Alyah Chanelle Scott: CENTER STAGE - Balancing Humor and Heartbreak in ‘All Nighter’

Courtesy of All Nighter

What happens when a play about friendship, identity, and truth hits a little too close to home for audiences? Through my conversation with actress, singer, and producer Alyah Chanelle Scott (Reboot, The Sex Lives of College Girls), we’ll get to find out firsthand as she stars as Tessa—a driven, Type A college student—in the play All Nighter by Natalie Margolin, and directed by Jaki Bradley. The show recently had its world premiere at The Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space.

Scott originates her role alongside an impressive cast that includes Tony nominee Kathryn Gallagher (Jacqueline), Tony winner Julia Lester (Wilma), Havana Rose Liu (Lizzy), and Kristine Frøseth (Darcie) who are all experiencing their last college ‘all nighter’.

After seeing the play twice, I can attest that the first time, I went in with no expectations; Other than knowing who the actors were and the premise, I was unsure how I was going to feel once the house lights went down. The play’s subject matter dips into different parts of the complexities of what “girlhood” means and also how collegiate group dynamics affect the transition into the real world.

Each of the four characters in All Nighter have, what I like to call, their “spotlight moment”, which gave us, the audience, a chance to understand why each character is the way they are. In a world where groupthink and carbon copies are plentiful, many of us probably long for a “spotlight moment” or two in our lives. These moments helped me to see how the characters’ varying degrees of questionable behaviors are akin to the ones of real-life people — that I’m sure the giddy college-aged patrons I sat beside have encountered.

All Nighter is packed with humor and heart, but I’ll go as far as to compare seeing the show to getting on a rollercoaster. Yes, you expect some twists and turns to happen, and in the moment, you may feel exhilarated, but by the end of it, you’re unsure if you should feel scared, satisfied, or perhaps a combination of both.

What brought you into the world of ‘All Nighter’? How did the story land in your lap?

Alyah Chanelle Scott: Oh, gosh. I mean, I had been sent the script, and I read it almost immediately. I was like, Yeah, this is it. I rarely feel that way when I read something—like I just have to do it, or that I want to be in that world somehow.

Initially, the script had been sent to our office to produce, but we were working on something else at the time, so we couldn’t take it on. Then, a couple of weeks later, it was sent to me again, this time to do a reading as an actor. I thought, You know what? There’s really no better way to figure out what something’s going to be than to be inside of it.

It wasn’t something I had originally imagined myself doing, but I said, Okay, sure, and did the reading. I met all of the girls—many of whom are still in the cast you see now—and they were part of that reading we did last year.

It was just the most magical, beautiful experience. It was the four of us in a room, breaking the script open, feeling like we were halfway there, and just wanting to keep going.

Courtesy of @AllNighterPlay

Pulling double duty! I cannot even imagine myself doing that. The atmosphere of the set and pacing is something that I'm very familiar with though as you’re working with this incredible cast of people and seeing how you guys share the relationships between the characters on stage. Behind the scenes, you also have to build up that relationship; Super crucial because [the show] takes place over an evening. How was it that you were able to connect your fellow cast mates before and even during rehearsal?

ACS: Some of us had...we'd all been in similar social circles for a while. Havana and I had actually done an indie TV show together a couple of months before the reading.

We came into it as fans of each other and genuinely wanting to be friends—which is always a great place to start, because you know everyone’s going to put in the effort to actually get to know one another. From there, it just naturally fell into place.

The show, as you know, is like a roller coaster ride. The dialogue flies out of our mouths at a speed that’s not exactly human, because that’s how this friend group communicates—they’re so comfortable with one another, and they have their own language, speech patterns, and shared vocabulary. That’s all baked into the script. But we had to develop our own version of that offstage for the onstage version to feel authentic.

I resonated with Julia Lester's character; That's a whole other conversation [Laughs]. You're the originator of this role. You lay down the groundwork for how it's performed, while also taking into account, working with Jaki Bradley. How did you approach stepping into your character?

ACS: Oh wow. I mean, we did the reading, and readings are so interesting because you're just trying to remember what's happening and give it a bit of character—but also say the right words and bring some acting to it. I thought the reading was really nice because it allowed us, without being explicitly directed, to find a version of the character that felt comfortable in a low-stakes setting.

Once we had done the reading, I thought, "I think I can figure out how this translates physically when I’m up and moving." Tessa—the character—is so rigid. She comes in wearing her workout outfit and she’s very stressed out. I thought, "Okay, I think I understand who she is," but I hadn’t had the chance to fully embody her yet.

Then, the second we put it on its feet and started walking around, we naturally felt like, "Oh, we know them. We know these girls." It’s because we had already spent time with them during the reading. We knew their minds, and then it was just about figuring out their bodies.

It came together rather quickly and naturally. Each of them plays a specific role within the group. Sometimes, it’s not even about “Who am I?” but more about “Who am I to you?” and “Who am I to you in this scene, in this moment?”

Kathryn Gallagher and Alyah Chanelle Scott | Courtesy of @allnighterplay

Some [processes seem to be] more elaborate and some are just like, ‘You just have to jump into the character’ in almost a sink or swim type of environment.

