Del Shores'
THE OFFICIAL TOUR

2006 Tour Dates:

Click Here for
Los Angeles Productions:

Special Guest Star Beth Grant

Debby Holiday

Debby Holiday

Sordid Lives - Drag
Susan Leslie as
"Brother Boy"

Sordid Lives - Drag
T Ashanti Mozelle as "Dr. Eve"
Susan Leslie as "Brother Boy"

Dale Dickey, Patrika Darbo

Dale Dickey, Patrika Darbo

Dale Dickey, Patrika Darbo

Scott Presley, Susan Leslie

Sordid Lives - Drag
T Ashanti Mozelle as "Dr. Eve"

Dale Dickey
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Dale Dickey
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Ann Walker

Scott Presley

Sordid Lives - Drag
Patrika Darbo as "Odell"
Rosemary Alexander as "G.W."
Mary-Margaret Lewis as "Wardell"

Ann Walker
Dale Dickey
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Ann Walker
Dale Dickey
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Ann Walker
Dale Dickey
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Leslie Jordan and Rosemary Alexander

Sordid Lives - Drag
Newell Alexander as "Bitsy Mae"

Sordid Lives - Drag
Sarah Hunley as "Ty"
Del Shores as "Latrelle"

Ann Walker
Patrika Darbo

Ann Walker
Sarah Hunley
Newell Alexander

Ann Walker
Patrika Darbo

Leslie Jordan and Rosemary Alexander

Rosemary Alexander
Newell Alexander

Leslie Jordan and Rosemary Alexander

Jason Dottley
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Jason Dottley
Mary-Margaret Lewis

Mary-Margaret Lewis
Jason Dottley

Sordid Lives - Drag
Joe Patrick Ward as "Juanita"

Dale Dickey
Rosemary Alexander

Dale Dickey
Rosemary Alexander

Leslie Jordan and Newell Alexander

Mary-Margaret Lewis
Jason Dottley
Ann Walker
Dale Dickey

Patrika Darbo
Mitch Carter
Sarah Hunley

Patrika Darbo
Mitch Carter
Sarah Hunley

Leslie Jordan and Newell Alexander

January 27, 2006

Beth Grant, Del Shores

Beth Grant, Del Shores

Beth Grant, Earl Bullock

Beth Grant, Rosemary Alexander, Patrika Darbo

Rosemary Alexander, Mary-Margaret Lewis, Ann Walker,  Patrika Darbo

Jason Dottley, Patrika Darbo, Leslie Jordan

Leslie Jordan, Leslie Charleson, Del Shores, Patrika Darbo

Rosemary Alexander, Patrika Darbo, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, Earl Bullock, Sarah Hunley, Dale Dickey

Jason Dottley, Beth Grant, Rosemary Alexander, Patrika Darbo

Jason Dottley, Beth Grant, Rosemary Alexander, Patrika Darbo

Patrika Darbo, Mary-Margaret Lewis, Ann Walker, Dale Dickey

Rosemary Alexander, Del Shores, Newell Alexander

Ann Walker, Del Shores

Dale Dickey, Beth Grant

Mary-Margaret Lewis, Jason Dottley

Leslie Jordan, Rosemary Alexander

Stage credits include the original productions of Del Shores' Cheatin', Daddy's Dyin' Who's Got the Will?, Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies. He is featured in the movie versions of Sordid Lives and Daddy’s Dyin other films include Madhouse, For Heavens Sake and The Stray. On TV he’s worked on Arrested Development, Alias and is recurring on HBO’s Big Love. He is a principal member of the L.A. Mad Dogs, one of the industry's busiest voice-over groups (Crash, Shop Girl, Madagascar, etc., etc.). An ex-Texan, he plays “General Sam Houston” as the host of the Texas History Museum’s Texas Hall of Heroes at the State Capitol in Austin. He has produced and performed in 33 hour-long radio dramas for the Autry Museum of Western Heritage for PBS. Newell performed as Neil Young's opening act “Dan Clear” for 84 shows in 1983-84. He and his wife Rosemary have one shitload of kids and Grandkids.

