Zoren: ‘Sex and the City’ scribe talks about life and her career
Candace Bushnell first and foremost writes books.
Her stories and characters have become the basis for several television shows, the most notable being HBO’s “Sex and the City,” one of the few comedies included when one lists seminal cable shows, but Bushnell says she has had, and wanted, relatively little to with programs featuring her book titles.
“Television is so different from the writing I prefer to do,” Bushnell told the press gathered at New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse, where she will appear in a one-woman show about her life and literary career in June. “I never felt at home a writer’s room. I am a professional writer. It’s my job to sit at least six hours a day writing. By that, I mean sitting alone and creating books. Television is writing by committee, and that doesn’t interest me. It’s more boring and frustrating than anything else.”
Bushnell was in the writer’s room for the first several episodes of “Sex and the City,” and Lorin Lotarro, the director for the play, “Is There Still Sex in the City?,” set for June 22-July 18 in New Hope, shared an anecdote about Bushnell’s first day at “Sex and the City,” during which she opened a script, saw the line, “the women shop at Bloomingdale’s” and crossed out the name of that store, and wrote “GUCCI. GUCCI. GUCCI.” in its place.
My guess is Lotarro, an artistic associate at the Playhouse and a top choreographer-director
on Broadway (“Waitress” and “Mrs. Doubtfire”), knew that from working with Bushnell on the world premiere of “Is There Still Sex in the City?,” which Bucks County producing director Alex Fraser said will be work in progress with the script possibly changing day-to-day during its run.
Bushnell, who has a series of best-sellers dating back to the 1990s, added perspective when she said it is unprofitable for her to write a TV script for $20,000 when her books make exponentially more and keep her agent and publisher quite happy.
A major theme of Bushnell’s works, which deal with complex and practical matter in a glib, sophisticated style, is women being independent and free from not only relying on men for financial support but of men’s perceptions, demands, and attitudes regarding women. It became clear, if not specifically stated that “Is There Life After Sex in the City?”, which chronicles Bushnell’s life since she arrived in New York from her native Connecticut with $20 in her pocket and ambition to burn, will touch frequently into avoiding traps of patriarchy and conformance to images expected by men.
“Friends of mine really struggle with not judging themselves through a male lens or taking their measurement on some male gauge,” Bushnell says. “I find more meaning in what I’m doing and took a lot of time to find out who I was before there were boys to consider.
“Subconsciously, we all do what society tells us to do according to what society expects. It’s important to take stock of yourself and do what you want.”
Bushnell, adds to her point by saying at age 50, society acts as if thoughts about sex and other important aspects of life should disappear.
She, age 62, eschews that, saying she stands for a reinvigorating of life, no matter one’s age. “We’re taught that life is like an arrow moving straight and direct. I see it more as a circle that rolls along and doubles back.”
Someone who insists her characters shop at Gucci is bound to have a sense of fashion, and Bushnell displayed in a blue dress that became iridescent and showed purple highlights under the pink lights of the BCP stage. Her shoes, fiveinch heels in a candy pink by Tamara Mellon, once a designer for Jimmy Choo.
Circling back to writing,
Bushnell in a sidebar interview said she wrote “Is There Still Sex in the City?” as a theater piece because it was a form she never tackled previously.
“I’ve done a lot of lectures, speeches, personal appearance, and book signings, but I wanted to do something scripted that expressed my experience of the past several decades.”
Circling back to television, Bushnell said she was content with how Darren Star and others involved with ‘Sex and the City” developed the show, which was based on her 1997 book of the same name and reflected her career as a freelance writer and columnist.
Bushnell says she has nothing to do with the upcoming reboot of “Sex and the City,” which will feature three of the show’s original stars but not Kim Cattrall as Samantha or Chris Noth as Mr. Big.
The Bucks County Playhouse can only seat 96 people for each performance of “Is There Life After Sex in the City?” Buying in groups makes the process easier.
Tickets are already in demand, so the interested should reserve soon.
‘Good Day Philadelphia’ makes flipping stop
Morning television is generally so vapid and boring, I usually resort to reruns of “Perry Mason” and “Matlock” on MeTV if I want to veg a bit in the a.m.
Then, one day last week, I was skittering through stations and stopped when I heard a smart, articulate, adult conversation among “Good Day Philadelphia” hosts Karen Hepp, Alex Holley, and Thomas Drayton. The subject was whether “Me too” or “ditto” is a proper response to “I love you,” and it flowed easily without a hint of self-consciousness or forced attempts to be clever or funny. I enjoyed it so much, I tuned in the next day, and Hepp, Holley, and Drayton were holding my attention again with the help of mikemate Sue Serio.
Now I have to remember to tune into Channel 29 at 11:30 p.m. and see a “he says, she says” pro
gram that features Holley and Drayton talking to each other about events of the day. Could be my antidote to Colbert, Kimmel, and Fallon?
One more thing. On the morning “Good Day” grabbed me, Holley, Hepp, Serio, and Jennaphr Fredericks were all wearing the same shade of royal blue. Coincidence? I’d say yes, but an eerie one.
Too much editorializing at Channel 10
It was only one word, “actually,” said in the relation of a news story, but the inclusion of that “actually” symbolized everything that is wrong with television news reporting today.
This “actually” creeped in as Channel 10 news anchor Lucy Bustamante was relating that a Minneapolis
coroner testified that George Floyd died from asphyxiation during his accused killer, former policeman Dennis Chauvin’s trial for the murder or manslaughter. Bustamante then read, “The defense ‘actually’ said Floyd died from a heart attack.”
Chauvin’s defense team did say that, but the “actually,” especially as read by Bustamante with a kind of wink, added a note of smug and smarmy sarcasm to the report, exactly the kind of writing and editing that indicates TV newscasters take sides as they deliver the news.
It’s a small thing, but I prefer more purity over outright bias. The story would have been just as informative and effective if “actually” had been omitted.
Channel 10 is not the only news outlet guilty of such leading of the viewer, but it provided a perfect example of an epidemic problem, one that writers, producers, and anchors should take care to avoid rather than illustrate.
Some Oscar notes
One of my favorite nights of any year is April 25 – Oscar night.
This year’s Academy Awards, called the 2021 accolades but truly for pictures released in 2020, air at 8 p.m. on ABC (Channel 6). Nominees, presenters, and performers will be in person. Producers are not allowing Zoom. The taking of temperature and other precautions are said to be able to keep the live participants safe from COVID.
Normally, I give a detailed look at the six major categories to provide some background for readers who have not seen the nominated movies and performances. This year, I’m using a shorthand by which I, who have seen every one in this superb batch of contenders, will list them in the order in which I would grant the award with the predicted recipient in boldface.
• BEST PICTURE: The Father, Promising Young Woman, Nomadland, Sound of Metal, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Minari, Mank.
• BEST ACTOR: Anthony
Hopkins, The Father; Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal; Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Gary Oldman, Mank; Steven Yeun, Minari.
• BEST ACTRESS: Carey
Mulligan, Promising Young Woman; Frances McDormand, Nomadland; Andra Day, U.S. vs. Billie Holiday; Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman; Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah; Paul Raci, Sound of Metal; Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7; Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah; Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami.
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Amanda Seyfried, Mank; Olivia Colman, The Father; Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari; Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy.
• BEST DIRECTOR: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland; Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman; Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round; Lee Isaac Chung, Minari; David Fincher, Mank.