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Del Shores

DEL SHORES

  (1957 - )
Nationality:    USA
facebook     twitter     email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Creative Artists Agency NY  

Del Shores (writer/director/producer/activist) has written, directed and produced film, television and stage. His new series "Sordid Lives: the Series" premiered on MTV's LOGO July 23, 2008 starring Olivia Newton-John, Rue McClanahan, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, Caroline Rhea, Bonnie Bedelia, Jason Dottley and many of the original stage and film cast including Newell Alexander, Rosemary Alexander and Sarah Hunley. Shores created, wrote, directed and executive produced all twelve episodes. It became LOGO's biggest hit to date. Shores' career took off with the play "Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got the Will?), (1987) which ran two years at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood, winning many Los Angeles Theatre awards, including LA Weekly's Best Production and Best Writing. the play has subsequently been produced in over 2500 Theatres worldwide. A movie version of "Daddy's Dyin'" was released in 1990 by MGM and Propaganda Films and starred Beau Bridges, Tess Harper, Judge Reinhold, Keith Carradine and Beverly D'Angelo. Shores wrote the screenplay and executive produced the film. "Sordid Lives", his fourth play, opened in Los Angeles May 11, 1996 and ran 13 sold-out months. the critics raved -- ultimately 13 of them awarding the production "Critic's Choice." F. Kathleen Folley of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Sordid Lives has more laughs than a hunting dog has ticks. Del Shores is a master of the Texas comedy." the play went on to win 14 Drama-Logue Theatre Awards, including three for Shores for writing, directing and producing. He was also nominated for Robby, L.A. Weekly and GLAAD Awards for writing, directing and producing. In 1999, Shores wrote and directed the film version of "Sordid Lives" starring Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, Olivia Newton-John, Bonnie Bedelia, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, along with most of the cast from the play. the movie has become a cult phenomenon. Ivor Davis of the New York Times Syndicate called it: "the most delicious combination of emotion and laugh out loud hilarity to come along in the new Millennium. . .the Birdcage meets the Bible Belt--and the result is the most hilarious comedy of the year." the movie won many festival awards, including Best Film at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival, Atlanta Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, South Beach Film Festival, Memphis International Film Festival and the San Diego International Film Festival and racked up a total of thirteen "Audience Awards." In 2002 Twentieth Century Fox released the DVD/Video, which has now sold over 200,000 units. "Sordid Lives" became the longest running film in the history of Palm Springs at the Camelot Theatre (96 weeks) and on October 5, 2006, Shores was given a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars "for his lifetime achievement in the field of entertainment and contribution to the world of prominence of Palm Springs." "Southern Baptist Sissies" is Shores most personal play -- a tragicomedy. It enjoyed a ten-month sold-out run in Los Angeles in 2000 and 2001, then enjoyed a sold-out run at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary Theatre in Dallas. Revived in L.A. in April 2002, "Sissies" enjoyed yet another six month sold-out run, again at the Zephyr Theatre. the play opened at the Bailiwick Theatre in Chicago to rave reviews July 2002 and was the Theatres' biggest hit during their "Pride" summer series, garnering two After Dark Awards for Best Direction and Best Ensemble. the original LA production of "Sissies" received 20 Los Angeles Theatre Awards, Shores alone receiving the LA Weekly, Robby and Maddy for Best Direction and the Backstage West Garland, Robby and Maddy for Best Writing. the play was also awarded the prestigious GLAAD Award for Outstanding Production of the Year. In 2003, "the Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife" became his most critically acclaimed and darkest play to date. After a six-month sold-out run at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles, Shores' won the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's Ted Schmitt Award for World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play. the Circle also awarded the play Best Production and Beth Grant Best Lead Performance. "Trials" also won five Back Stage West Garland Awards (Best Play, Best Direction, Best Writing, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress), two NAACP Awards (Best Play, Best Playwright, 7 nominations, including Best Directing for Shores ), Ovation Awards (Best Actress, 4 nominations, including writing and direction for Shores') seven Maddy Awards (including Best Play, Writing, Direction) and three L.A. Weekly Awards (Best Playwright, Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actor). For the 2006 revival, the cast won the Ovation Award for Best Ensemble and Shores was nominated for Best Direction and Best Production. Other plays include "Cheatin'" and "Daughters of the Lone Star State." His publisher is Samuel French, Inc. Other than "Sordid Lives: the Series", in television, Shores has written and produced for "Maximum Bob", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Live Shot", "Touched By An Angel", "Ned and Stacey" "Family Ties" "Dharma and Greg". Shores also produced the last three seasons of the ground-breaking, acclaimed Showtime series "Queer As Folk" for which he wrote many episodes. He has written and produced pilots for every network and wrote, directed and executive produced the Showtime movie "the Wilde Girls", staring Olivia Newton-John and Swoosie Kurtz. In 2006 Shores revived three of his plays ("Sordid Lives", "Southern Baptist Sissies", "the Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife") in Los Angeles, before taking to the road for a six city successful tour, starring Delta Burke and Leslie Jordan, which played in 1000-1700 seat houses.

