Because this is my second time interviewing Rory I kind of knew what to expect but my expectations were surpassed in the best way imaginable. How so? I would have to say that the wise grow, evolve, learn and regroup. Through that transformation there's a transparency that exist in the safe places that allow us to connect and share open and honestly.
I feel humble in saying that I represented that 'safe place' because Rory let his truth flow generously. This is the place where I was both enlightened, inspired, encouraged and proud to be "riding shotgun" conversationally speaking and I just couldn't wait to share all this concentrated goodness with you!
We have lots to cover and I don't want to waste a moment. Let's GOOOOOOO!!!
(Loud & emphatic) Rory!!!!!!!! How are you?
I'm well. How are you?
I'm just fine.
Where you been?
No Rory!! If we start talking about me, we'll never get around to talking about you and this is about you. So we'll chat about my goings on later! Lol
Ok. Cool.
I want to say thank you for accepting this interview. I greatly appreciate it. I know it's been a while. Years even.
Yes...it's been a while.
Ready to get into it?
I'm ready!
Well first, let's remind everyone or inform those who are learning of you for the first time...depending which side of the coin they're on, where & how I came to witness your work!
Did you win? (Listen, of course I know the answer. I was there but this is an interview so I have to ask the questions like I don't know...LOL)
NOPE. I didn't even place. I was in shock.
And I have to say you weren't the only one. Many in the audience were shocked too. I remember looking over and seeing you standing there completely silent...staring at the stage. I also remember your cast having a very different reaction. They were both visibly & vocally passionate about their disappointment...not that I blamed them. What was on your mind at that moment?
It was that feeling when you know that you were robbed. I mean, I love theatre. I give props where props are due and I just felt like based on the competition that I saw...
You should have won?
Yes but it made me work harder. It made me hungrier to come back and win and in 2016 that's just what I did and it felt so good!
That's fantastic!
Thanks. My team and I have come such a long way.
In what way?
In every way. Truly. In just the last 3 years we've grown by leaps and bounds. This year 'BE A LION' just SOLD OUT 7 of the 10 shows we produced. We are finally taking off. We currently have 3 different shows were working on right now. BE A LION, BOYS TO BAGDAD AND August Wilsons, JITNEY. We're now coming out of the red as a company. It's really an exciting time.
Congrats Rory! That's amazing!
Thank you very much. That means a lot.
Yes, it's an original piece written solely by me. BOYS TO BAGDAD will be performing at the ATLANTA BLACK THEATER FESTIVAL this year on October 5th and will return to Charlotte January 2018. It's a piece that is loosely based on my experience in Desert Storm and the military as a whole. It's a 3 year span in storytelling. I saw it as an opportunity to write about different lines of sight through various lenses on important issues like racism and at the same time include comedy. I was inspired by iconic films like DO THE RIGHT THING as well as the funniest men in my life. In fact that's how a few of the character's came to be...
Oh yeah? And what characters are those?
OMG!! Clarence Carter? LOL That is beyond hilarious. (For those who don't know feel free to Google Clarence Carter "I BE STROKIN". Out of control!! LOL)
Exactly, Clarence Carter and then there's Dustin Pogue...who learned everything he knows about black people from the film "DO THE RIGHT THING". I mean, COMEDY THROUGH THE ROOF.
I'm intrigued and can't wait to see it!! ATL in January...let's do this! Rory, I want to take it back for a minute. Tell me about Rory as a little boy. What was little boy Rory like?
As a kid? Oh wow. It's a revelation really. I felt like a leader at like 9 or 10. I was like a Mayor, the King of the block. I was a DO GOOD-ER. I was into Karate. I was winning National Championships. I had Olympic qualifications. I was a cool kid and I loved the girls and I loved hard. I loved music and the individuality of Artists at that time. I loved all different types of music but there was something about ballads that really interest me.
A revelation indeed. Interesting. I find that those who love ballads are either hopeless romantics, passionate beings and/or deep thinkers. Lucky for you I won't ask you to identify which categories you fall under. LOL How would you describe your presence now as a grown man?
Did you jump back and kiss yourself? LOL Don't answer that. Can't go giving it all away. Save a little. HA! Give me four words to describe Rory Sheriff?
Passionate, tenacious, determined, humble and I hope to remain that way forever. There was a time I lost my humbleness and it wrecked me. I was promoting major comedy events at one time and doing really well financially but my lack of humility made it so that there was no sustainability.
Lesson learned?
Lesson WELL LEARNED!
I know whatcha mean! :) Tell me Rory...how'd you get your start in show biz?