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Rosemary stars in Del Shores' award-winning independent feature film, Sordid Lives, co-stars in Lakeshore Entertainment’s Madhouse, and is featured in Falcon Lair Films’ The Trip, as well as starring in Miles Swain’s short film, Monsters. Alexander co-stars in two other short films, Gregory Webb's Hamburger Helper and Lane Nishikawa’s Forgotten Valor and she has a featured role in Leslie Jordan's award-winning independent feature, Lost In the Pershing Point Hotel. She co-starred on ABC’s Dharma & Greg and has guest-starred on Martial Law and The Pretender. Other TV appearances include guest-starring on Designing Women, Chicago Hope, High Incident, Murder She Wrote, Days of Our Lives (recurring), General Hospital, Highway to Heaven, Dallas, Knots Landing and Passions.  In 2000 Rosemary created the role of the ‘Mothers’ (three different characters) in Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies, which ran 16 months in Los Angeles at the Zephyr Theatre and won 22 LA drama-critic awards. In 1996-'97 she created the role of “Dr. Eve” and received a Drama-Logue award for performance in Del Shores' play, Sordid Lives.  She created the role of “Evalita” in the hit Texas comedy Daddy's Dyin' Who's Got The Will? at Theater-Theatre in Hollywood for which she received an LA Weekly Theater Critic's Award. In 1989 she won a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in Carolyn Kava’s The Early Girl at the Skylight Theater in L.A.,  and, in 1990, another one for her performance in Paul Zindel's And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little at the Zephyr Theater.  Rosemary and her husband/partner, Newell Alexander, created Wells Fargo Radio Theater and have developed and produced 36 original hour-long historically accurate western radio dramas for the Autry Museum of Western Heritage.  In addition, Rosemary is a busy voice-over actress who does radio and TV spots, narrations and she also provides voice tracks regularly for feature films including Shark Tale, Van Helsing, The Ring II, Shrek, Castaway, Titanic, The Insider, Jerry Maguire, Erin Brockovich, Jumanji, Heat, etc., etc. She has also guest starred on several NPR radio dramas for Hollywood Theater of The Ear.  Rosemary performed over a five-year period in the 1980s with the critically acclaimed comedy Improv group, Caltrans, at the Melrose Theater and in Los Angeles nightclubs.  In addition to sharing a life in show business, the Alexander’s have also shared the raising of five children, and they now share 7 grandchildren.

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Terry came to Hollywood 31 years ago.   He grew up in rural East Texas and attended Stephen F. Austin where he studied journalism.   He won first place for sports-writing excellence from United Press International in 1969 as a reporter for the Tyler Morning Telegraph.  Arriving in Hollywood, he appeared on Police Woman in the first of his many detective roles.   Other TV credits include the popular series Mash and Dallas.   Film credits include the cult film classic UFOria.   Del Shores cast Terry as “Teddy Joe” in his play Cheatin', and later “Wardell” in Sordid Lives, as well as “Preacher” in Southern Baptist Sissies.   You might also recognize Terry from his more than 500 commercials, the latest as a hurricane victim for State Farm.

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MITCH CARTER is excited to be back with the original cast members of Sordid Lives.  He also joined old friends when he played “Orville” in the 10th Anniversary production of Daddy’s Dyin...(Who’s Got the Will?).  Those two shows were 13 months of fun with Del’s Southern family.  Other LA stage credits include: James Leo Herlihy’s Terrible Jim Fitch, Steven J. Rivelle’s The West and Jane Show, David Freeman’s Jessie and the Bandit Queen, and most recently in Arthur Miller’s The Man Who Had All the Luck.

