher as Seymour and Sherie Rene Scott as Audrey (with Audrey II) in Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theatre
(© Emilio Madrid)

Howard Ashman knew everything.
That’s been interesting too. I feel more connected to Howard Ashman’s work in this one [than in The Little Mermaid]. He understood Audrey in a deep and compassionate way…So much so that I ended up realizing “You know what, I’m just going to throw it over to Howard. He’s got me to use as his vessel a little bit.” Because it’s a weird dream, your first show. It’s a far-out experience. And a lot of people know this show well and I just didn’t. So, when I started, it felt like an out-of-town tryout, which was helpful. You do it for a month and then you’re like “I know so much more than I did.”

I want to keep that freshness with now moments that Nick and I find together. I never want a show to open. I just want people to buy tickets to watch our ongoing rehearsal. That’s my dream. Kind of like the Mike Leigh way of working. 

I just talked to him the other week about his new one.
You’re kidding! I read about his process all the time.

He explained it to me in great detail. It was fascinating.
I would love, love, love to have that experience. It’s so interesting that actors are seen as egomaniacs when our dream is to express the truth of some character in such a full and honest way that our selves go away.

I think that’s why I’m investigating whether this is something I’ve grown out of, but I’m realizing that I haven’t.

I’m more centered on what drew me to it, which is this craftsman-style of acting, and finding a home where people take that seriously and aren’t doing it for likes. Nick Christopher has that. What really makes it fun is that when I say, “I really want to get there,” he knows what I mean. There’s a simpatico happening.

Sherie Rene Scott (c) Emilio Madrid 4465
Sherie Rene Scott as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theatre
(© Emilio Madrid)

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