I started with local plays, community theatre. I love SHAKESPEARE. I would go and visit my fam in Brooklyn, NY and I was in Manhattan hanging out one day & I got a free ticket to see RENT. Rent is a rock musical that tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in New York City's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The show deals with a variety of themes such as homelessness, drug addiction, love, sexuality, disease, and death and I loved it, so I kept going to see more shows and saw Purlie. Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, based on Davis's 1961 play Purlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! Aw man, I fell in love. At that time I knew I didn't have the experience so I decided to volunteer to work backstage as a way to be around this wonderful world that I fell in love with and contribute in any way I could while learning everything I could about how everything works at the same time. The rest is history as they say.
What drives you?
Being told no or that I can't do something. Nobody ever thought I would be a director or a writer...just that thing where nobody expects you to be anything. That drives me.
Would you say that you are self made?
I am. I took all the experiences I had and learned from them to become who I am.
What challenges have you faced along the way?
FINANCIAL. I have to say my biggest challenge has been financial. After finances, support. Support for theatre as well as a Black Theatre Group but among the disappointments it made us better, stronger. It caused me to learn so much more. I mean, I'm a visionary and that's so important to me! At the same time it's a business and I'll admit I wasn't initially eager to take time away from the creative to learn the business.
I didn't want to stop creating to learn numbers and budgets. I thought I knew way more than I did about a lot of things and it was an expensive lesson. I came to understand that you have to unlearn things sometimes so that you can learn things the right way.
Like what for example?
I didn't know how to pay cast members. I found out later, much later, that I was overpaying them. When I started to talk with seasoned professionals they would say "WHAT?!!! I need to come and work for you! I've been working on a world renowned show for free!" When I heard that I was shocked because this was a very popular show with a very talented cast, that sold out night after night and they paid them nothing. I was doing BE A LION for 4 years, paying my cast and it wasn't until the 4th year that I was finally able to pay myself for the first time.
Have you ever considered giving up?
So many times for so many reasons.
Wait. Before you tell me what exactly made you consider giving up...tell me what made you hang in there?
"See you Tuesday."
Wait. What? Break that down for me.
A long time ago I had a plan in mind that I was going to put in place and I told a few people at my job about it. This was on like a Thursday or Friday. One of the guys that I was talking to quickly said "I'll see you Tuesday". As to say you'll fail and you'll be right back here with the rest of us next week.
Well look at the silver lining Rory. He gave you an extra day. He could have said "See ya bright and early Monday morning." At least he gave you til Tuesday. LOL
LMAO, I know right.
Tell me why you considered giving up at certain points.
At times there were certain cast members...Divas that would either show up late and leave early or wouldn't show up at all. The stress of knowing that you've put everything you have into something and feeling like no one takes it as seriously as you do all took a toll on me and I was hospitalized twice due to stress.
Whoa!
Yeah.
After a couple trips to the ER I'm sure it impressed upon you the need to make a few adjustments. How do you handle disappointments in your life?
Used to it so much...I almost don't know how to deal with success. So many NO's, so many door slams. It's important to keep it moving and work harder. I find myself questioning "Where did I go wrong? What could I have done?" I don't like losing. I feel like so many times they didn't just miss out on a good script, a good product and a good cast...they skipped out on a good guy. I'm a good guy! Most importantly, I remember where I started and the importance of moving forward knowing that bigger things are on the horizon.
Have you ever burned any bridges? If so, how did you recover?
No. I can say I've upset some people. In cases where the respect wasn't there for the work or my vision I had to make those tough decisions. I created boundaries but I wouldn't say I burned any bridges because if there were bridges that I discarded they weren't beneficial in my journey.
How did you survive these challenges and get to a place where you're now thriving?
I had to make some tough decisions...some uncomfortable decisions and it was hard, mostly because I don't like hurting people.
In saying you don't like hurting people, does that mean that you kept certain work relationships going longer than you should have?
Absolutely and it cost me but I got to that place where I was able to make the best decisions for the business to thrive. That meant making the decision to not work with certain people again, recasting an entire production etc. and that made all the difference in moving forward. Beyond that it's tough making a name for yourself in Charlotte.
Why is that?
We(my team and I) experienced the resistance. It was more like there's already an established theatre group in Charlotte there's not room for another. Crossing over has proved difficult. Those in a position to help us definitely had their reservations and my team and I had to work really hard to prove that our company was worth investing in.
The first 2 years were beyond tough but by the third year we made an impact. The 4th year we had a lot of press. Now we're on 3 Major Networks. Great Cast. Humble talent and team...everyone playing their position, asking the necessary questions to benefit the production as a whole. It's amazing.
When BE A LION sold out the first night, I encouraged 50 students to take to social media letting their networks know that we sold out and people took notice in such a way that we sold out show after show. Now there's even talk about taking BE A LION to South Africa.
That's beyond wonderful. You definitely deserve all the great things coming your way! With all these good things happening it would be so nice to imagine that everything's been super positive and uplifting all the time in every way but in the world we live in that's rarely ever the case. That said I have to ask: Have you ever dealt with jealousy from friends or peers?