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DEBI DERRYBERY  started acting at the age of 8 in local theatre.  She got her first guitar when she was nine and has been writing songs and singing ever since. Over the last 6 years, her Country/Pop band “Honey Pig”  released 2 CD's.  Now, 5 guitars later, Debi is going solo and releasing her first children's CD What A Way to Play. She has voiced hundreds of cartoon characters but is best known for the voices of “Jimmy Neutron”, and Playhouse Disney's host, “Clay”.  On-camera, she can be seen in Mark Hammil's ComicBook the Movie and GhostWorld.  Upcoming projects include IceAge 2, Curious George the Series and The Wild.  Debi has been a long-time fan of Mr. Shores work and is thrilled to be a part of  Sordid Lives.  She would like to thank ICM for their guidance and support.  She is most grateful to her husband, Harvey, and son, River, for their patience and love.

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PATRIKA  DARBO  is no stranger to those of you who are Del Shores fans.   She was lucky enough to originate the roles of “Maybelline Cartwright” in Cheatin’, “Marlene Turnover” in Daddy’s Dyin... and “Noleta Nethercott” in Sordid Lives.  For the last seven years, she has portrayed “Nancy Wesley” on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives earning her an Emmy nomination and several other awards.  For those non-soap watchers, you may remember her from such TV shows as Rodney, Roseanne and Seinfeld; or such feature films as Carpool Guy, In the Line of Fire, In the Garden of Good and Evil, Speed 2, and the film version of Daddy’s Dyin’... Who’s Got the Will?.  Look for her in the soon-to-be-released horror film Hatchet and the buddy picture Moving McAllister.  She is happy to be back on stage with her theatre family and wants to take this opportunity to say, “Spay and neuter your animals, AIDS is still here, don’t share needles, wear a condom and STOP HATE wherever and whenever you can. It all begins with you.”

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Her Feature Film work includes: Domino (directed by Tony Scott), The Pledge (directed by Sean Penn), The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, The Journey of August King, Sordid Lives, and most recently Our Very Own which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.  On Television, she was ‘Opal McHone’ in the CBS series Christy and later reprised the role for PAX’s special event movies. She has numerous guest-star appearances including ER, Frasier, CSI, The X Files, City of Angels, King of the Hill, Close to Home, Gilmore Girls, Numbers and most recently as “Patty the daytime hooker” on the break-out new hit series My Name is Earl.  TV movies include Cagney and Lacey: Together Again and Prison of Secrets. New York theatre credits include the Broadway production of Sir Peter Hall's The Merchant of Venice (with Dustin Hoffman) and extensive work in the off-Broadway companies Playwrights Horizons, The Signature Theatre Company, and Manhattan Punch Line where she was an artist in residence with the comedy troupe for three years. In Los Angeles, Dickey has worked closely with writer/director Del Shores in productions of Daddy’s Dyin' Who’s Got the Will?, Sordid Lives, Southern Baptist Sissies, and most recently The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife.  Other LA stage work includes The Women with Theatre Neo, Conquest of the South Pole with the Odyssey Ensemble and The Body at the Matrix Her performance as "Velma" in Horton Foote's Laura Dennis earned her a Dramalogue Award for Outstanding Performance.  Dale has appeared in Regional Theatres across the country. Most notably: Paper Mill Playhouse (To Kill a Mockingbird, with George Grizzard), and The Clarence Brown Theatre (starring opposite David Keith in The Rainmaker). Dale was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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JASON DOTTLEY  was last seen on stage in Lisbon Traviata at the Actor’s Lab in Hollywood. Other stage credits include A Shot in the Dark and Taming of the Shrew. TV credits include: Dharma and Greg, Good Morning Miami and Hollywood Confidential. He is currently producing Southern Baptist Sissies at the Zephyr Theatre and will be producing and appearing in its film adaptation.  He wishes to thank his mother for always showing him unconditional love and his grandmother Jessie for buying him his first pair of “husky” jeans.

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BRIDGET HOFFMAN is an actor, writer and director living in Los Angeles. She has starred in over 100 stage productions and earned  several  Theatre Critics Awards for her work in  L.A. including: Spratt, Three Sisters,  Assassins,  King Lear at the Met.  She's pleased to have played the recurring role of “Echidna - the Mother of all Monsters” on Hercules (now immortalized as an action figure).  Bridget has three successful screenplays, and she  recently finished a three year writing/directing stint -  having completed 72 episodes of the popular anime series Mysterious Play,  and 48 episodes of The Adventures of Mini-Goddesses for Pioneer Entertainment, and has written for the Fox Family Channel as well. Bridget supervised the Spanish language dub of The Grinch for Universal Studios, and works extensively as a voice actor for film and television. She has coached many gifted actors - her favorite, perhaps, accompanying Jackie Chan to New York to coach him for his Saturday Night Live performance.  Del Shores is  one of the first people Bridget met upon arriving in Los Angeles, and she has been a fan ever since, so it  is a thrill to be working with him at long last.  Her most precious role is being the mother of Wolfy and the wife of Rif who give her life meaning and joy.

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DEBBY HOLIDAY won over audiences in the juicy role of “The Blues Singer” in the Los Angeles production of the award-winning play The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, written by Del Shores.  Debby Holiday has shared the stage with legendary recording artists like John Waite and Rod Stewart, recently appearing on several television programs including The View, The Rosie O'Donnel Show and The David Letterman Show. During her career, Debby has toured and opened for rock superstars including Joe Walsh, Rod Stewart and Kiss. In 2004 she completed her third independent LP Half A Mile Away.  This LP contains the original versions of Dive and Half A Mile Away, Holiday's songs that scored Top 5 and Top 7 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart in 2004-2005. Both tracks were released as maxi-singles with remixes by Chris Cox (Thunderpuss), Scotty K. (The Ellen Degeneres Show), Scott Anderson of Solar City (Erin Hamilton, Pepper Mashay), Jamie J Sanchez (Mezzanine SF) and Roland Belmares (Belmares & Preve). The success of Dive and Half A Mile Away landed Debby Holiday's indie label *Nebula 9 a U.S. distribution deal through Master Entertainment (MASE). In 2005 the LP Half A Mile Away and a two-song EP with select dance remixes of Dive and Half A Mile Away were placed in Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Amoeba Records and independent music stores nationwide.

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SARAH HUNLEY  After the success of the movie Sordid Lives, Del had request to include “Juanita” in the play, so I get to reprise the role of this sweet lush!  Leslie Jordan introduced me to Del in the 80’s, and I was subsequently cast in Shores’ stage productions of Daddy’s Dyin... and Daughters of the Lone Star State.  I’ve worked on stage in Chicago and Nashville and received a Drama Logue award for my LA performance in A Gift from Heaven.  I was also in David Galligan’s production of Last of the Honky Tonk Angels.  TV appearances include several daytime soaps, multiple movies-of-the-week, and most recently I came back from the dead in Ghost Whisperer. Feature film work includes a starring role in Ghosts of Mississippi, and roles in Mike Nichols’ Primary Colors and Roger Donaldson’s Marie: A True Story.  Look for me in Tim Allen’s up-coming film The Return of Zoom and Adrienne Shelly’s The Waitress.  I grew up in Tennessee and, thanks to Del, for a short while I can go back to the South again.

