Time and Hairstyles Stand Still:
An Interview with Del Shores
 |
Del Shores is well known in the gay community as the writer and director of the hilarious cult classic Sordid Lives, which began as a stage play, was made into a movie, and recently made its television debut on LOGO, the LGBT cable network.
I had the chance to interview Shores on July 31, and ask some of the questions we all want answers to. For those of you not familiar with Sordid Lives and Del Shores, the play and the 2000 film version are set in Winters, Texas, where Shores grew up. Shores’ father was a Southern Baptist preacher, his mother a drama teacher, and his brother is also a Southern Baptist preacher. Shores described it as “a place where time and hairstyles stand still,” during our conversation.
The television series is a prequel to the play and film, and has received mixed reviews in mainstream media. LGBT media, however, has been consistently positive about the series. Shores said there are two kinds of reviews, “the right ones, and the wrong ones.” Some mainstream media, like the Associated Press, Shores said, have given him incredible reviews. The AP story said, “this is the show that should cross over…” Shores also said that he enjoys reading reviews of the television show by those who have not seen the film because he intended for the series to stand-alone. Though he assures avid fans of the film that next week’s episode of Sordid Lives: The Series “hits like a freight train” and keeps getting funnier.
Shores has gotten several comments from fans who say they are seeing a lot of things they already knew, and Shores explains that he has to “introduce these characters to people who may not have seen the movie.” Shores said his fans are not just gay, though “the gay audience has embraced it to a certain degree, and have become comfortable enough to take it to their families.”
I read several blogs in which people talked about using the film version of Sordid Lives as a part of coming out to their parents.
I asked Shores how his own family had reacted to Sordid Lives, since much of the story is based on his family and experiences in Winters, Texas. His mother and father are now deceased. Shores said it was “not the easiest thing” for his father, who was a Southern Baptist preacher. “It wasn’t easy for him to watch me writing about these things…” Shores continued. Shores believes his mother was “reluctantly proud,” though she was concerned about Shores’ exposure of their family. “She loved Brother Boy, she just felt so bad for him that they had put him away. She actually met Leslie [Jordan] several times, and I think her friendship with Leslie had something to do with that,” Shores continued.
Shores’ brother is still a Southern Baptist minister in Texas, and Shores says he has minimal contact with his brother. His brother has not seen any of the films, but Shores said, “His kids e-mailed me last week and told me that they love the show.”
The character of Ty is based on Del’s experiences moving to Hollywood, but I had a burning question when I heard that Shores shares Brother Boy’s obsession with Tammy Wynette. I had thought maybe a bit of Shores was present in the Brother Boy character. But, Shores said Brother Boy is “just a fantastic fantasy. Brother Boy was so inspired by my friendship with Leslie Jordan… I just knew he could play the hell out of him.”
The character of Ty is played by Jason Dottley, the real-life husband – yes, husband – of Del Shores. Living in California does have its benefits; the two were married recently in West Hollywood. Ty has some hot sex scenes with Jacob (played by Ted Detweiler), which Del both wrote and directed. What’s it like writing and directing your husband’s sex scene with another man?
“I sort of just separated myself from him being my husband, so he’s just an actor on the set,” Shores said. Detweiler is a friend of Shores and Dottley, and is straight. In fact, Detweiler’s wife is featured in the first episode of the series. Shores went on to say that writing and choreographing sex scenes became more fun at home. “A few times trying to figure out what the sex scenes should look like, I would get Jason to rehearse with me at home, and it became fun,” Shores said, with a somewhat embarrassed laugh, I think.
I tried to press Shores for information about how close the series gets to the film, since the series is a prequel – but he refused. “Soap operas have to have secrets,” he said. He also said that many fans are wondering what happens when the series meets the time frame of the movie, because the movie opens with Peggy ‘NanNan’ Ingram’s funeral. He quoted Rue McClanahan’s answer to the same question, and said, “Don’t worry about that, we’ve got it all figured out.”
McClanahan is only one of the series’ famous cast members. Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, and Caroline Rhea also have roles in the series. Two of the twelve episodes have already aired, and included some of the season’s famous guest stars. Margaret Cho played Ty’s therapist in the first episode, where she told the questioning Ty, “You’re a big ole queer.” The second episode featured Georgette Jones, daughter of Tammy Wynette, playing her mother’s ghost. Episode three will feature Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Carson Kressley as Ty’s new therapist. Dale Dickie, who plays the daytime hooker in My Name is Earl, appears in episode four, and Candis Cayne will be appearing in later episodes.
The show airs on LOGO at 10:00 pm on Wednesdays. I’m there with popcorn every week – you should be, too.
Back to www.outinasheville.com
_________________________________________________________________________
And don't forget to check out our newest online exclusive,
_________________________________________________________________________