Review Roundup: Candace Bushnell's IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY? Opens Off-Broadway

Is There Still Sex in the City? opened last night, Tuesday, December 7 at the Daryl Roth Theatre. Is There Still Sex in the City?, written by and starring Candace Bushnell, marks her stage debut in the city that started it all. Audiences will experience Bushnell's saucy humor and spot-on insights into life, love, relationships, and hear stories about how a young woman reinvented her life and in the process created a cultural phenomenon.

From her arrival in New York City alone with $20 in her pocket, to working her way up the ladder, to secrets behind the creation of SEX AND THE CITY and finding herself single again in her 50's ... the always provocative Candace Bushnell shares her fabulous philosophy through stories of fashion, literature, sex, and New York City, while pouring Cosmos in Manolos.

Is There Still Sex in the City? is directed by Lorin Latarro, and features scenic design by Anna Louizos; costume design by Lisa Zinni; lighting design by Travis McHale; sound design by Sadah Espii Proctor; and projection design by Caite Hevner.

Is There Still Sex in the City? is produced by Marc Johnston, Robyn Goodman, Alexander Fraser, Josh Fiedler, Segerstrom Center For The Arts, Julia Argyos, Blue Sky Events, Bucks County Playhouse, Sharon A. Carr, Iris Smith, and Viva! Diva! Can!.

See what the critics are saying...

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Elysa Gardner, Time Out New York: Other people's bad dating choices, it turns out, aren't always as interesting as you think they are. Still, it's hard not to be at least a little touched by Bushnell's indefatigably blithe spirit, which is exemplified in her breathless delivery as much as in the yummy décor and fashion. (Bushnell quips that she doesn't know how many shoes she owns: "More than twenty, but less than Imelda Marcos?") The play ends as it begins, with the author on the phone with her buddies, still chatting like teenagers about their exploits. Men may come and go, but gossip is forever.

Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast: This stage show is strangely nullifying for such a colorful, rollercoaster of a life. You will learn not much about Candace Bushnell and Sex and the City that you cannot already Google-although her stories of what it was like on the set of the TV show in the early days are thrilling moments of the fairytale coming true right before her eyes. If you are a fan, you won't feel like it's a waste of an evening, you may just feel underwhelmed, like the Cosmo wasn't as ice-chilled as you would like, or the champagne cocktail a little flat.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: Lorin Latarro directs Bushnell to pause for laughter even when there isn't any. Two inspired directorial moments emerge in the dead air. The first comes when Bushnell throws a bunch of scrunchies into the audience. A little later, Bushnell brings her two matching designer poodles on stage to even more thunderous applause than the "Gucci! Gucci! Gucci!" line. A woman behind me noted, "That woke everybody up."

Melissa Rose Bernardo, New York Stage Review: It's a little rocky-remember, Bushnell is a writer, not a performer, so her delivery can be forced (though that should ease as the run progresses)-but your Sex-obsessed girlfriends will love it all the same. Especially with a cosmo in hand. And yes, they sell them at the bar.

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