A Very Sordid Wedding comes crashing into Winter, Texas
by Rob Howard
Associate Editor
Marriage equality is the law of the land and reality comes crashing into Winter, Texas in Del Shores’ sequel to Sordid Lives, A Very Sordid Wedding.
As Sordid Lives dealt with coming out in a conservative Southern world, A Very Sordid Wedding explores the questions, bigotry and the fallout of what happens when gay marriage comes to communities and families that are not quite ready to accept it.
All of these issues are explored with Del Shores’ trademark approach to using comedy and his much beloved Sordid Lives characters to deal with these important current social issues and the very real process of accepting your family for who they are instead of who you want them to be.
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’s (Bonnie Bedelia) now out and proud gay son Ty (Kirk Geiger) is on his way back to town with his black partner Kyle (T. Ashanti Mozelle) and news of their own.
Tammy Wynette champion Brother Boy (Leslie Jordan) hasn't been back to Winters since Peggy’s funeral. He's been working at a tragic little gay bar in Longview, but 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, fireworks and a surprise wedding.
“Not a day goes by where someone doesn’t ask me for more Sordid Lives” says Shores, the writer, director and producer of the movie. “Many of my LGBTQ fans, of all ages, have come out to their folks by showing them Sordid Lives because the humor helped them share their own story.
“I am excited to bring my characters up to July 2015 where they are hit with the reality of Texas having full equality. I wanted to contrast affirming churches and organizations like Faith In America with hypocritical bigotry that is still being spewed from pulpits represented by the ‘Anti-Equality Rally’ in the film.”
“With the victory of marriage equality and the resulting backlash disguised as ‘religious freedom’ bills, our film exploring the impact of religious bigotry couldn’t come at a more timely moment in our history,” continues producer and star Emerson Collins.
“We need to document this important time in history in film, and what better way than to show the struggle and evolvement – or not – of those in the conservative hinterlands where social acceptance still lags behind the incredible legal victories,” says Shores.
“The courts will change the laws, but it is our stories that will change people’s hearts and minds. A Very Sordid Wedding is my return to these beloved characters while touching on such an important subject in our history through the humor and comedy that has made Sordid Lives such a lasting phenomenon.”
A Very Sordid Wedding opened in Palm Springs in mid-March to sell-out crowds. Shores and his fellow producers are saying, “The journey to theaters across the country is just beginning, we will share the next set of dates that are almost locked down very soon and we cannot wait to share it with all of you.”
In The Gayly region, A Very Sordid Wedding will have its premiere at Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave, in Tulsa, Thursday, April 27. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. with Writer/Director, Del Shores, and Producer/Actor, Emerson Collins. Film Screening at 7 p.m.; Q&A with Shores and Collins following.
For tickets, visit www.circlecinema.com or call (918) 592-3456.
Copyright The Gayly - 4/1/2017 @ 1:03 p.m. CST. All rights reserved.