ACS: A hundred percent sink or swim for me.

As a producer, were you thinking of that as you were performing, or were you thinking I'm going to leave the production mindset aside as we're heading into tech, and it's just going to be me focusing on the acting?

ACS: That's so interesting. I don't think I was smart enough to be that intentional about it. [Laughs] I was learning as I was going; What I had the capacity to do or not do. I think I knew, of course, when I'm acting, I have to be fully committed to acting and be in the scene and be in this moment and not be like, Are we in the dark? Are we in the light? Is this the story reading? Obviously, in the back of my mind, but, while I'm doing it, I have to be a scene partner for my co-stars. I definitely was conscious of how, as we were putting the show together, things were translating from in the house. Usually, when you're producing something, you can sit in the house and [say] Oh, that's not working or that is working. I was like, I don't know. I'm up here, it looks like it's working, I think. The choreography; I'm moving at 10,000 miles an hour. I can't see what's going on around me, which is why it's nice to have partners, obviously. My producing partner, Thomas [Laub], he and I became the other half of each other's brains. I was just like, You tell me, I trust you. What is it? It was a fun learning experience for me as an actor and my first time acting and producing in something.

I'm thinking about your work on screen and on and also just understanding the role that a producer has. Part of it is advocating and representing these stories.

You went to school for musical theater at the University of Michigan and I'm sure you had experiences there that could lean into your character. What was it about your college experience that informed your work to this day on and off stage?

ACS: Wow, I've never been asked this question. I learned in college that going to school for musical theater is a wild experience. You're up at 8:00 AM or 7:00 AM for ballet, and then you're in bed at 11:00 PM after your rehearsal or doing a show. We were just pushing ourselves in a way that, I don't know if I could ever do again. If I tried to do that schedule, how many hours I was doing, how many classes I was doing, memorizing scenes, going to voice lessons, I was just going because that's the culture when you're there. I learned to multitask. I learned to pace myself and save my energy for when I need to use it. I learned to keep a lot of balls in the air when I was in school, which I think has helped me in ways in life and in work. Then, also the craft of acting, I learned while I was in school, and I use that all the time, whether it's on-screen on on-stage.

Even the characters being a part of a thespian group. These relationships are super confessional and heightened. Self-awareness is at play at a time in most people's lives where they're just discovering themselves. As I talked about relating to Julia Lester's characters and yours, did you see yourself in other characters in the show as you were working it out on stage and even as the run has continued?

ACS: All the time. I'm a little bit of all of them. Particularly my character, for some reason, I very much resonate with her, going to the study session, to wanting to get her work done for real and realizing that that's not what [the rest of the girls] do there. Something that's so interesting about this time in a young person's life is that your identity is so tied to your relationships. It's all about proximity. It's all about I am who these people know me to be, and that makes me feel like I have some semblance of self. If I were to not be with these people, and that's the idea of the real world coming into play when they're about to graduate, I actually don't know who I am outside of this collective group. There's safety in that, and there's a lot of anxiety and fear in that as well. I really related to that feeling. Going to school for musical theater, you're really in a bubble. You're in such a tight bubble. Then, we're going to graduate, and everyone goes to New York because that's what they do and lives a different experience. I remember I was auditioning and went on tour right after I graduated, but I felt like, I don’t think I can live in New York—I can’t afford it. Meanwhile, other people could. It was just this weird thing where we were all doing the same thing, but not really doing the same thing. We had such different experiences, and no one was really talking about that part of it. Everyone was just saying, This is what we do—this is our identity.

The show really touches on that. All the girls are like, “We know exactly what this world is. We’re graduating in five days, and we’re all going to go out and do this thing. They’re not saying what’s underneath that: one of them can’t do it, one is going abroad, one is doing something completely different. That part of the show really resonates with me.

They’re all so flawed, and by the end of the show, you realize it’s just a toxic, tangled mess. But throughout, they’re genuinely trying to do what they think is right, what they believe is true.

They're trying to show up for their friends, and they're saying words that they've heard before, but they're not doing it in a way that we know from the audience perspective is the right way to go about it, but they're just doing it in the way that they think is right, which I know I've done a million times and made a million mistakes in that way. There's so many aspects of the show that are relatable, and we have so many people come to the stage door and say the same. It's a really fun experience to get to represent that specific time in girlhood and transitioning into womanhood.

[The play] is not set in current day. There's references in a ‘music moment’, which I won't spoil. It's just so incredible. It, honestly, put a big smile on my face. I was smiling the entire time. When that moment came up as you guys were rehearsing, how did you guys feel? We all know that song, and we all know how, at that time, it made us feel.

ACS: Oh my God—great. It comes at such a specific moment in the show, where you really feel the girls—and my character in particular—wanting to go to that darker place, wanting to ask questions they normally avoid. They float on the surface, but there's a lot happening underneath. That tension is just about to rise to the top, and then the song happens. It breaks that tension and reminds them, No, no—we're best friends. We don't go there.

