Interview: Candace Bushnell delights off stage and on

Excited to meet Candace Bushnell, author of “Sex and the City” and currently starring in the one woman show “Is There Still Sex and the City?” It has been some time since a celebrity of this caliber has been in town and, most remarkable, doing a one woman show, currently at the Bucks County Playhouse through July 18. Internationally known, her presence here has generated press around the world.
A little nervous in meeting her…but I discovered how truly wonderful and genuine she is.
Candace: Well, anyway, it really started, you know… I was at a dinner party in the Hamptons and there were some people there who were Broadway actors and there was some talk about doing some kind of musical about “Sex and the City.”
And then somebody said: “We were great friends with David Foster. Why don’t you meet David Foster?” So … It’s something I never would have done when I was younger. But, since I am older and I am not so scared, I was like “Okay, I’ll call him.” You know he is a big deal. He is huge. And he is really nice. And people said “Girl, call him!” So, we did. And we had a meeting and Marc came to the meeting.
John: Marc?
Candace: Marc Johnston (her producer). And Marc helped David create this one-man show that David Foster does all over the world. And Marc said I think you can do the same thing … because I have already been doing that with lectures. And he said we can create a show and I can sell it overseas. … We can book you.
John: Why did he say overseas?
Candace: Because that was what David Foster was doing and Marc knew all these people of the different theater in Asia, Australia, England. Marc knew all these people, because he worked with them.
And then I started writing it … and it was long … about 25,000 words which is about 100 pages.

John: Wow!
Candace: So, it was a quarter of a book. Then Marc thought we could do it in the States. And then we met Doug Nevin who is a Broadway lawyer … and then Lorin Latarro (director of her show). I met her really about a year ago. So, I wrote something. It was really ... it was really because I sat down and said: “Okay, I am going to write it and see what happens. “
I do that a lot. Like a couple of years ago. I decided to make a music video. So, I decided to write a song. So. I learned “Garage Band,” which is ... well you really have to think like a 24-year-old guy to figure it out because it is completely illogical. But I did it.
John: So you did that?
Candace, who is so unassuming I feel I can call her by her first name, then talked about her urge to constantly being creative and doing new things. She is an inspiration.
Wednesday night she got a standing ovation. She said she was humbled. You could tell that was true and it was true that she was pleased as well.
Alex Fraser, Robyn Goodman and Josh Fiedler, the producers, have a winner to take to Broadway.
New Hope was the catalyst for calling the region “The Genius Belt.” Doing new work like this helps New Hope reclaim that title. It is a feather in our cap that we are producing new, smart, enlightening work.

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