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Emmy nominated actor, LESLIE JORDAN stepped off a Greyhound bus in 1982 from the hills of Tennessee, said “hello” to Hollywood and has never looked back. With hundreds of television shows, films and commercials to his credit, he has become a familiar face on the entertainment scene.  Audiences will recognize him from his performance as “Brother Boy” in the feature film Sordid Lives .  In addition to numerous guest-starring appearances on television, he can be seen in recurring roles on Boston Legal, Will and Grace, and Reba.  He is starring in the ABC Family movie Chasing Christmas, which will air this holiday season.  On stage, Mr. Jordan won the Ovation Award, The Garland Award and The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of “Preston ‘Peanut’ Leroy” in Southern Baptist Sissies.  His autobiographical one-man show, Like a Dog on Linoleum, ran for six months at the Elephant Asylum in Los Angeles, at the Bailiwick Theater in Chicago, and this spring will be returning to the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, where it ran to sold out houses this past summer.  Mr. Jordan has also enjoyed considerable success as a writer. His play Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far ran to sold-out houses in Los Angeles and had a successful seven-month run Off-Broadway in New York.  His screenplay Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel won the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival's Production Grant Award, and is currently being distributed by Northern Arts Entertainment.

SUSAN LESLIE was born to a sex therapist and a Secret Service Agent in Oklahoma City, Susan’s career in comedy was inevitable. Susan is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater and has trained with Uta Hagen and Howard Fine. Susan’s original one-woman play, This Is Your Wake-Up Call!, earned LA Weekly’s “Pick of the Week” and Drama Logue’s “Critic’s Choice.”  Susan was thrilled to be a Special Guest Artist in Del Shores' play, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife.  Other LA stage credits include: Crimes of The Heart directed by Garry Marshall, Best-of 15 Minutes of Fem 3, The Lotto, The Werewolf Project at LATC, LA Theatresports, and Pen to Paper at PRT.  In addition to her recurring role on Strong Medicine, some television credits include:  Will & Grace, Joey, Rodney, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, L.A. Dragnet, JAG, The Drew Carey Show, SportsNight, The Larry Sanders Show, Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Mad About You, and NewsRadio. She starred opposite Joanna Cassidy in the film Intermission and she can be seen flirting with Lyle Lovett in the feature The Opposite of Sex. 

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MARY-MARGARET LEWIS can be seen in Kalamazoo with Chita Rivera to be released in 2006.  Her television credits include Scrubs, My 11:30 (with Jeff Goldblum), The King of Queens, Friends, X-Files, Boston Public, ER, NYPD Blue, and two movies of the week, Hallmark's Wild Hearts and Hallmark's Audrey's Rain. “Since I created the role of 'Latrelle' in the original run of Sordid Lives, and Del so kindly cast me as 'Ethel' in the film, I feel blessed and so thankful that I get another chance to play with some of my favorite people in the world -- reprising one of my favorite roles.”

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Scott hails from a small town in Kentucky called Somerset.  He is a "REAL LIFE SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSY!"  He attended acting school in New York at the New Actors' Workshop, where he studied for two years with Mike Nichols and Paul Sills.  When he moved to LA eleven years ago, a former teacher at his acting school gave him a list of people to contact.  One of them was a guy by the name of Del Shores.  They talked several times about a play that Del was writing about four boys growing up gay in the Southern Baptist church.  You probably see where this is going by now. 

Scott is extremely proud to be a part of this production as he realizes its importance.  He is also very proud that his beautiful husband, Anthony, is a part of this production as the choreographer and an Ikette.

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MARGOT ROSE grew up in the Midwest and went back to the eastern seaboard to go to college (Yale Drama School & North Carolina School of the Arts). She lived and began working as an actor in New York City for a few years where she did a handful of regional theatre, another handful of off-Broadway theatre including year long runs of Godspell and I'm Getting My Act Together... (original cast), and an armload of commercials. She eventually migrated to the west coast. In LA, representative theatre includes: I'm Getting My Act Together..., Uncommon Women & Others, Siblings, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, Largo Desolato, The Gay 90's Revue, and Sordid Lives in its first incarnation. Los Angeles representative film includes: 48 Hrs., Civil Action, Hollow Man, True Believer, among others; TV includes: series regular in  Report to Murphy and He's the Mayor and in the pilots Never Again, Howie and Rose, Ghost Story; starring roles in the TV movies Plainsong (Hallmark), Jon Benet Murder Mystery, Murder Ordained, A Jury of One; guest starring roles in Star Trek TNG, Murder One, LA Law, Judging Amy, West Wing, Numbers, LA Doctors, Chicago Hope, The Division, The Pretender, Grosse Point, and lots more. Margot is also a singer-songwriter. She recorded an album, Gravity of the Heart, co-wrote the title song to Sordid Lives with the wonderful Beverly Nero. Saving the best for last, the most important thing in Margot's life is her exquisite and wonderful family, her six-year-old twins and her partner Pat. To them, she owes her joy and much much more.

