One of the first to marry in Lexington is directing a comedy play on gay marriage
A local theater group is hoping Central Kentuckians will save the date for an upcoming play that marries over-the-top comedy with some thought-provoking themes.
Fans of the campy characters from small-town Texas in the cult favorite ”Sordid Lives” will have a chance to catch them brought to life on a Lexington stage this month in ActOut Theatre Group’s production of “A Very Sordid Wedding.”
ActOut, which is dedicated to exploring LGBTQ+ themes through its productions, is bringing the comedy by actor, director and writer Del Shores to the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center.
The show is set in 2015, just after the Supreme Court decision protecting the right to same-sex marriage, and the town of Winters, Texas, is having difficulty accepting this new reality as the son of one of the town’s most popular citizens plans a gay wedding.
In an interesting twist, the play is directed by Marcus Roland, who was one of the first people in Fayette County to take advantage of the new marriage protections when the Supreme Court issued its decision on June 26, 2015. Roland and his husband, Scott Shive, were the first same-sex couple in line for a marriage license that day and were married just hours later.
Roland, an attorney who has been active in Lexington’s theater scene for decades, said his real-life experience “played into the appeal of the play.”
“That certainly wasn’t lost on me,” he said.
“The play is wacky, silly and often bizarre but at its heart, it’s confronting real issues that face the LGBTQ+ community,” Roland said in a news release.
“Pretty much no stone is unturned by Del Shores,” Roland said in a recent interview. “There’s homophobia. Racism is an issue, equality. ... He makes fun of any number of groups. People from religious backgrounds, fundamentalist backgrounds, probably would be taken aback.”
He said there’s ageism as one character is dismissed, and another character who is an alcoholic gets poked fun at.
“There’s fat-shaming in the play. That was really difficult for me to approach,” Roland said. “It’s been a learning process. ... The closer you get to a play, the more you work with it, the more layers there are.”
The show is a sequel to “Sordid Lives,” which debuted as a stage play in 1996 in Los Angeles.
The “Sordid Lives” movie, released in 2000, featured a star-studded cast that included Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke, Beau Bridges and Leslie Jordan, who attended the University of Kentucky before going on to a long acting career.
“It kind of brought Leslie Jordan onto the world stage,” Roland said.
ActOut performed “Sordid Lives” in 2003, with Darrell Maines in the role of Brother Boy, the same role Jordan originated. Now, Maines is back to portray the Tammy Wynette-obsessed drag queen again.
“When I was a theater major in college, I never thought comedy was relevant to me and never felt I was able to bring comedic characters to life,” Maines said in a news release. “ActOut has blessed me with characters I never thought I could play. And in light of our current political climate, those parts are that much more important to me.”
In addition to “Sordid Lives,” ActOut has produced another Shores show, “Southern Baptist Sissies,” in 2005, both of which were sold out performances.
The “Sordid Lives” concept became a television series in 2008, and“A Very Sordid Wedding” was first released as a movie in 2017 before being adapted for the stage in 2021.
When ActOut received an email from Shores several years ago announcing the availability of the play, Roland said the group added it to its list of future shows to produce.
“Our audiences have always loved the Del Shores shows that we have staged in our 26-year history,” ActOut board president and founding member Terry Mullins said in the news release.
“We like the message. It’s funny. It has that ‘Sordid Lives’ cult relationship,” Roland said, though he said newcomers to the series will have no problem jumping in on “Sordid Wedding” without having seen its predecessor.
Staging the play involves a lot of moving parts, as Roland said it’s written much like a movie script.
There are 36 scenes, 18 in each act, and this is the largest cast he’s ever directed, with 19 actors playing about 30 roles.
The cast includes several names that may be known to local theater-goers, including Donna Ison, Jonathan Hall, Kyle Wade and Uma Jewels, as well as several newcomers, some of whom are driving in from surrounding areas to be a part of the show.
“It’s very much an ensemble piece,” Roland said.
ActOut Theatre Group’s production of “A Very Sordid Wedding” runs July 12-13 and July 19-21.
Tickets are available online, by calling 859-425-2550 or by visiting the box office at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center.
