A Very Sordid Wedding Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

Award-winning writer/director Del Shores’ play, Sordid Lives, has had quite a life, spawning a movie and TV series. Now he’s returning to that world for a sequel, A Very Sordid Wedding. The trailer for the movie has now arrived, which you can watch below.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘It’s 2015, seventeen years after Peggy tripped over G.W.’s wooden legs and died in Sordid Lives, and life has moved into the present for the residents of Winters, Texas. Sissy Hickey (Dale Dickey) is reading the Bible, cover to cover, trying to make some kind of sense out of what it really says about gay people. Her niece Latrelle Williamson (Bonnie Bedelia) has divorced her husband Wilson (Michael MacRae) who has taken up with a hot young gold digger.

‘Latrelle’s now out and proud gay son Ty (Kirk Geiger) is on his way back to town with his black man and news of their own. Her sister LaVonda (Ann Walker) is still cussin’ and drankin’ and is being blackmailed to sit with the sick and afflicted. LaVonda’s best friend Noleta (Caroline Rhea) meets a hot younger man while visiting her awful mama in the hospital. G.W. (David Steen), sporting new fiberglass legs after Noleta burned his old ones, is still feeling guilty and mourning Peggy. Nearly incoherent barfly Juanita (Sarah Hunley) has moved from her obsession with Vacation Bible School roosters to the royal family while Wardell (Newell Alexander) and Odell (David Cowgill) still bicker at the bar.

‘Tammy Wynette champion Brother Boy (Leslie Jordan) hasn’t been back to Winters since Peggy’s funeral, and he’s working at a tragic little gay bar in Longview, having added Loretta and Dolly to his new medley act “We Three Queens of Oper-y Are” till a chance meeting with a dangerous criminal forces him out on the run. As the sordid saga continues, an anniversary memorial service is being planned in honor of Peggy at Bubba’s Bar while the Southside Baptist Church is planning an “Anti-Equality Rally” to protest the advancement of same-sex marriage, spearheaded by Vera Lisso (Lorna Scott) and Mrs. Barnes (Sharon Garrison). Both events are to take place on the same night, so the cast of colorful characters are all on a collision course for shenanigans and fireworks, and a surprise wedding!’

On March 10th, the film will have its World Premiere and then an exclusive two-week theatrical release at Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, where the original film ran for 96 weeks. It will be followed by a national limited theatrical run by The Film Collaborative, expanding to Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and other cities and dates to be announced. [Read more…]

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DIRECTORS: Del Shores FILMS: A Very Sordid Wedding

very-sordid-wedding-announcement-pic When Sordid Lives was released in 2000 even creator Del Shores probably never believed the life the film version of his 1996 play would take on. The movie quickly became a cult classic, and in 2008 even spawned a short-lived TV show.

Now it’s coming back to life once again with the announcement that a sequel is being prepared, called A Very Sordid Wedding. It also suggests the cast have fond memories of being involved with it, as after being in both the film and TV show, Bonnie Bedelia, Leslie Jordan and Caroline Rhea are all set to return.

Also returning are Newell Alexander (August: Osage County), David Steen (Django Unchained), Sarah Hunley, Rosemary Alexander, Ann Walker, David Cowgill and Kirk Geiger.

The sequel picks up 16 years after the events of the first film. As the original film explored the journey of coming out in a small, conservative Texas town, the sequel dives into the impact of the advancement of same-sex marriage into that same community of now beloved characters.

Once again Del Shores will write and direct, and he needs your help, as he’s launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to assemble the project and secure investor financing.

In 2000, Sordid Lives stormed the film festival circuit winning multiple Best Feature awards, Best Soundtrack, Best Actor and 13 Audience Awards. In 2001, the film opened to mixed reviews, but word-of-mouth drove audiences to the film and it ran for over a year in theatres in Ft. Lauderdale, Provincetown and Dallas and still holds the record for the longest running film in Palm Springs, with 96 weeks at the Camelot Theatres.

The film was released on DVD in 2003, selling over 300,000 units worldwide and has just been re-released in the US by Wolfe Video as a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack with new cast interviews. The oft-quoted Sordid Lives has become a staple in gay culture at video bars.

Shores comments, “Through the years, I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have shared how much they relate to my Sordid Lives family, and how many gay men and women used it to come out to their conservative families through the humor of the film. I never felt, like much of the Sordid Lives fan base, that I was done with the denizens of Winters, Texas. I’m excited for this next chapter exploring the advancement of equality to finish the story of these characters that so many people have grown to love. The fans have begged and pleaded for it, and we are co-dependent people pleasers. So here we go.”

Take a look at a message from Shores and the cast below, and if you want to help out, head over to IndieGoGo. [Read more…]