REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
REVIEW
Can't help but laugh at 'Sordid Lives'
By Bob Fischbach
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Friday August 20, 2010
The Ingram family is beyond dysfunctional. Now that Mama’s died, it’s coming unstrung.
The Ingrams are at the center of “Sordid Lives,” Del Shores’ side-splitting low-brow comedy about life in a small west Texas town. SNAP Productions opened a four-weekend run Thursday night, and word of mouth is likely to sell out this tiny theater for much of the run.
This is a really funny, profane adult comedy. The list of reasons is long, but it boils down to two: Shores writes killer dialogue for outrageous characters, and the actors playing those characters are comedic gold, 24-karat Texas drawl.
Where to begin? Oh, yeah, Mama died. She tripped over the wooden legs of G.W. (Gary Planck), a married man she was sleeping with in a cheap motel.
Her daughters, image-conscious Latrelle (Connie Lee) and free-wheeling LaVonda (Daena Schweiger) are feuding over what Mama will wear in the coffin.
Latrelle doesn’t want their transvestite brother, Earl “Brother Boy” (Randy Vest), let out of the looney bin for the
funeral, but LaVonda never thought he was crazy in the first place — even if he does pretend he’s Tammy Wynette.
Mama’s sister, Sissy (Barb Ross), just gave up smoking, but her feuding nieces are giving her nicotine fits.
Noleta (Mary Carrick), the wife of the guy with the wooden legs, is best friends with LaVonda. The two grab a shotgun to get even with the cheatin’ skunk, G.W. (Gary Planck), who’s tearfully drunk at the bar with his buddies (Jerry Evert, Scott Fowler). The play is divided into four scenes: reaction to Mama’s death; the confrontation in the bar; a “dehomosexualization” therapy session for Brother Boy; and the funeral.
In between, a young hellcat who hung out with Mama in her last wild days (Chelsea Long) philosophizes in country twang.
Kicking off each scene, Latrelle’s handsome young son, Ty (Isaac Reilly), talks to his own unseen therapist. Ty, an ex-soap opera star, is gay like Uncle Earl, but his Baptist family makes the idea of admitting it really scary. Shores puts some meat on the bones of this sordid story as Ty talks from the heart about the pain of living a lie. Reilly effectively elicits empathy in this difficult “straight-man” role.
The situation just keeps getting more outrageous and sordid all night long, and the laughs pile up like cigarettes in an ashtray.
Amid a strong cast, Therese Rennels stands out in two screamingly funny roles: an oversexed therapist grasping for fame by “curing” Brother Boy, and a drunk barfly babbling about boll weevils and roosters.
It’s hard to pick a favorite among Carrick, Lee, Ross and Schweiger, all of whom got big laughs with body language, bits of funny business, line delivery and timing as semi-hysterical, semi-wilted Southern belles.
Gary Planck tops the men as sobbing, soused G.W., and Vest is close behind as long-suffering Brother Boy. Director Todd Brooks gets a slice of the credit as well for shrewd casting, brisk pacing and effective staging. The set is simply black curtains and furniture.
Though the season is young, look for “Sordid Lives” to be among the best-comedy nominees when award time rolls around next June.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
THEATER REVIEW: Big hair, loose morals make 'Sordid' a winner
By Kim Bousquet
Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil
Published: Thursday, August 19, 2010 3:19 PM CDT
OMAHA – SNAP! Productions’ “Sordid Lives” is billed as a black comedy about white trash, and oh lordy, it is. It’s a riot of a comedy with some rather trashy people in it. The show is packed with curse words, drunks and loose morals. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Under the superb direction of Todd Brooks, this talented cast presents an ill-mannered bunch of small-town Texas characters coping with the unexpected death of Peggy, who had an affair with a married man and died tripping over his wooden legs.
In an entertaining two and a half hours, the show kept the audience laughing to the end and even managed to squeeze in a heart-felt message or two without making them seem out of place. Hard to imagine anything heartfelt from a show with a set that includes a velvet Elvis, Aqua Net and Cheez Whiz, right?
