We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nancy Beverly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

My first TV show job was on a little show you may have heard of: Roseanne. I had worked with the show’s creator Matt Williams in summer theatre when I was in college at the University of Evansville (he’s older than I am but came back to direct a show). Through a series of magical synchronicities (Matt running into me here in Los Angeles and then accidentally calling me – my last name was right after Roseanne Barr in his Rolodex), I ended up on Roseanne as his assistant and the writers’ assistant. I thought things in show biz would always fall into place that easily.
Yeah, I was wrong. I did get tapped to be the Writers Guild Writer-in-Training my second year on the show, but the script I wrote (for which I was paid, thank goodness) did not get filmed because Roseanne didn’t want to do a storyline about her and hubby Dan being on opposite sides of who is running for mayor in their small town. “I SHOULD BE RUNNING FOR MAYOR,” Rosanne grumbled, never mind that no one would believe she could do that job.
I was devastated. I tried to pivot and I came up with different story idea, but I was turned down because another writer on the staff (Joss Whedon – yeah, that fellow, he went on to create Buffy the Vampire Slayer) had a similar idea.
What would I have done differently? Keep pivoting. I could’ve proposed that Roseanne run for a spot on the local school board – maybe she would have wanted to film that episode.
On the other hand, another lesson: some things in show biz are so far out of my control, no amount of pivoting will solve the problem. Roseanne was so challenging to work on, the entire writing staff quit after the first season (and Matt Williams was fired – and it was his show!). Sometimes you have to move on.
Many years later, when we were fundraising for my film Shelby’s Vacation, we had one of our two lead actresses drop out in the middle of the campaign. I told my director that we couldn’t tell people we’d lost an actress (even though she was featured in our promo reel we were using). We’d look like losers. I said this is Los Angeles, there are plenty of other actresses here. And sure enough, we raised the money, and then we had a casting session and found a wonderful person to replace the original actress.
Keep finding solutions, they are out there. Learn what you can from any setbacks, and move on.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My writing career began at Actors Theatre of Louisville where I had several short plays produced, including Attack of the Moral Fuzzies which was published in an anthology of ten-minute plays by Samuel French and has been produced dozens of times around the U.S. and Canada.
Once I moved out to L.A. I worked on the sitcoms Roseanne and Blossom — sold scripts to both and the one for Blossom got filmed, yay!
I got tired of the jokey nature of sitcoms so I switched over to hour-long dramas — Desperate Housewives and Ghost Whisperer, to name a couple.
When the Writers Guild strike hit in 2007-08, I decided I was tired of the ups and downs of TV and wanted to produce my own work, which turned out to be a great decision and has been so artistically fulfilling.
Some of my fav projects include The Calamities of Jane, a web series co-written and co-produced with Rebecca Klingler about a woman dealing with ageism and sexism in Hollywood (imagine that?!) and Shelby’s Vacation, a 40-minute lesbian romance film directed by Vickie Sampson.
Here in L.A., I’ve been with the playwrights’ group Fierce Backbone for many years and have had the joy of writing such plays as Dyke-Doggie Patrol (selected by West Hollywood for its Pride Readings), Handcrafted Healing (chosen by the Athena Project in Denver for a workshop production), and Community (made the top 12 of the American Association of Community Theatres).
My most recent artistic endeavors: a one- person show and my first novel! I wrote, produced and acted in my one-person show Sister from Another Planet for the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2023. Directed by Carol Becker, the show had full houses and great reviews… and then there were encore performances in January 2024 at the Davidson-Valenti Theatre thanks to West Hollywood’s LGBT Center. Additionally, I just had the novel version Shelby’s Vacation published – and I’m thrilled to tell the full story of Shelby and Carol in it.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

After I’d been in L.A. awhile, I finally found my creative family by joining a playwrights group called P6 in 2001 (the director of my play A New You, which was produced at the LGBT Celebration Theatre, invited me to join) and then in 2008 I joined Fierce Backbone. I’ve been with Fierce ever since – and every Monday night (now on Zoom, not in person, thanks to COVID making us pivot), we hear pages of our plays read by our group’s actors. Then we get feedback on our work. It’s been so invaluable to hear other folks’ perspectives and constructive comments on what works and what doesn’t work in our plays.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are two things that are rewarding for me. First, I always learn something about myself when I’m working on a script. I discover past histories and conflicts I need to let go of – even if the characters aren’t exactly like me. I learn ways to navigate and move forward in my life. Secondly, I love being with a live theatre audience and sensing the quiet of them listening to every word – or laughing at the funny moments. By doing my one-person show Sister from Another Planet I got to experience that while onstage! I could feel the audience’s love and support as I took them on my journey – they were right there with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nancybeverlywriter.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hikernb/?next=%2F
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.beverly.52
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-beverly-78070516/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdaELWSjUFQ