Tony Award

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 11, 2005 by Bill Blankenship Capital-Journal

Sherie Rene Scott sings and dances with co-stars Norbert Leo Butz, left, and John Lithgow in the Broadway musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," which earned 11 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, including a first for Scott, who grew up in Topeka.

SHOW TIMES

The 59th annual Tony Awards will be shown from 7 to 10 p.m. June 5 on the CBS network, including WIBW Channel 13 in Topeka.

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is on stage in an open-ended run at Broadway's Imperial Theatre, with more information about it, and how to get tickets, available at www.dirtyrottenscoundrelsthe musical.com.

Scott nominated for musical 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'

Former Topekan up for a Tony

Well, if the song is to be believed, Sherie Rene Scott can make it anywhere.

The former Topekan, whose first stage appearance was as a prune in a Whitson Elementary School musical, has definitely made it in New York, where on Tuesday she received her first Tony Award nomination.

Scott was nominated in the best performance by a leading actress in a musical category for her role as Christine Colgate, an American heiress who becomes the would-be target of two con men in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," a musical based on the 1988 film of the same title.

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" earned 11 Tony Award nominations, including one for best musical.

At the June 5 awards show, which will be broadcast on CBS, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" will compete against "Monty Python's Spamalot," which earned 14 Tony nominations; "The Light in the Piazza," which received 11; and "The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee," which got six.

In her category, Scott is joined by Christina Applegate, "Sweet Charity"; Victoria Clark, "The Light in the Piazza"; Erin Dilly, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"; and Sutton Foster, "Little Women."

While this is Scott's first Tony Award nomination, it isn't the first recognition she has earned for her acting, singing and dancing since the daughter of Dr. Jonathan and Esther Scott moved at age 18 to New York after appearing in productions on Topeka stages.

For her current role, Scott was nominated for but didn't win Monday when the Outer Critics Circle Awards were announced. On May 22, she will learn if she will receive a Drama Desk Awards.

Scott's parents, who still live in Topeka, happened to be visiting her in New York when she learned of the Tony Award nomination Tuesday and were baby-sitting her and her husband's, Kurt Deutsch, 1-year-old son, Elijah, while she was on stage.

Scott, who made her Broadway debut in 1993 in "The Who's Tommy," received a Drama League Award and was the 2000 recipient of the Clarence Derwent Award for the most promising actress in New York theater for her role as Amneris in the original Broadway cast of Tim Rice and Elton John's "Aida."

She also has been recognized for her roles in the off-Broadway production "The Last Five Years" in 2002 and the regional production of "Over & Over" in 1999. Scott also generated her share of press in the title role of a 2002 off-Broadway musical retelling of "Debbie Does Dallas," which was much more innocent than the original film.

As for her role in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," co-star John Lithgow lavished praise on Scott in a story posted on www.Theatre Mania.com, in which he said: "She's just heaven. She's got a big, gorgeous voice, and she really knows how to play this part. Sherie has a way of doing comic innocence that's right up there with Judy Holliday."

Michael Kuchwara, the drama critic for The Associated Press, reached a similar conclusion, writing in his review of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" that Scott possessed "a divine ditsiness and vulnerability that recall the legendary Judy Holliday."

And David Sherwood, writing for Back Stage, said of Scott, "Like a young Gracie Allen, she takes obliviousness to heights of hilarity."

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" opened March 3 for an open-ended run at the Imperial Theatre.

Please see TONY, Page 7A

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Tony: Critics have been kind