Just over one year ago we were introduced to actress and spoken word artist Candace Nicholas-Lippman in episode 173 of Actors With Issues, having already stacked a couple dozen episodes of television between her recurring roles on Starz series Blindspotting and Freeform’s Good Trouble. This weekend, she is remounting her one-woman show A Rose Called Candace: The Remarkable Life Story of a Woman in Bloom, in Los Angeles, which begins performances tonight. We spoke with Candace about the show’s long journey from inception to Off-Broadway to this latest production in LA, and its next life at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival in August.
“It took me four years to work through this story because I went through the process of healing and forgiveness with aspects of my life that are portrayed in the story,” she explained. “To me, the show is more than entertainment, it’s ministry. I didn’t do it to show off all these characters, that’s not what it’s about. It’s a soul-baring, soul-telling experience of my life and all that I’ve overcome and how I’m still out here going after it.”
A Rose Called Candace made its premiere in 2018 where Candace debuted the show in Los Angeles before taking it to New York City for its Off-Broadway premiere in 2019. And we all know what happened a few months into 2020, bringing the production to a halt. The show is described as “a one-hour storytelling experience that covers my journey as an artist navigating family, fear, faith, and ultimately, personal freedom! I hope by sharing my story I can help other artists declare their own freedom from doubt, fear, and trauma and bloom into who they’re intended to be.”
Inspiration came from many directions for Candace to first take pen-to-paper, so to speak, and get the show off the ground, and she cites the late Tupac Shakur as a major influence on her work. “Not only is he a rapper, he was a poet and one of his biggest songs is A Rose That Grew From Concrete, and that’s where the title came from.”
As the show is a very candid, gripping, and honest look into Candace’s life experiences, she recalled in past performances of family members and friends being surprised about how much she shared, and how openly and honestly she did so. “I remember during one run in 2019, my sisters surprised me and came from Sacramento and I was a little apprehensive because of how in the Black community, lots of folks believe ‘what happens in this house stays in this house’, and you’re not supposed to talk about certain things. I don’t subscribe to that anymore as I walk in my own freedom and want to share my story. Generational curses aren’t broken because people don’t talk or share and they keep all these secrets.”
“There are certain moments in the show that I thought about taking out and past directors said ‘no, you have to leave that in, you have to share that in the story’ and those have become these golden moments in the show.”
Looking to the future, Candace shared that she hopes her story can live on with a Broadway run or turn it into a feature film. “This is my baby, I understand so much of the purpose of my story. I’m a Black girl from the hood in Sacramento. The way that my story has been able to relate to and reach people who don’t look like me, who don’t believe in the same God that I do, or who come from a different background. I want to get it adapted for the screen so that my story can, hopefully, reach more and inspire more people around the world.”
“Every time I have to do this, it’s very vulnerable to put yourself out there for people to judge and criticize. I tell a lot of people that because it’s not only about you, your testimony, your story, trials, and tribulations can serve other people. You never know how what God put in you can impact someone. Our existence is tied to someone else’s deliverance. Even in the moments when I wanted to give up, I had to remove myself and remind myself, ‘Your existence is not just about you.’ I encourage people that if something gnawing at you, a desire, a passion, I pray that you remove fear, anxiety, and doubt and take that leap of faith because that leap could save someone else’s life.”
Don’t miss A Rose Called Candace in performances June 21-23, 2024 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles, and August 31 at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival.
