Fans of 2000's now-cult-classic comedy film Sordid Lives and its 2008 TV prequel, Sordid Lives: The Series , described by creator/writer/director Del Shores as a black comedy about white trash, are going to feel like there's a family reunion at Zanies Comedy Club (2025 8th Avenue South in Nashville) when Shores opens for series star, Caroline Rhea for five shows in three days beginning Thursday, November 3 at 7:30pm and continuing Friday & Saturday at 7:30, with late shows Friday at 9:45 & Saturday at 9pm.
If you've read my column with any regularity over the past three years, you likely know that I adore Del Shores and, thanks to an introduction several years ago from a mutual friend, consider Del a friend as well as one of my comedy favorites. When I learned that Del would be opening for Caroline here in Nashville, I immediately reached out to him to get the scoop on their upcoming Music City gigs.
Those familiar with Del's Sordid Lives film no doubt remember that Delta Burke played the role of unhappily married Noleta Nethercott in the movie, a role Patrika Darbo (Days of Our Lives, Step By Step) had played in Del's original stage version. When MTV's LGBT-aimed LOGO TV network optioned the film for a 2008 prequel series, Burke was initially set to reprise her pivotal role as Noleta, but that didn't happen.
As a longtime stand-up comedian/actress and TV host, Rhea, prior to being cast in Sordid Lives: The Series, was primarily known to TV audiences as one of two other-worldly aunts in the long-running ABC sitcom, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, host of her own daytime talk show, The Caroline Rhea Show and host of the first three seasons of the reality-weight loss ratings-grabbing series,The Biggest Loser.
When I asked Del if he andCaroline had known each other prior to her work on Sordid Lives: The Series, he revealed, "We met a few days before we started shooting the series. Delta Burke fell out of the show and we had to recast. Caroline was set to play one of Ty's (Jason Dottley's) therapists, a role that eventually went to Margaret Cho. Caroline was good friends with our casting director. He told her Noleta was available and she said "that role is mine" and convinced me with a kick-ass audition. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my career."
In the time since Sordid Lives: The Series, Caroline and Del have forged a great friendship. He mirrored that statement with, "Not only did she do an amazing job as Noleta, but she has become one of my best friends."
This week's performances at Zanies mark a reunion of sorts for Del and Caroline, having last shared the stage with several other Sordid Lives cast members, includingLeslie Jordan, Rue McClanahan, Ann Walker, Jason Dottley and Rosemary and Newell Alexander. "We did several shows with some, or all of us, called, A Sordid Affair," recalled Del.
Del mentioning Jason Dottley, who not only starred in Sordid Lives: The Series, but is Del's husband in real-life, made we wonder if Jason would be joining Del on this visit to Music City. Del admitted, "He's at home in LA getting ready for the release of his single, Pop It, the one he performed at PLAY this summer. He's really busy with his music, so I'm solo this time."
Another Sordid Lives: The Series star who occasionally joined Del and the rest on occasion was none other than Nashville's own, Georgette Jones, who had appeared in the series as the ghost of her real-life mother, country legend, Tammy Wynette.
Speaking of Georgette, just this past weekend, Del was in Nashville to attend Georgette's wedding. Anyone who's seen Sordid Lives will remember that Leslie Jordan's character, Brother Boy is obsessed with the late Tammy Wynette. So much so that he performs in drag as the iconic singer. Del himself is a huge Tammy fan, so I was curious to find out how he felt being an invited guest to the wedding of Tammy and George Jones' daughter, Georgette. "It was amazing. It was held in the rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Georgette was so gorgeous. She had a pistol duct-taped to her thigh, her grandaddy's, for her "something old". And her husband is so cute! They will be at the show Thursday night with Georgette's sister, Jackie," enthused Del.
Thursday night's Nashville debut will be the first time Del and Caroline have shared a comedy stage in two years. Of their last time onstage together, Del remembered, "I think our last time to perform together was September 2009 at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas. We played to about 3000 people, two shows. It was Caroline, Rue, Leslie, Me, Jason, Ann,Newell and Rosemary."
"I'm so excited to be onstage with her again. She really taught me so much about stand-up and told me that I can do this," said Del of opening for Caroline. "She called me last week and asked me to stay in the South and open for her--and when Caroline asks, I say yes!" he continued.
Having gotten to know Del over the past few years, during which I've seen a few incarnations of his stand-up/one-man-show, I know he's got tons of stories about a number of celebrities he's worked with over the years, so I asked Del point blank if he had any sharable dirt on Caroline, or if she was temporarily off limits since she'd asked him to join her for the Nashville dates. "Oh, she's NEVER off limits. Come to Zanies and I just may dish a little. I'll tell you this, she is the sharpest tool in the shed and I can never compete with her, so I behave."
I then asked Del what Caroline's response might be, should I ask her the same about him. "She would tell some tales...and I would listen and laugh," he said with a smile.
If you saw Del's one-man-show, Sordid Confessions when he was here earlier this summer at PLAY on Church Street, he can be very bawdy. When asked if he might hold back any during this weekend's shows, considering he's playing Nashville's legendary comedy club, as opposed to one of the more gay-friendly bars, he was quick to respond, "This time I've only got about 20 minutes. Since I started reading from Bristol Palin's book in Nashville when I appeared at PLAY, I may have to do a little encore of that--bur the other material is all new that I collected on my tour. Oh, I may have to do a few of the pussy stories."
That remark made me think of Leslie Jordan's Brother Boy character. All you Sordid fans surely remember one of Brother Boy's most quotable lines involving the P-word. That said, I couldn't let my time withDel pass without an update any possibility of a future for Brother Boy and the rest of Del's Sordid Lives characters. "I'm still working on getting all the rights back. It seems to be coming together, but I have to hurry. The cast is getting old," he said with a laugh.
As for what Del will be up to next, He's almost done with the tour. Following this weekend's appearances in Nashville, Del will head to Seattle on November 17 and Portland on November 18 to make up shows that were cancelled when he got stuck in NYC during the hurricane. "Then in January, I'm taping the DVD of Del Shores: Sordid Confessions in Dallas at the legendary Rose Room," For tickets to Del's Seattle show, CLICK HERE. For Portland, CLICK HERE. Ticket information for Del's DVD taping in Dallas will be available soon. CLICK HERE to join Del's facebook fanpage for updates related to the upcoming DVD taping and other Sordid news.
The new year will see the release of Del's latest feature film, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, starring Sordid alumni, Beth Grant, Dale Dickey, David Steen and also starring Debby Holiday and Octavia Spencer. "I hope we play the Nashville Film Festival," beamed Del. I hope so too, because that will give me another chance to hang out with one of the funniest men I've ever known.
For tickets to see Del Shores and Caroline Rhea at Zanies Thursday, November 3 through Saturday, November 5, CLICK HERE. Tickets are only $20, but if you 'like' Zanies on facebook you will be privy to special ticket prices throughout the five performance run.
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