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SHAYNA  is a singer/songwriter originally from the Bay area. She followed her musical path to Los Angeles and has since made it her home.  A unique voice, with a positive view of life as a theme to much of her work. “You get the definite impression that, no matter what, she would be playing somewhere somehow for someone sometime, because it's her life.  And when anyone is that genuine, you're going to experience  [something] great.”… Music Connection.  She sang before she talked, and ran before she walked, according to family legend.  Since those early days, she has found inspiration in life encounters and experiences that have touched her.  Her self-titled CD was well received by the industry and fans alike. Shayna has been featured on MTV and Inside Edition. Many of her songs have been a colorful backdrop in several network television shows and independent movies, as well as being voted #1 female artist for Mp3.com. She is in the studio putting the finishing touches on her newest CD, BEautiful MEss, due any day now!  Shayna has shared the concert stage with other musical artists such as Seal, The Tubes and Michael MacDonald among others. You all are witness to her acting debut here in Sordid Lives, a role she is honored to play.  Enjoy.

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Ann most recently appeared as “Betty” in Defying Gravity for The Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA, where she for which she received a Robby nomination. Previously, she appeared in a 10-month run of Del Shores’ play, Southern Baptist Sissies, both in Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas. Her portrayal of “Odette Annette Barnett” garnered her a Robby Award, a Maddy award, as well as the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a nomination for The Ovation Award.

L.A. theatre-goers have also enjoyed her in other award-winning productions such as BD (for which she received a Drama-Logue award and the Robby Award for Best Actress in a Drama), How the Other Half Loves, Steel Magnolias, The Glass Menagerie, Daughters of the Lone Star State and another Del Shores’ comedy hit Sordid Lives in which Ann played “LaVonda Dupree”, a role she reprised in the award winning film also starring Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke and Beau Bridges. It has achieved an enormous following in Palm Springs bordering on cult-status. Some of Ann’s other film credits include: Father of the Bride II, The Fantastics, It Takes Two, Soulman, and The Jagged Edge. TV guest appearances include: Las Vegas, Sex, Love & Secrets, JAG, Passions, and Mad TV. You can look for some of her movies-of-the-week on the Lifetime Network: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story, She’s No Angel, and Willing To Kill – The Texas Cheerleader Story.

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SEAN WIGGINS  is making waves! Sean was first place winner in the Billboard Song Contest, 2002, for her song, "No Difference".  She also has a song, "Jane and the Goats", which is currently featured on the critically acclaimed and award-winning indie film, God, Sex, and Apple Pie. In addition, in January 2002, Wiggins song styling was featured on MTV's hit night drama, MTV Undressed.  Sean's music was also featured on KLOS, 95.5, Local Licks, Halloween 2004, and she had an hour show on KMUD, Humboldt County.  “VW Hatchback” was also just featured on Car Talk, NPR, March 2005. Sean was also a finalist in The Song of The Year Contest 2004 & The Singer Universe contest 2005, and made it into the Top 10 of Kweevak's picks for best CD in 2005, and she received honorable mention in The Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Sean has been touring the country in support of her last three solo releases, 1000 Steps, Next Time Around, and I Gotta be Me. She has now added her new CD, Everyday Life, which features her new band!! Sean has shared the bill with such artists as Cyndi Lauper, Sophie B Hawkins, Jill Sobule, Billie Myers, Patrice Pike, and Julia Fordham.  She has performed in large music festivals such as Chicago's Market Days, along with clubs and festivals in New York, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, Nashville and many more. Of course she has played venues all over Southern California, including clubs such as The Roxy, The Gig and The Troubadour. Wiggins has also graced the stage of the Houston Women's Festival, Eddies Attic in Atlanta, The Bluebird and Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville. She often returns to the Windy City and surrounding areas to play such clubs as The Hard Rock Café and The House of Blues, along with other local venues. She is currently selling CDs through Borders Books, Goldenrod Music, Amazon.com and Cdbaby.com.