I have to hand it to the big-haired ladies in the cast. They delivered. Mary Carrick, Connie Lee, Chelsea Long, Therese Rennels and Daena Schweiger were all great.
Schweiger and Rennels were particularly funny with straight-faced delivery of ridiculous lines. How the rest of the cast didn’t crack up around them is beyond me.
I could only think of describing Schweiger’s rifle-toting LaVonda as pure awesomeness. She’s rude and vulgar, yet probably the most good-hearted character of the show.
That’s not to say the men in the cast weren’t great with memorable moments, it’s just that these ladies were just that good. The men in the cast – Jerry Evert, Scott Fowler, Gary Planck, Isaac Reilly and Randy Vest – take a beating from these women, some characters even deserved it. Vest’s “Brother Boy” was improbably the most endearing character of the show, in spite of his penchant for cross-dressing as Tammy Wynette.
The show is in four acts, each opening with a naughty song by Long’s character, Bitsy, and a brief therapy session with Ty, the grandson of Peggy played by Isaac Reilly. The show gets more and more ridiculous as things progress toward the funeral, making it funnier and funnier.
It’s not for everyone – certainly not children nor the faint of heart. It’s crude, vulgar and brilliant. I highly recommend it to those who love their comedy to be a little offensive.
“Sordid Lives” opens tonight at 3225 California St., Omaha. It runs through Sept. 12. Performances are Thursdays through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, show is staged at 2 p.m. The Sunday Aug. 22 is sign language interpreted. Tickets are $15 or $12 for students, seniors and TAG members. Tickets are $10 on Thursdays. For tickets, (402) 341-2757 or go online to www.snapproductions.com.
– Special Sections and Arts & Entertainment Editor Kim Bousquet can be reached at (712) 325-5736 or by e-mail at kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com
PREVIEW
Vest: Get past the bizarre to see touching moments
By Kim Bousquet, Staff Writer
Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil
kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com
Published: Thursday, August 12, 2010 2:23 PM CDT
OMAHA – Consider it a dark comedy about white trash. SNAP! Productions presents “Sordid Lives” Aug. 19 through Sept. 12, a Southern-fried tale of life in a small Texas town.
In “Sordid Lives,” there’s love, loss and big hair. The tragic death of Grandma Peggy (tripped over the wooden legs of her lover), brings together feuding, big-haired daughters, a jumpy aunt who just quit smoking, the scorned neighbor from hell, and crazy, cross-dressing Brother Boy.
“It’s very over-the-top. Kinda crazy,” said Randy Vest of Council Bluffs, who plays Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, a man who presents shows at the mental institute he lives in, including performances as his favorite lady, Tammy Wynette.
Vest issued a light-hearted warning that the play gets very risqué, and frankly, “out-and-out raunchy,” so it’s not a show for the faint of heart, he said.
“Once you get past the very bizarre situations, it has some touching moments,” said Vest.
Todd Brooks directs an assembled cast of award-winning actors that includes SNAP! veterans Mary Carrick, Jerry Evert, Scott Fowler, Connie Lee, Chelsea Long, Denny Maddux, John Remington, Therese Rennels, Barb Ross and Daena Schweiger, as well as newcomers to SNAP! Gary Planck and Isaac Reilly.
“It’s just a dynamite cast,” said Vest. “They’re some of the most professional people in the theater scene.”
The production staff includes John Remington, stage manager; Echelle Childers, costumes; James Brooks, specialty set construction; Connie Fowler, properties; and Dan Baye, sound/light operator. Todd Brooks also handles the set, light and sound design in addition to directing.
“Sordid Lives” will run from Aug. 19 to Sept. 12 at 3225 California St., Omaha. Curtain times are Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 6 p.m. The Sunday, Sept. 12, show will start at 2 p.m. There will be a special signed performance for the hearing-impaired on Aug. 22. The theater opens a half hour before curtain time.