Natalie Margolin, our playwright, is just brilliant in how she structured the show and where she placed that song. It breaks the tension for us and for the audience. There's a moment of relief—Okay, we're friends. We can breathe. It doesn’t last forever, but it lasts for those 60 seconds, or however long we sing the song. I love it. Every night, it’s such a fun thing to do.

Courtesy of All Nighter

When I saw it, I thought, They get to do that every night. I'm very jealous. The [show’s] theme revolves around girlhood. It's during a time when people are discovering themselves, and there are moments of darkness that happen, where you're not laughing, [showcasing] that it's not always happy. Those moments, too, are what makes this play so unique; You could go either way. It could be looked at as this happy show, where everything has a very clear arc, but I didn't even know how the show was going to end. I'm sure you brought friends and family into the show to go see it. What were their reactions?

ACS: I think people are...I mean, everyone walks away saying, What just happened? The show starts in such a light place, and we’ve intentionally marketed it in a way that hints something else is going on—but without giving too much away. At first, it seems like these girls are just studying and having a night together. We know something’s about to happen, but what?

The whole time, you're asking yourself, What’s happening? What’s the thing underneath all of this? And then it starts to surface.

Most of my friends have said, Oh my God, we haven’t seen you act on stage in so long!—which makes sense, because even though I studied theater, I haven’t done it in five years. So for a lot of people who know me, it’s like, Wow, you’re doing theater again! They love the show, the cast is incredible, and it’s been a really great experience.

Courtesy of @AllNighterPlay

I went with two different friends: One that's not a theater person, and one that is, and they both reacted the same. The one that was not a theater person was like, I have to see this again. I’m curious how theater, specifically, just impacts people, even if they're not the crazy theater fan or the thespian, that's referenced in the show.

ACS: That’s something I feel really passionate about—being a person who is younger. Oftentimes, I think we consider theater isn’t seen as something that is for people in their 20s or mid-20s activity. but I do think that we want community.

We want live experiences. We're returning to that desire to be in person with people and share things. I think theater offers such a safe space for that because you can come as you are, experience something, and walk away thinking, Oh, I don’t have to have understood theater before this moment to know that this is a fun story that I’m getting told.

We’ve had a lot of people at the stage door who are first-time theatergoers, which makes my heart so full and so happy because we live in such a digital, critical, and often cynical world.

It’s nice to be able to put all that away for 95 minutes, and watch a story, and learn stuff about yourself in the world and how you fit into all of that. I’m so glad we are a show that’s doing that for people. It’s very cool.

In the midst of all of the different options you can go see, I feel like All Nighter really does stand out for young people. Again, people can hearken back to a time where they were with friends and maybe there were awkward conversations or interpersonal toxicity that happens. It's really enlightening, honestly. Has there been a moment on stage where you feel the reaction from the audience, live, is really impacting you as you're performing?

ACS: This show in particular—people are, and we love them for it, they are so vocal. I’ve been saying it feels like I’m on an episode of iCarly. We’ll say a line and the audience will go, “Oh!” And I’m like, Wait, what are you all doing? Okay, I’m trying to stay in the scene!

There have been moments where people have fully screamed things, “She’s lying!” or “She’s crazy!” They are so vocal. It really does change the show night to night. Whether they react to something—or don’t react—to something gives us energy and makes our vibe different. We go further with things if we know they’re really liking them.

Especially Julia’s character—she’s so smart at this. If they’re really digging Wilma, she’ll give Wilma bigger life, because they’re feeding her. We really do feed off the audience. I mean, it’s a comedy, so the laughter gives us a little boost.

TGS: iCarly mentioned! We're getting blast from the past here. It is an interesting time for theater right now; For a lot of people, when they go see a show, they do want an escape. If you can give one sentence for why they should go see the show, what would it be?

ACS: For anyone coming to see the show, it's just a really good time. I guess my one-sentence pitch would be: it's 95 minutes with no intermission, so you're in and out—you can even grab dinner afterward if you want, but really, it’s a fun time.

I think you walk away thinking more deeply about your friendships and the roles you play within them. For me, the show is really about the danger of groupthink—the risk that comes when a group collectively agrees on a version of the truth that may not be real. It explores how that dynamic breaks down and the ripple effects it can have: personally, interpersonally, nationally, even globally.

It’s about the harm that can come from denying the truth just to keep your friends, family, and loved ones comfortable and close. Instead, the play urges us to acknowledge the hard truths and work through them. That’s what I love about it.

It’s a story about a group of young women who are genuinely trying to be good people—but in doing so, they end up denying the actual truth in service of their group. Where that leads isn’t necessarily where any of us would want it to go

The show’s friend group scares me a little bit. [Laughs]

ACS: We hear it all the time! We get a lot of girls who are like, “We're roommates,” and I’m like, “Oh, okay—how are we doing?” And they’re like, “Yeah, we have a lot to unpack.” I’m like, “Okay, well... good luck! I’m sorry—but good luck. And thank you for coming.”

People bring their friends because they want to talk about things. There was a couple of girls who really relate to Havana’s character for specific reasons, and they bring their friends to help open up those conversations. It’s really special to be able to hold that space for them.