Cheryl Pepsii Riley Talks Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned DVDPosted by Wilson Morales
November 28, 2014
Currently out on DVD (plus Digital), Digital HD and Video on Demand is Tyler Perry’s Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned – The Play, starring Cheryl “Pepsii” Riley (Madea’s Big Happy Family, Madea Gets a Job), fan favorite Patrice Lovely (TV’s “Love Thy Neighbor”) reprising her role as Miss Hattie, and newcomers Muhammad Ayers, Monica Blaire, Zebulon Ellis and Ray Lavender.
Anita Lincoln is a successful, single woman who has it all – a great job, a loving family, and the ability to pay for her baby sister’s wedding. According to her best friend, however, there’s only one thing missing…the love of a good man. At her friend’s insistence, she meets the seemingly perfect man online and all seems well, until he convinces her to get married in Las Vegas and her life quickly spirals out of control. Can she regain the upper hand, or will the tides turn for the worse?
For Cheryl Pepsii Riley, who been featured in numerous productions of Perry’s plays, including one of the leads in Perry’s “Laugh to Keep From Crying”, this a new field for her as she takes on the lead role among a bevy of newcomers. The Brooklyn born Gospel singer also appeared in the film versions of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea’s Big Happy Family.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Riley about Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned and working in the lead role.
How many plays does this make for you?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: I started doing plays back in 1990-91, so I think we’re at 20 plays now. And with Tyler Perry, I’ve been working with him for over 10 years.
Does it get to be old hat when you get on stage?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: It doesn’t get to be old hat because each show offers something different. There’s always something else going on and it’s what I love to do. With this show, Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned, I play the lead character, so that places me into a whole new area.
So, with this play, how would you describe your character?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: I play Anita Lincoln, this well-to-do, hard working, God fearing woman who has her share of relationships, the ups and downs of them, more or so the downs, and she has a best friend who sets her up with this online dating service. You hear very successful stories about people who met through online dating, but with the play, Anita Lincoln does not have the same luck. The show starts there and follows her on this adventure. She meets a young man through the service and he puts her through a few things.
With this being a lead role for you, will folks see a different persona from what you have to the other roles?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: I think so. It’s a lead role so everything is based around this character. I’ve been these plays for so long, people have seen the highs and lows of the emotions in the show. With this show, you see that for the entire ride. It takes you from point A to point Z and it will make you laugh and there will be some scenes where you will champion with her and crying with her, and saying to yourself, “Oh my God, it’s a play!”
Was it a challenge for you to carry a play as the lead?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: It’s a challenge in the sense that we were on tour from January to October and there are things that people don’t necessarily think about. You have a real life outside of the role and so during the course of the tour, my dad was sick and he was in the hospital and he had to have amputations and towards the end of the tour, unfortunately I lost my father. There are those challenges that continue to present this message to the country as we are touring and still deal with your real life. That things that combines life and art and hold hands has definitely given me more of a motivation to be the best that I can and to honor my dad’s memory. Those are the little things that people don’t understand or realize as they are coming to the show, that we still have to take them on a ride for 8 shows a week. Some days are more challenging than others
In working with TYler, does he let you ad-lib a bit or is it all his writing?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: What happens with these shows is that we have a script and we work it out and things get tailored to when you are going to your real place because we want this art to penetrate to the audience so that they can relate, and so you have to some of your own realness to it. AS far as ab-libbing, every once in a while, but the story has to be told and there’s really not a lot of ad-libbing as much as there are those moments that may happen off and on. At the end, you want the audience to be part of the show as well, and what has been wonderful about doing this show is that is that it not only speaks to the audience, it speaks to us in different circumstances. For that two hours, there’s a real exchange and every once in a while, there might be an adjustment to a phrase or a line, but basically we all stay to the script because we respect and honor what this man has done.
How was working with the cast?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: It’s really awesome because what this show has initially done last year and it was supposed to go to DVD, which some of his shows have done, but because of the response, Tyler thought, “This is a great show to take on the road.” What he did with this cast, he wanted to have new faces and new people. He’s always giving an opportunity to those who want to reach their dreams and the majority of this cast are new faces. There’s myself and Patrice Lovely as Mama Hattie, but I think everyone else are new faces to the Tyler Perry fold. It was a wonderful experience to be on the road with them because they came with the passion and with the hunger to be their absolute best and they respect the work. Personally, I just love sharing because it’s like passing the baton if you will and you want to make sure everyone learns their lessons that you learned by being in it and not by reading a book or taking a class. It was a wonderful chemistry.
What’s a good reason to pick up Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned?
Cheryl Pepsii Riley: It’s the holidays and it would be a wonderful gift for everyone. I’m a woman playing this part but there are men out there dealing with relationship issues as well. It’s an entertaining piece with a message. You keep God first and you make your choices from that place. Sometimes, one makes choices through desperation and a great reason to pick up this DVD would be for the inspiration and motivation.
