Name: Sherie Rene Scott
Age: 43
Neighborhood: Upper West and Lower Putnam
Occupation: Part-time actor-singer-writer, full-time life partner, Mom. She’s currently starring in and co-wrote the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Everyday Rapture, which this week received two Tony nominations, for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
I deem that part of this question, specifically the word “who’s” and the implication to only pick one, verges on unreasonable cruelty. I, therefore, pass on this cruelty to the reader so they can pick “who’s” — Teddy and/or Franklin Roosevelt, Shirley Chisholm, Gloria Steinem, John Lennon, Joseph Campbell, my co-author Dick Scanlan … I’ll force myself to stop there.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Any picnic that I’ve had — or will have — in Central Park, or along the Hudson at sunset. After the theatre — prosecco and oysters at Esca or Centrale.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Warm up, laugh, worry, practice, worry, laugh, get it up, dive in, play, and hope for the best.
Would you live here on a $35,000 salary?
I have before, and I did last year. ‘Twernt pretty.
What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
A few months ago I was finally able to see shows for the first time in years. In, like, three weeks, I saw Fela!, Circle Mirror Transformation, Next Fall, and I went to Berkeley to see American Idiot — all of them mind-blowing and moving and fantastic.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Usually a sucker for women and performers, for some reason …
What’s your drink?
Sake and prosecco … but I also love limeade and almond milk. Not all together.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
I cook so much less than I want to, but just as much as my husband and son would like, which is hardly ever.
What’s your favorite medication?
All-natural herbal stimulants to get me through twelve-to-fourteen-hour days — “Adrenosen-Full Force.” And then all-natural herbal sleeping aids, “Calms Forte,” to help me get some sleep. The modern-day “Judy” prescription.
What’s hanging above your sofa?
Nothing, because my son likes to do headstands on the sofa. But on the floor leaning against the wall is a great old original map of Manhattan from the 1800s that I found in Kansas. When the headstands stop, I’ll put that up, so in like 30 years maybe.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
Depends on your age, I think. Maybe haircuts are a good example of the cycle of life … like for a toddler, free, ‘cause mom or dad or someone who doesn’t have a shaky hand can do it. Then teenage/20s: maybe get up to 100-ish bucks. Then 30s, 40s, 50s: You gotta turn it out — so like 300 bucks, tops. Then 60s: Probably good to not care so much, so back to 100. And then, old age is just like back to the beginning, so like a nurse or somebody could do it for free … if there’s any hair left.
When’s bedtime?
Out of the spotlight and into the bed. Mostly.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Duh, new. I worked in old Times Square, eight shows a week, in my 20s. The girls and I used to take bets on who had the worst thing said or done to them in the short walk from the subway … it was always a contest. I notice everyone who loves old Times Square are either skanky men or people who were never really there that much.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
Hair? Better. Heart? Who knows … Talk-show call-in addiction? Highly likely.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Not getting any sun for a few months, and having to leave to get some.
Who is your mortal enemy?
I really want to believe the Buddhist idea that your greatest enemies become your greatest teachers. So I’m in a quandary because I really don’t want my greatest teachers to be child molesters and abusers, sex traffickers, Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, and Sarah Palin.
When’s the last time you drove a car?
A few weeks ago.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
It made me realize how lucky I’d been. That due to the nature of my work, it’s always up and down, in and out economically. But some people around me really felt the sky was falling, and maybe it did, and will again … but everything you think you’re worth or think you “have” is an illusion anyway, right? (She says peacefully while sitting on loads of cash stashed under her mattress.)
Times, Post, or Daily News?
I’m not all “Chauncey Gardiner”–ed out quite yet, but Jon Stewart and the Huffington Post. And my husband reads the Times and tells me about it.
Where do you go to be alone?
In the spotlight — it’s really bright and hard to see from there …
What makes someone a New Yorker?
A teacher (not a former enemy) once said you have to live here for ten years to call yourself a real New Yorker … maybe that’s true. I’ve more than doubled that now. But I think maybe it’s not someone who comes here to find what they can get out of the city, or even what they can give to it, but someone who comes here to find what they’ve never had, or felt, and were always looking for, maybe without even knowing it … a home.
