May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Sherie Rene Scott has been winning the hearts of Broadway theatergoers for years, and why not? She played the beautiful dumped girlfriend Amneris in “Aida,” the beautiful swindler in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and the hideous Ursula in “The Little Mermaid.”

She is indeed beautiful. She sings with the exuberance of someone born to raise roofs and bring down houses and she moves with sly wit. She’s the compleat Broadway package.

Now she’s off-Broadway with “Everyday Rapture,” a songbook- cum-memoir of growing up half-Mennonite in Kansas before eventually finding her way to Oz, or at least Manhattan. I can’t recall any other show that included songs by Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Tom Waits, Harry Nillson ... and Fred Rogers.

The late Mr. Rogers figures significantly in “Everyday Rapture.”

“The half-Mennonite in me said, ‘You’re selfish.’ Mr. Rogers said, ‘You’re human,’” Scott, 40, says. “The half- Mennonite said, ‘You’re ambitious.’ Mr. Rogers said, ‘You’re full of dreams.’ The half-Mennonite said, ‘Your upper half is an affront to modest folk everywhere.’ Mr. Rogers said,” -- well, I can’t repeat the next line here, but I can assure you, Mr. Rogers never said it.

Speck of Dust

Two slips of paper, one kept in each pocket, also play key roles in her life. They were given to her, she explains, by an old Jew (or maybe Buddhist or Muslim, she’s a little foggy on the facts). One is inscribed, “We are dust and ashes.” The other, “God created the world for you.”

The slips of paper help her maintain a sense of balance on the life’s-journey thing, which takes her through a quick romance with a street magician, the subsequent abortion and the twin peaks of semi-stardom and motherhood.

Along the way, we’re treated to a mishmash of songs, some great, others not so. In addition to four from Fred, there’s a Judy Garland segment, with “Get Happy” and “On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe.” There’s Roberta Flack, with “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and there is, sadly, just one number from her Broadway repertoire, Elton John and Tim Rice’s funny “Strongest Suit,” from “Aida.”

Co-written with Dick Scanlan, “Everyday Rapture” rambles and ambles and never gets overly concerned with connecting one scene to the next. Even at 90 intermissionless minutes, it feels a little padded. One sequence involving YouTube and an extremely talented audience plant (Eamon Foley) goes on way too long.

Still, it’s hard not to like such a likable star and the equally likable personality she creates with help from director Michael Mayer, the game back-up “Mennonettes,” Lindsay Mendez and Betsy Wolfe, and a crack quintet.

At Second Stage Theatre, 307 W. 43rd St. Information: +1- 212-246-4422; http://www.2st.com. Rating: ***

What the Stars Mean:
****       Do Not Miss
***        Excellent
**         Average
*          Poor
(No stars) Worthless

(Jeremy Gerard is an editor for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Jeremy Gerard in New York at jgerard2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 3, 2009 22:30 EDT