Tickets are $15 or $12 for students, senior citizens and Theatre Arts Guild members. Reservations may be made on the SNAP! Productions’ website: www.snapproductions.com. Tickets are only $10 for Thursday performances. For more information, call (402) 341-2757.
PREVIEW
In ‘Sordid Lives,’ people tend to see some of own families
By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
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“Sordid Lives,” the campy story of a Texas family from the wrong side of the tracks that deals with scandal as it plans the funeral of its matriarch, premiered in Los Angeles in 1996 and became an immediate hit.
A movie version followed in 2000, drawing a cult following to its campy humor and over-the-top characters. It starred Olivia Newton-John, Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, Leslie Jordan and Bonnie Bedelia. The Logo cable channel ran a season of the sitcom “Sordid Lives” in 2008-09, starring Rue McClanahan and several from the movie cast.
As Thursday’s stage premiere of “Sordid Lives” neared at SNAP Productions, we e-mailed playwright and screenwriter Del Shores some “Sordid” questions. Here’s what he had to say:
Q. You’ve had a string of hit stage plays, yet you are most widely known for “Sordid Lives.” What is it about that show that made it click with stage, movie and television audiences?
A. First and foremost, people seem to see some of their family in the “Sordid” world, no matter where they grew up. Also, the intense humor has allowed the gay audience (where it started) to share it safely with their straight friends and family, so the reach keeps expanding.
Q. You have said that you drew on your own life when you wrote “Sordid Lives.” Can you reveal a bit about characters or situations that come from life experiences?
A. The relationship with (gay son) Ty and (conservative Baptist mother) Latrelle I simply ripped from my own life. Ty’s therapy sessions were mine. And I have aunts very much like Sissy and LaVonda. Thankfully, I have no Uncle Brother Boy (a cross-dresser committed to a mental facility).
Q. Did an event or idea suddenly inspire you to write “Sordid Lives,” or did that story evolve gradually?
A. It started as a challenge to myself to write a short story called “Nicotine Fit” about Sissy trying to quit smoking three days after her sister died, and having to referee a fight with her nieces over whether a fur stole should be worn in the casket. It felt like a good one-act play after I finished. Then after I came out, it just started evolving.
Q. In what ways do you think attitudes toward gay and transgender people have changed since “Sordid Lives” was created?
A. Well, so many people have come out, and putting a face on “gay” is so important. We are in the news daily about the fight for our rights, and slowly but surely we are making progress. “Gay” is talked about in life and in the press. Change will continue to happen as generations die out. I have two daughters, 17 and 20. Their generation doesn’t care! I predict when they are my age (52), gay marriage will be legal in all states.
Q. “Sordid Lives” is not simply a gay play. It is wry social commentary about attitudes and a way of living. When you wrote it, did you have goals in mind beyond entertaining people with humor?
A. I never think of the social aspect, although that seems to be in almost all of my work. I create characters I want to write and let them take me on a journey. Anything that makes people think is a bonus.
Q. What aspects of Southern culture lend themselves to comedy writing?
A. Well, the characters are just so rich. I love to show the hypocrisy I grew up with. You can say pretty much anything about anybody if you say “bless her heart” afterwards. The church versus the (alcohol-serving) bar gives me a lot of fodder. And just observation. I had an uncle with two wooden legs. My aunt “Sissy” shot the neighbors’ trespassing goat. I always say, “I’m a thief, not a writer.”
Q. Do you think it’s possible to “de-homosexualize” somebody, the way Dr. Eve tries to do for Brother Boy in “Sordid Lives”?
A. What do you think!? That was the point, how ludicrous that concept is — and, trust me, it exists.
Q. Do you have a favorite character in “Sordid Lives”?
A. Oh, that’s like having a favorite child. So, no. If I did, I wouldn’t admit it.
Q. What do you hope audiences take away from seeing the stage version of “Sordid Lives”?
A. We need to laugh these days, so just forgetting about the world and all these problems for a couple of hours would be enough.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
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