Judy Doomed Us All

Book & Lyrics by Molly Bicks, Carsen Joenk, Reed Northrup and Raquel Loving

Music by Nathan Leigh, Graham KG Garlington, J.L. Marlor, and Viraj Gandhi

In a fictionalized 1987, Nancy Reagan is touring the country visiting small crime-ridden towns for a transparently puffy P.R campaign. Judy takes place on the fourth of July, when a tornado traps Nancy and her speechwriter, Anthony Dolan, in a particularly unsavory town forcing them to reckon with the 'degenerates' they have always condemned at a distance. There, they meet Judy, a rowdy twelve year old attempting to understand what growing up means when your resources are limited. Could she ever be like Nancy Reagan and inhabit a world full of red pants suits and social power? Or is she fated to end up like her sister, Gertie, an erratic but loving party girl who lives in a dilapidated drug house outside of town? Rounding out the story is Judy’s best friend and future archaeologist Blinker, Scarecrow, a conspiracy theorist, Kitty Kelly, the famed gossip columnist, Dorothy, an ambitions drag performer, and Cornfield Kenny, a local radio DJ. The piece examines what occurs when class lines are blurred in the midst of a statewide-emergency. We come to learn that good intentions don’t always lead to good results. The tornado is not the only thing that could destroy the town.

Over the course of three years, we have developed the story and music and presented JUDY in two workshop productions including New Ohio’s Ice Factory Festival in 2019.