In The Now Productions Presents CANDY & DOROTHY By David Johnston

The GLAAD Award-winning play CANDY & DOROTHY by David Johnston will receive its Utah Premiere by In The Now Productions this June.

This comic fantasy finds Catholic activist Dorothy Day trapped in the afterlife with Warhol superstar Candy Darling. At the same time, a young librarian on the Lower East Side of Manhattan finds her life coming undone with booze, pills, and despair. New York City provides a backdrop to this comic tale of opposites attracting, repelling and finding common ground.

In The Now team on CANDY & DOROTHY are Tyson Baker, Latoya Cameron, Dan Cartwright, Nell Gwynn, Phillip R. Lowe, and William Richardson.

"In The Now is short for Independent Theatre Now," says William Richardson. He and friends Morgan and Caleb Parry produced THE LAST FIVE YEARS in Northern Utah and Wyoming under the name years ago. "Nell brought us this script and it all just started happening. We thought it was really special, and things fell in place for us to do this on our own."

"There's just something about these women and the wisdom and wit that they bring to the table. We don't know if they ever really met, but what if?" asks Tyson Baker. "The things that they were talking about in their day are very much part of the conversation now."

"We are so very excited to announce that we'll be hosting a talkback with our playwright, David Johnston, after our closing performance on June 24!" exclaims Nell Gwynn, who originated the role of Tamara in the Off-Broadway premiere and other regional productions of CANDY & DOROTHY. "The play is timely and uplifting and funny without being cloying, which is difficult. David has such a clear and unique voice, and when we all met I just wanted to share it."

"Can't wait to work with Nell again! We worked previously on Eumenides and Oresteia in New York as well as the film Monsura is Waiting." David adds via email. "This is like our comeback tour, after not speaking to each other for 20 years like Simon and Garfunkel!"

"People have been asking us who's involved, who's doing what. We are all involved in creating what the audiences will see when they come to the show," according to Latoya Cameron. "Sets, costumes, lights, lines, you name it."

"Like we didn't have enough going on," chimes in Phillip R. Lowe.

Dan Cartwright didn't say anything, but nodded with a knowing glint in his eye.

David Johnston is an award-winning playwright, librettist and screenwriter. His plays have been performed and read at The New Group, Moving Arts, The Neighborhood Playhouse, HB Playwrights Foundation and Ensemble Studio Theatre and numerous New York productions with Blue Coyote Theater. Playwriting awards include Theater Oxford, Playwright Residency at the University of Cincinnati, a Berrilla Kerr Foundation Grant, the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, and the Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation. Mr. Johnston was graduated from the College of William and Mary and completed the Professional Workshop at Circle in the Square. He is a member of Actors Equity, Dramatists Guild, BMI Librettists Workshop, ASCAP, The Actors Studio's Playwright/Director's Workshop, Charles Maryan's Playwrights/Directors Workshop and is an alumni artist of American Lyric Theatre. Since 2012, David has been the Executive Director of Exploring the Metropolis, Inc., the only NYC-based nonprofit focused exclusively on workspace issues for performing artists, organizations and facilities.

CANDY & DOROTHY will run as a limited engagement June 20-24, Wednesday thru Saturday 8pm, Sunday 1pm and 4pm in Ogden at the Eccles Theatre, WSU Browning Center, 3950 W Campus Dr.

In The Now Productions' social media handle is @InTheNowShows, and tickets ($20) are available up to ½ hour online at www.inthenowshows.com and by cash at the door.

(Audience members may wish to know that adult frank language, heterosexual kissing, and other potentially triggering behaviors may take place during the course of the play.)

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