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Dorinda hails all the way from New Jersey by the way of Kentucky.  The Kentucky part is from her Mamma.  Dorinda has studied in New York City at such conservatories as Stella Adler and William Esper and many more that would bore you to death.  Dorinda also has done work here in LA with the 68 Cent Crew and the Actor’s Showcase.  She is so excited and honored to be part of a Season of Shores.  She would like to thank Del and Jason for this opportunity.  She would also like to thank Mom, Dad, Kimberly, Wendy, Abigail, Kira, Lou, Katerina, and Annabelle.  Also to my girls - Katherine, Sonja, and Heather.  Without all of you, I would not be there.  Follow your dreams.  

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Kathi has worked at theatres all over from Sacramento to Los Angeles.  This includes: the Odyssey, Wallenboyd, Japanese American Theatre, Ventura College Opera Workshop, CAST, Zephyr, Electric Lodge, Stella Adler, LATC, Met, PRT, Hayworth, Hudson, Rubicon in Ventura, and Santa Barbara Ensemble Theatre to name a few. She is the resident Lighting Designer at The Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.  She earned her Equity card for stage-managing Edith Stein at the Zephyr in San Francisco.  She has stage-managed, designed lights, been part of a running crew, assisted directors, emceed and almost anything else that needs to be done. Her experience covers theatre, musicals, nightclubs, dance, comedy and special events.  A recipient of multiple awards that include LA Weekly, Backstage West, LADCC and two Theatre LA Ovation Awards (4 nominations), LADCC Angstrom Award for Career Achievement in Lighting Design and LA Weekly Award for Career Achievement.  Kathi is thrilled to be part of Del's year at the Zephyr and to bring the Sissies to light at The Zephyr for a third time.  Looking forward to all the sordid lives to follow.

T. Ashanti received a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Southern California.  He has performed in numerous theatrical productions throughout Los Angeles and London.  His favorite roles include: “Feste the Clown” in The Twelfth Night, “Belize” in Angels in America: Perestrokia, “Guy Smith” in In the Boom Boom Room, “Duke Vincentio” in Measure for Measure and “Othello” in Othello the Moor.  In addition to acting, Ashanti is a gifted dancer, writer, clothing designer and stylist.  Ashanti would like to thank his mom for all of her love and guidance, his family, friends and the wonderful cast for all of their support.

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Del Shores (writer/director) has written, directed and produced film, television and stage. “Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got The Will?), (1987) originally 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 2000 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. photo: Rosemary Alexander 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. “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. Most recently, Shores’ enjoyed critical and commercial success with his darkest play, “The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife.” The play ran for six sold-out months in 2003 at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. For "Trials" 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). Other plays include “Cheatin’” and “Daughters of the Lone Star State.” All Shores’ plays are published by Samuel French, Inc. 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” and currently finished his third season as co-executive producer of the acclaimed Showtime series, “Queer As Folk” for which he wrote many episodes. He has also written and produced pilots for every network and wrote and directed the Showtime movie “The Wilde Girls”, staring Olivia Newton-John and Swoosie Kurtz. Currently, Shores is working on a new movie with Mandalay Entertainment and has started preproduction on the film adaptation of his play "Southern Baptist Sissies", which he will direct. He resides in Los Angeles with his husband Jason and his daughters Rebecca and Caroline.

