“True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City” @ The Green Room 42
It’s often said that when you write about something, it’s best to take it from things you know and from personal experience. Candace Bushnell took her column in the New York Observer–“Sex In the City” –so personally that she could have easily taken the role of Carrie Bradshaw without even acting….. And now she will be presenting her spectacular one-woman show at the Green Room 42 (570 10th Avenue, inside the Yotel Hotel) with four performances from October 11-15, 2023.
Hello, Candace. What can fans expect at your show?
Basically, the story of how I created Sex in the City. How hard I worked to get there. Why I invented Carrie Bradshaw. And what happened to me afterwards. Along the way, I answer some of fans’ biggest questions, like “Was there a real Mr. Big? Did I really have three friends like the ones that were on the TV show–a Charlotte, a Miranda and a Samantha?” And of course, in answering all of that, in a sense, it’s the origin story of Sex and the City, combined with pieces of my life story. How I came to New York and some of the things that happened to me along the way and how I got Sex in the City and beyond.
What inspired you to want to do that?
It was actually something that I just said “Yes” to. And it took off. I met this man named Mark Johnson. He’s one of the producers of the show. David Foster has a one-man show. And Mark Johnson basically developed it with him and I happened to meet David Foster and I met Mark Johnson and he said, “I think that you two can do a one-woman show.” It was something that I never thought about doing, but I just said, “Well, I’ll give it a try.” So, I wrote a script and people really liked it and before I knew it, we had a Broadway director–Lorin Latarro. We raised money and we took it to Bucks County Playhouse to develop it and I did it at the Daryl Roth Theater off Broadway.
When you go up onstage and do a show, it’s obviously way different than being an author. Are you nervous? Are you excited? What are you feeling?
I am really excited. I’m not nervous about doing it. I think if I were really nervous about doing it, I wouldn’t do it. If I felt uncomfortable or if it stressed me out, I wouldn’t do it. I mean, it is stressful because you have to rehearse a lot and there’s a lot that goes into the show. A lot of behind the scenes stuff. But it’s not something where I feel like “Oh, my God. I don’t want to do it.” It’s kind of a side of my personality that I guess I never explored before when I was younger. Now I’m in my 60s and this came along and I said, “Yes, why not? If not now, when?”
I actually heard that you were trying to turn it into some kind of TV series. Is that true?
Well I wrote a book called Is There Still Sex in the City? That was sold to be a TV series, but it fell apart, like a lot of things during the pandemic. I have a couple of other TV things that I have been working on, but now there’s a strike. So, some things are on hold and we’ll see what happens.
What was it like to be the reason for the most popular show on the planet?
Honestly, it’s not something that I really spend any time thinking about. I’m always working. Usually, I’m writing a book. I mean right now, I’m not writing a book because I’m doing the stage show and hopefully a couple of other things. Honestly, after the pandemic I just don’t feel like locking myself away and writing a book, which is something I’ve done for years. After the pandemic, I was like, “I want to go out and see people, I want to be around people.” But I’m always working on something new, so I’m usually thinking about that thing. Not the TV show. The TV show is great and it has been a great experience, but I still have to get up and work every day.
When you wrote your column, were you living out Carrie Bradshaw’s fantasy or was she living out yours?
Well, Carrie Bradshaw was my alter ego. So, Carrie Bradshaw was me. I’d been writing professionally for 15 years when I got that Sex in the City column. It wasn’t something that just came to me. I had been working–writing about women, money, power, relationships. So, Sex In the City for me was really just a continuation of the work that I had already been doing for 15 years. The column was a success because I knew what I was doing. And living that life. A single woman and chronicling living in the city and society and how people behave socially.
These guys, Kim Cattrall and all of them, they were your real friends. I mean their characters.
As I say in the show, I had lots and lots of girlfriends. Obviously, living in New York for years, I had lots of girlfriends and I have been writing about women and women I know for years. So, there were lots of different types of women before a TV show. They don’t want you to have hundreds of characters. If there are too many characters, you can’t keep track.
I know you had a lot to do with the actual production of the show. When it came out, were you disappointed? Was there anything you would have changed? Is there something you would have rather had?
No. When it came out, I was thrilled.
What are you most looking forward to at The Green Room 42?
I love performing in New York. New York City audiences are great. I’ve done this show a couple of times at the Carlyle and a couple of times off-Broadway at Daryl Roth Theater. I’m just looking forward to doing it in New York. There is audience participation, and it’s really fun.
So one last question. Was there really a Mr. Big?
That is one of the questions that I answer in the show. And it was–and I tell the story of the real Mr Big.
Connect with Candace
INSTAGRAM: @CANDACEBUSHNELL
candacebushnell.com