Yes but it took me a while to notice at first because I was so busy and the jealousy was so subtle and honestly it bothered me. I care about what people think about me but at the same time I think "If you're jealous of me now...wait til you see me in the future." I recall letting everyone that I was working with know that I was growing as a person and an artist. I let them know that I was learning lessons...getting better. I was moving onward and upward and that I wanted them to come with me but I wasn't going to wait. They would have to keep up or catch up.
How important is dedication to you?
Dedication is everything. There's a set goal, a team effort. Whatever part you play, you have to be dedicated to that. I depend on every spoke in the wheel to be fully operational.
I'm sure with your exposure and success many people try to get close to you. How do you decide who you'd like to move forward with as it pertains to solidifying relationships?
Sometimes it's hard to detect people's intentions. Sometimes it's easy. I entertain conversations to a certain extent but it wears me out and it gets to a point where I let certain ones know that they're full of it.
How do you view networking?
It's cool. You never know when your paths are going to cross again to create something great with others who are visionaries.
How often do you work with new people in your business?
I like to work with new people all the time as far as cast members but my production team stays the same. My feeling is that BRAND NEW SHERIFF PRODUCTIONS is a family. If any problems arise I'd like us to resolve them but if we can't, I've learned the importance of letting go & not letting things fester.
Do you ever feel burnt out from the business?
No...never, not from theatre and I'm glad because once upon a time I thought radio was my life but because of the direction music was going at that time I fell out of love with radio.
What's your creative process?
3, 4 in the morning...the night before, I message myself in an outline. When the characters come to me...the characters tell me the story. Sometimes I let it write itself and when there are major points I want to hit I find a way to present them via different scenes, setup, script and I take what comes.
How do you keep things fresh?
I dream. When it comes to creativity there's so much room to grow. Possibilities are infinite. Every day is different...travel, planning, locking down dates, going in directions of television and film, selling out all over the country. There's so much good we can do. We can go beyond entertainment...we can give back and pay it forward. My very first interview I remember how far I went to prepare. I had worked so hard to make sure everything was its best and I walk in and the very first question that was presented to me was "What do you do for your community?" and I told him what I had done fairly recently for the community and he said "You're hired." I thought "Wow...after all the preparation it all came down to what I've done to help others" and that always stuck with me.
Love it. If you weren't in the arts what other field(s) would you like to try your hand in?
Two things were calling me at one point and that's a Lawyer and a Physical Therapist in Sports Medicine. I figured if I didn't make the pros I could help those who did.
That's cool. Ok, I have to ask. You're a BOSS but are you a control freak?
No...the majority of the people that work with me are smarter than me. One of my Directors is a Professor at a college and Head of the Drama Department. She's an August Wilson guru/specialist. My Set Designer has worked in DC/NY/PHILLY for the PRESIDENT. My Costume Designer Dee is great! I'm so far ahead this time.
The ARTS is a beautiful thing but without support it dies. That said, how do you feel about your supporters?
When I think supporters, I think about my family. My family is Dope! They are so supportive it's crazy. I remember being in a Director's meeting and hearing a lot of people speak to how difficult it is to work with family and that hasn't been my experience at all. To everyone that supports us know that I appreciate all the support more than I can say.
Some are so desperate to "MAKE IT"! Often times questionable opportunities are presented and many take the bait out of a need for money or fame etc. What are your boundaries?
I won't sell out. I won't lose my integrity. I don't ever want people to see my work and not recognize it. My integrity is everything.
Lastly, what are some of thee most important lessons that you've learned that has helped you as you move forward in your journey?
Stay humble. Don't be afraid to make the tough decisions. Identify the difference in being kind versus being taken advantage of. Stay true to yourself and help others when you can.
I have truly enjoyed this interview Rory. Thank you for being so forthcoming, giving me a front row seat to your life's rollercoaster. I believe both the highs and the lows that you shared are going to help others who are on the same road you're currently traveling. They will see how they're not alone in the struggles and the challenges and better still that if they hang in there they can be successful if they too are ready and willing to make those tough decisions. Once again, I thank you and you are appreciated! All the continued best! Until next time!
Cool. Thanks Mahoghany! I appreciate it.
On behalf of Rory Sheriff and his AMAZING TEAM, support the Arts. Witness for yourself storytelling that's inviting, thoughtful and extremely well done by being in the audience at these upcoming performances! See you there! Thanks BUNCHES!!
Mahoghany
BRAND NEW SHERIFF PRODUCTIONS COMING SOON:
JITNEY AUG-30/SEPT 9, 2017 WED-SAT(2 performances on Saturday)
BOYS OF BAGDAD ATLANTA BLACK THEATRE/OCTOBER 5th, 2017
BE A LION PHILADELPHIA/DECEMBER 16th, 2017
Visit BRANDNEWSHERIFF.COM for more information and to view different clips of these Productions!
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