Out playwright and actor Del Shores is single and trying to mingle on the road this summer, and will perform his latest one-man show, “SINgularly Sordid,” June 25 at The Rrazz Room in New Hope.
The writer, producer and director of beloved LGBT-themed comedy and drama films and TV series like “Sordid Lives,” “Southern Baptist Sissies” and “Daddy’s Dyin’: Who’s Got the Will” usually makes people laugh from behind the scenes, with the characters that spring forth from his colorful imagination. But Shores said he is just as comfortable being in the spotlight.
“It’s not a bad thing to make people laugh and to be adored. It’s always fun to stand up there and talk some shit,” he said. “I started out as an actor so I’ve always had that gene. My mom was a drama teacher and I was on stage ever since I was a little boy. Everything that I do has been an extension of the acting. My first play was written so I could be in it. After that, I started telling stories that I really wasn’t right for and the writing took off with my second play. I didn’t really make the choice to give up acting. The decision was made for me. Later in life, when things turned a little bit and I had some time to develop a one-man show, I thought, Why not and see what happens? But I do love being behind the scenes too.”
Shores just finished directing “A Very Sordid Wedding,” another sequel to “Sordid Lives.” He said he enjoyed being back behind the camera, which he hasn’t done since 2013.
The latest sequel combines the best elements of the film and the TV series that was based on it, along with some new elements.
“It’s a combination of the actors who were in the series and the original movie, with the exception of Olivia Newton-John, who did not come back to this one,” he said. “It’s certainly all the characters that people have loved over the years. And then we’ve added some really fun additions.”
This latest incarnation features faces like Whoopi Goldberg and Alec Mapa.
Shores said the film is set right after marriage equality comes to the country.
“‘Sordid Lives’ has always been a period piece. It’s always been set in 1998. I thought with the aging of my actors and what’s going on in our world, let’s see what they would do right after the Supreme Court decision for gay marriage. I used that as the starting point and brought them up to date. So the theme of the movie is what happens when equality comes storming into Winters, Texas.”
Shores said that “Sordid Lives” didn’t start out overtly political in its message, but the evolution of the times and the changes in his life inspired him to put some signs of the times into the ‘Sordid’ stories.
“When I wrote ‘Sordid Lives,’ I was still struggling myself with self-acceptance with me being a Southern Baptist preacher’s kid. As Leslie Jordan describes me: ‘You know that closet door didn’t come off, it just shattered. I have become very vocal and political myself. The character of Ty was based on me so I thought, in catching him up, catch him up to me in this movie. It was a lot of fun being able to go balls-out in being able to address that. I didn’t have to reach too far, as you know what happened after the decision. The religious right started kicking and screaming, and making horrible laws. I just made a few calls to the Reynolds County Courthouse and saw how they were reacting to it and it was real easy to write. I read about this church in a little town in Indiana that decided they were going to make their county a sanctuary county for traditional marriage, so that church was determined to keep gay marriage out of their county. So I just took that and created an anti-equality revival at the Southside Baptist Church and it took off from there.”
Until the new chapter of “Sordid Lives” debuts, fans will have Shores’ up-close and personal life stories to entertain them. He will address the significant changes in his life in his new one-man show.
“In my 50s, I’m suddenly single again after being such a proponent of gay marriage,” he said. “Well, my gay marriage didn’t work out so there was gay divorce. I started back into the dating scene and it’s a little bit self-deprecating and a lot of fun about what happens when you are in your 50s, a minor gay celebrity and how you go about it. One of my favorite pieces of the show is the ‘Bad Dates with Del Shores’ portion, which I just hope none of those guys ever come to my shows. I do change the name but they are so hysterical for me and the audience. I made it a point in every single show to write some ‘P.S.: Fuck you’ letters to some of our haters. That’s always a fun part of the show. I’m just a storyteller. I’m not a traditional comic. I started out in AOL chatrooms when they were alive and well. Now that I’m in my 50s, it’s a whole new world with Grindr and Scruff and all these apps. At first I thought, This is so great. But for me, since 1996 when I came out, I’ve gained a certain level of fame. So it’s difficult to share my face on these things without being recognized. It’s really hard to be a slut and minor gay celebrity. Sometimes you just want to be an anonymous slut. Finally you just have to give up and say, ‘Hey, I don’t care what people say about me.’”
Del Shores performs “SINgularly Sordid” 7:30 p.m. June 25 at The Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope. For more information or tickets, call 888-596-1027 or visit www.therrazzroom.com.