In Front of Your Eyes 2026
A Festival of New Performance Presents

Candace Johnson’s
The Conductress: Adventures in Teaching Gospel Music

The Marsh Berkeley Theater

August 28 at 7:00 pm & August 30 at 2:30 pm

Written & Performed by Candace Johnson
Creative Consultants: Stephanie Weisman & Don Reed
Opener: Erin-Kate Whitcomb

Ticket Information

Tickets: $15 – $35 General Seating | $50 & $100 Reserved Seating

60 minutes | No Intermission

(Please do not bring infants to the show)

Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance.
Additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.

Show Description

A solo musical of the eye-opening adventures of a fiery Choir Conductress building harmony and community with a very diverse group of singers.

Artist Biography

Candace Johnson, Writer, Singer and Performer

Candace Johnson has been on the music faculty at UC Berkeley for 17 years, teaching applied voice. In 2022 she was appointed Director of the University Gospel Chorus. Candace has performed on various stages across the country, including Carnegie Hall. Her current performance focus is her original one-woman shows that address subjects of identity, mental health, and the lives of Black classical composers. After winning Best of Solo Show at The Marsh theater’s IFOYE festival of new works by women-identifying playwrights, Candace’s latest show, Scat-ter Brain: The Music of ADHD was nominated by San Francisco Broadway World for Best Solo Performance of 2025. Other shows she has presented at The Marsh include Vox in a Box; Music and Muses: of Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes, among others. During the pandemic, Candace also led The Marsh community in her unique vocal and fitness training program, FitnesSing!(TM).

Opener

Erin-Kate Whitcomb

Erin-Kate has been acting professionally for 30 years and has won Bay Area Critics Circle, Dean Goodman Choice and other awards for acting and playwriting. As a playwright, she was commissioned by Theatre Rhinoceros to write and perform her play “Route 80: Cars, Cows and Caffeine”, which won critical acclaim for her as a writer and multi-character actor. She has performed with 42nd Street Moon, Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, Theatre Rhinoceros, Oasis SF and other Bay Area theatres. Erin-Kate performed in the US/Canadian tour with Dame Edna in “Dame Edna: My First, Last Tour” as Dame Edna’s disappointing daughter Valmai, and in the star-studded San Francisco revival of “Ruthless: The Musical”. Erin-Kate has supplied her voice for hundreds of radio and industrial jobs, and has appeared in TV and film for the past 35 years. Erin-Kate is a proud member and former Board Member of Northern California’s SAG-AFTRA, where she continues to serve both as an advisor, and on various committees. She is also a member of AEA (Actors Equity Association) and AGVA (American Guild of Variety Artists). EK is a fourth generation San Franciscan, and had raised her sons, the fifth generation, in San Francisco with her wife, Michele.

Piece Description – Five Doors

The loudest voices in America belong to the fewest people. These five women never shouted, never marched, never commented, but they have plenty to say…if only someone asked. One woman shares all of their stories.

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