Full Press Room on Del Shores at: www.edbaran.com/delshores

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Sonja hails from Marietta, GA, and left a marketing career in San Francisco where she was cast in the play Echoes.  She studied acting at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, and with Ed Hooks in San Francisco, CA.  She made her move to LA 3 years ago and has since starred in the indie films, Beneath The Mississippi and Banana Moon.  She starred in the Audience award-winning Life for a Life and US Air Marshalls for the 78-Hour Film Festival.  Sonja is a proud member of the 68 Cent Crew Theatre Company.  The love of her life is Jonathan.  She became is mentor through her work with the orphanage Holly Grove.

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Robert is honored to once again design for Del Shores and his splendid company of actors.  Credits include Prymate on Broadway; The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife at The Zephyr; Oliver!, A Streetcar Named Desire, Equus, Brilliant Traces and The Gin Game at DeafWest; Gila and Stumps at the Odyssey; Change at Babylon at The Tiffany, Biloxi Blues  at The Court, The Glass Menagerie at The Stella Adler,  and  Lolly Foster's Daredevil Airshow  at The Kennedy Center.

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Craig has worn many hats (not to mention wigs and heels) in recent Del Shores productions. He appeared several times as "Benny" in 2002's run of Southern Baptist Sissies and served as Costume Designer for The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife. He is most excited to tackle his latest roles of Stage Manager and Costume Designer for a “Season of Shores” at the Zephyr Theatre. As an accomplished actor and singer, Craig appeared (as "Miss Bible Belt") in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of Pageant. His costumes for Trailer Trash Housewife garnered local praise and were nominated for an NAACP Award. Craig is humbled, flattered, and honored to be a part of the Del Shores Productions family. He is constantly awed and inspired by the talent, spirit, and energy of this amazing ensemble of players... and he looks forward to the journey ahead with each of them... every "sordid" minute of it.

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Joe Patrick Ward
(Musical Director)

Joe Pat is thrilled to be back “in church” with Del!  He created the dual roles of “Brother Chaffey” and “Houston” in the original 2000 production of Southern Baptist Sissies (as well as musical-directed the show).  He also collaborated with Del on the award-winning play The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife (2003 Ovation Nominee), composing the show’s songs, co-writing the lyrics and appearing onstage as the pianist.  Joe wrote the songs to the cult hit musical Judy’s Scary Little Christmas (another Ovation Award winner) which has enjoyed sold-out engagements in Los Angeles, Portland, Des Moines and Chicago.  The original cast album was recorded a few months ago.  Joe wrote the music and lyrics for Leslie Jordan’s off-Broadway show Hysterical Blindness & Other Southern Tragedies, which ran for seven months at the Soho Playhouse in NYC, then played in L.A., Richmond and Fort Worth (in a production Joe also directed).  Joe Pat wrote the book, music and lyrics for the satirical musical The Grave White Way (2001 Ovation Nominee), at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood.  Other L.A. songwriting credits include She’s a Handful, In Sherwood and Plum Pink Pedicure.  He has written songs for several films in development at Warner Brothers, and was the headwriter/songwriter for the NPR comedy broadcast Propaganda Radio.  Joe’s current musical Fools For Broadway (for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics) is currently being workshopped by the acclaimed Directors Company in New York.  His numerous original songs have been sung by many Broadway vets, including John Raitt, Loretta Devine, Jason Graae, Davis Gaines, Ken Page, Harry Groener, Stephen Schwartz, Sharon McNight, Billy Porter, Susan Egan, Mary Bond Davis, Valarie Pettiford, Gregory Jbara and Billy Barnes.  Joe is a member of ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild.

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Del Shores

Joe Patrick Ward

CHEATIN'

Del Shores

Joe Patrick Ward

Daughter's of the
Lone Star State

Del Shores

Joe Patrick Ward

Daddy's Dyin'...
Who's Got the Will?

Del Shores

Joe Patrick Ward