Someone Lost a Shoe on the Moon
by Sandy Leigh Johnson
Thursday, July 9 at 8:15 pm
Saturday, July 11 at 7:45 pm
Studio Theatre
Running time: 40 minutes
Rating: Mature (includes mature language and/or references)
Content Warning: Language
World Premiere at the DOTS 2026 Fringe Festival
What to Expect
Every time Sandy told someone the title of a new one act play she was writing, they immediately loved it. Someone Lost a Shoe…On the Moon is a brand new work by the same playwright, Sandy Leigh Johnson, who premiered another one act play at the 2024 DOTS Fringe Festival, Little Black Dress & a Coffee. Both one acts are written in the magical realism genre. Directed by John M. Johnson, Little Black Dress won Best of Fringe. John will also be directing and narrating Someone Lost a Shoe…On the Moon, but this time as a Performance Reading. That means the cast stays close with the script, but John will be having fun with their characterizations and more as they take you through this unique story. And three Little Black Dress cast members will be back! The real premiere of this work will be at Fringe–very few have read Sandy’s newest one act, mainly the cast, and she has gotten great feedback. But her favorite quote is from daughter, Lauren, who works for Disney in L.A.–“I feel like this might be your best writing yet!!!” That was taken from her text after she read the script the first time, and that is all Sandy needed.
special Thanks
Special thanks to John and Lauren Johnson, and to Gretchen Teague and the DOTS Team
If you’re lost in time and the ones you love, your obsessions, and even your memories have no explanation, maybe just have some sushi with a friend, and pet the cat.
Sandy Leigh Johnson
Playwright And Phillips
Sandy Leigh Johnson kinda lives for a good one-act play—you get to meet new characters, enter a new world…but you don’t have to stay too long. Sandy loves this time in her life. She is also a dance fitness instructor with a class for adults at The Judy, and is happily obsessed with cross-stitching, crocheting, coffee and cats.
Sandy has performed in many theatre productions, and began writing plays in high school, throughout college, and eventually became published. Her play Sticks was performed as a staged reading at The Judy in 2018, and as a full production in 2019. Some of her favorite musical theatre experiences performing on the SLT stage include Hello Dolly!, Cinderella, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Seussical the Musical, Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, The King & I, Camelot, Mamma Mia, and Nine to Five the Musical. Sandy has also worked in improv for years, being an original member of the On the Spot improv group and many murder mystery performances. But, an interesting play really is her favorite thing. Sandy played Truvy in Steel Magnolias, three different characters in The Boys Next Door, and playing Mrs. Dashwood a few years ago, along with the other colorful characters, in Kate Hamill’s Sense and Sensibility at Springfield Contemporary Theatre, is an experience engraved on her heart. For SCT, Sandy also played Connie and Ofelia in the play Roe. In 2025 on the Fox Theatre stage, Sandy played the First Lady, Margaret, in the play, POTUS or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive—one of Sandy’s most incredible theatre experiences ever.
Sandy’s first Fringe Festival experience began when her husband, John M. Johnson, took a photo of her one day in the fall of 2023, wearing a festive black dress, walking downtown with a coffee in her hand…happiness. Later she posted the photo on Instagram and immediately saw the title of her next one act in her mind, Little Black Dress and a Coffee. She found a notebook in her stash, with coffee mugs on the cover, and started writing down her ideas for the one act. (Sandy still loves her notebooks.) Her daughter, Lauren, also a writer, helped her brainstorm one day and the play’s final concept became clear. Little Black Dress and a Coffee is one of her most personally enjoyable works yet. She was excited to enter it and be accepted in Springfield’s first DOTS Fringe Festival! The beautiful cast came together, collaborated, and put up an amazing production John directed that ultimately won Best of Fringe 2024. They were all excited! Some of them are already cast in her one act in this year’s Fringe Festival Performance Reading of Someone Lost a Shoe…On the Moon.
Sandy thanks her sweet family and close friends for their love and constant support and sends a big hug to all her fellow cast members out there from the past—you never stop loving those people.
Instagram: sandysewglo
Kaleb Norman
Wilson Terry
Kaleb has a BFA in Acting from MSU. He’s the theatre director of AFPA, a crochet artist, track director for Tremendicon, Youth Programs Coordinator at Village Meeple, and professional Dungeon Master for D&D.
Nancy Gessner
Candy Jones
Nancy Gessner earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre at Northern Arizona University and acted and directed in the Phoenix area for several years before moving to New York in 1999. In New York, she explored singing and writing in addition to acting – including her third performance of the one-woman play Shirley Valentine, which she also produced and directed. She moved to Springfield two years ago with her husband Charlie and is overjoyed to trade commuting to Manhattan for having more time to create art.
Charlie Gessner
Tucker Jones
I am a life-long New Yorker who moved to Springfield two years ago after I retired, with my wife Nancy. I visited the area many times before finally settling here after both of our careers in New York ended. There are some things about New York I really miss — mainly the great pizza and bagels. We have not yet found comparable alternatives in Springfield, though a few places get an A for effort. Many years ago, in another lifetime, I worked as a Madison Avenue advertising copywriter. It was good while it lasted, but was not really the kind of writing I wanted to spend a lifetime doing. Since then, I’ve worked other jobs, but always felt the urge to return to my first love–creative writing. Nancy and I have acted together in classes and in her original plays and I am happy to join her onstage again.
Cymone Armstrong
Chyzie Strong
Cymone Armstrong is a Springfield native and lover of local theater and this will be the second fringe production she is doing working with Sandy Johnson since starring in her wonderful show “Little Black Dress & a Coffee” a few years ago!
John M. Johnson
Narrator, DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
John has an extensive background in technical theatre, theatre performance and teaching. As an actor some of his favorite performances include Cabaret, West Side Story, The Foreigner, Of Mice and Men, Spamalot, Miss Firecracker Contest, Seussical the Musical, The Wizard of Oz, and Brighton Beach Memoirs. He has directed a variety of productions over the years including Steel Magnolias, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Little Women, Romeo and Juliet, and The Good Doctor. In his Branson era John performed in the Silver Dollar City Saloon Show and played Jesus in Branson Outdoor Theatre’s, Love’s Greatest Story. His credits also include numerous televisions commercials, infomercials and a featured role on Unsolved Mysteries. John has been working in the field of technical theatre production for the last 35 years at many venues throughout the area, most recently at the Gillioz Theatre for the Ozarks Lyric Opera. He has his teacher certification in Speech, Theatre and English with numerous directing credits at Drury University, Springfield Catholic High School, Stained Glass Theatre, and Missouri State University.
A Special Thank you!
DOTS would like to extend a very special thank you to Springfield Little Theatre Education Department at The Judy for your continued support of our efforts to produce original theatre in Springfield Missouri.
We are also grateful to Springfield Regional Arts Council for believing in our mission.
Devising Original Theatre Springfield is a 501c3 Organization.