Carrie Classon
Searching for a Second Sunset
It is never too late to reinvent oneself in unexpected and fulfilling ways.
Past Performances
One-sheet
A funny thing happened to me, living inside the Wally/Wendell head—I started to feel a lot more empathy for both of them. And I think that is the whole point of both writing and reading. We get to find out how it feels to think and believe as another person does.
Searching for a Second Sunset celebrates the amazing transformations that can only be made later in life through implausible true stories, laughter, sparkly costumes, and live music. Accompanied by the brilliant piano improvisator, Peter Guertin, Carrie offers practical advice on how audiences can nurture lifelong optimism and find their own second sunset.
The story follows Carrie from the moment her life is upended. Just after accepting a position working in Nigeria, Carrie’s husband leaves her. Her company falls apart and she is laid off. Instead of returning to Minnesota, Carrie remains in Nigeria with her cat, Lucy, and begins to write.
She discovers an entirely new identity and career as a writer, enters an MFA program in her 50s, and is soon writing a nationally syndicated column. But her career as a novelist didn’t begin until one of her columns was the subject of a Facebook post from a disgruntled friend named Wally, who responds to one of Carrie's columns by complaining how optimists like Carrie ignore human suffering as they seek out reasons to be happy.
Carrie describes how she used this confrontation as a chance to explore her feelings about the value of optimism. She wrote a novel and created a fictional Wally, a 72-year-old named Wendall, living in northern Minnesota. The novel, Loon Point, was sold to Lake Union and will be released in 2026. (Wally has read it and is delighted!)
Carrie portrays herself and Wally in this production (along with other assorted characters) with live music accompaniment by Peter Guertin, former musical director of The Brave New Workshop.
Who she is:
Carrie Classon is former professional actor and recovering MBA, who champions the idea that it is never too late to reinvent our lives in unexpected and fulfilling ways. She chronicles her life in a weekly humor column called The Postscript, syndicated by Andrews McMeel Universal and has a new live show, Searching for a Second Sunset, featuring material from her writing—and lots of sequins. Her debut novel, Loon Point, will be released by Lake Union in February 2026.
What she says:
I found myself living alone in Nigeria—without a husband or a job or even reliable housing.
And I realized, if anyone asked me,
Carrie! What the hell just happened to you?”
I honestly could not tell them. This seemed like a problem. I didn’t know my story.
I think we are all storytellers, telling stories about ourselves every day. How we make meaning of these stories defines us. We become the story we tell ourselves.