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below is a list of Del Shores's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Cheatin'         Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got the Will?)         Daughters of the Lone Star State         Sordid Lives         Southern Baptist Sissies         Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, The         Yellow

Cheatin'

Cheatin'
gossip, a small Texas town's major passion, ignites a blaze of infidelity that engulfs three couples

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Full Length Play, Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got the Will?)

Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got the Will?)
set in a small Texas town concerns the reunion of a family gathered to await the imminent death of their patriarch

Notes:
A movie version of "Daddy's Dyin'" was released in 1990 by MGM And Propaganda Films And starred Beau Bridges, Tess Harper, Judge Reinhold, Keith Carradine And Beverly D'Angelo. Shores wrote the screenplay And executive produced the film

1st Produced:
Theatre/Theater In Hollywood, Ca     07 Feb 1987

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Daughters of the Lone Star State

Daughters of the Lone Star State
This is the third of the Lowake, Texas series from the author of Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got the Will?) and Cheatin'. It's the day before Christmas Eve and the Daughters of the Lone Star State are having their annual meeting. the old group is dying out, literally, so this year's effort to attract members is all out. When "white trash" and "coloreds" arrive, chaos erupts. This funny but biting play is a wonderful challenge for an all female ensemble. Nine characters are over 50 years old.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Zephyr Theatre In Hollywood, California     20 May 1993

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  11            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sordid Lives

Sordid Lives
Soap star Ty (whose Uncle is a gay transvestite) thinks it will be a big problem if he came out to his mother. "I've known you're gay since you were 5 years old & you wanted that doll for Christmas"

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Theatre/Theater In Hollywood, California     11 May 1996

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Gay, theme/character full length, Dark Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Southern Baptist Sissies

Southern Baptist Sissies
A Baptist Church in the American South. Four friends and members of the congregation grow up and realise that they are gay. Which is condemned in the Bible and constantly by their preacher. they cope with it in different ways. Mark eventually becomes a journalist on a gay paper as an outlet to vent his anger at the world. Though in his dreams he would like to be in a perfect world with T.J. as his partner. T.J. copes by denying that he is gay and that the masturbatory fumblings he had with Mark as a teenager were a temptation sent by Satan. He gets engaged to Sally and becomes a much more fervent Baptist. Benny becomes a drag queen and performs in bars. Andrew cannot cope he prays for God to make him straight and when his mother discovers his gay porn magazine he hangs himself. (One of the things the boys had learnt when they were in the Scouts was how to make a hangman's noose -)

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Zephyr Theatre, Hollywood, California     2000

Organisations:
Delane Productions

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  2            Other:  13 characters - doubling

Further Reference:
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Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, The

Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, The
Willi lives in a trailer park with her husband. One of her sons has died and the other is banned from visiting by her husband because he is gay. A new woman moves into the trailer park and Willi's husband starts an affair with her. Willi gets a job with the local Wall-Mart but her husband quotes the Bible saying a woman's place is at home and forbids her from taking up the job. He beats her nearly to death but she shoots him.

Notes:
by Del Shores; music by Joe Patrick Ward; lyrics by Sharyn Lane, Del Shores And Joe Patrick Ward

1st Produced:
Zephyr Theatre, Hollywood, California     08 Mar 2003

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Dramatic comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Yellow

Yellow
Yellow chronicles a year in the life of the perfect family in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Bobby Westmoreland, a high school football coach, and his wife Kate, a respected therapist, have two ambitious children in high school. their son Dayne is the golden football star while their daughter Gracie is an overly-Dramatic actress. Gracie's best friend is a young gay boy, Kendall, who is at constant odds with his abusive, fundamentalist mother, Sister Timothea. the play opens with the start of the football season and high school auditions for Oklahoma. Everything falls apart when an unexpected tragedy rocks the Westmoreland family to the breaking point. Yellow explores the themes of cowardice, intolerance and the damage caused to families by secrets, rejection and the difficulty of forgiveness.

Notes:
A departure from the comedy of earlier works, Del Shores' Yellow is the award-winning playwright's most Dramatic play to date. the play was one of the most awarded Los Angeles plays of 2010, winning Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Production and Best World Premiere Play.

1st Produced:
Coast Playhouse In Santa Monica, California     11 Jun 2012

Organisations:
JD3atrical Prods

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Dramatic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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