Fabulous Flashback: Del Shores and Leslie Jordan Reunite for Encore Theatrical Season (Originally published in December, 2005)

By Nicholas Snow

Most readers of this story will undoubtedly know about the longtime collaboration between playwright Del Shores and actor Leslie Jordan, who are joining members of their resurrected company for a “Season of Shores” to mark the 50th anniversary of the Zephyr Theatre on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. A Season of Shores opens with Southern Baptist Sissies January 6th and Sordid Lives opens January 27th. Jordan will be in both shows through February 12th excluding all matinees and excluding any performance January 19th through the 22nd.

What Would Sharyn Do?

Interestingly, the most important character in the story about the prolific collaboration between Leslie Jordan and Del Shores is neither Leslie nor Del. In fact, it could very well be said that neither Leslie or Del—as immensely talented as they each are—would be experiencing the lives they have today without having known and loved Sharyn Lane who died of pancreatic cancer last year at the age of 55. Lane produced Southern Baptist Sissies and yes, both the stage and screen productions of Sordid Lives, now destined for television on the LOGO network.

“I miss Sharyn,” said Del. “This is really, really hard actually for me to do these without her, but I thought it would be a good way to pay homage to her and her love for us and the theater. She loved this play more than any of them,” said Del about …Sissies. This was her favorite child.” “I lived next door to Sharyn until she passed away,” explained Del. “I mean Sharyn and I were well beyond Will & Grace. I was with her every day, every single day. Every single night I went over. I was there when she died.”
Leslie Jordan visited Sharyn one day during her final months to perform part of his one-man show—Like a Dog on Linoleum. “She wanted to see it,” said Leslie. “So Del said, ‘well, why don’t you come over and do part of it for her.’ Oh my gosh, I hadn’t seen her in a long time. It was so hard.”

“…There was a portion of it that had to do with his friend dying,” explained Del about Leslie’s Play, “then all of a sudden Leslie realized that he was censoring, but you know what… I remember her truly laughing that day, you know. Sharyn loved Leslie’s work. She thought Leslie was the funniest man alive, which is right. Anyway, she’s missed. We miss her a lot.”

What did Del learn from the loss of his dear friend?

“I think it taught me—you’re going to make me cry if we keep talking about this,” said Del, “but I think it taught me to guard relationships a little more carefully because you really don’t know how long you have somebody… She was the healthiest person I knew. She didn’t smoke. She didn’t drink. She ran every day. She was 55 years old and she looked 40. She always said, ‘I was the good girl.’ It was like driving down PCH and somebody just broad-siding her,” explained Del about Lane’s diagnosis. “So, I realized how fragile life is.”

So much of what Del’s life is today can be attributed to Sharyn.

“Sharyn actually taught me something way before she got sick about career and life and projects to choose,” said Del. “I was working on the awful show called Marshall Law… I don’t know why they put me on it, but the money was good. I was talking to her one day about writing for these people… She said, ‘Honey, you’ve got to stop doing this. You have to do what you love.’ And I said, ‘yea, but you know, I have a big overhead. There’s money. You know. I got to keep making the money. We all do.’ And she said, ‘I’ll be your net. Don’t ever worry about money again. I will be your net.’” And she was.

“She taught me that you have to do what you love,” said Del. “The Southerners have this saying ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ They wear these bracelets, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’” I say, ‘What would Sharyn do?’ Both Del and Leslie agree that Sharyn would launch A Season of Shores, and in many ways she did.

Beyond Will & Grace

Yes, Leslie will be on an episode of NBC’s Will & Grace on January 5th in his recurring role as Beverly Leslie—he finally gets a scene with Jack, portrayed by Sean Hayes. Leslie is also set to appear on the show January 12th when it is broadcast live, once at 5:30 p.m. PST for the East Coast, and again at 8:30 p.m. PST for the West Coast. But perhaps the most exciting news for Leslie and his fans is that Harry Bloodworth-Thomason (who wrote Designing Women with his wife and writing partner, Linda) is producing a concert film of Jordan’s Like A Dog on Linoleum. And there’s more, as Linda Bloodworth-Thomason has a role in mind for Leslie in a series she’s developing with HBO.

It occurs to me that because of Leslie’s close association with the Bloodworth-Thomasons, Jordon is only two degrees of separation from both a former and a future President of the United States, Bill & Hillary. Gee, perhaps Like a Dog on Linoleum will be performed at the White House one day. As it is, Leslie will be performing his one-man show in Atlanta in March, April and May, and in San Francisco for June, July and August. “…As an actor this is amazing—I’m booked the next eight months and that doesn’t even include any TV stuff I may get,” exuded Leslie. “…I am right now artistically satiated. I am happier than I have ever been. I am so content in my skin with who I am and what I am that it’s a real good time. It’s a good time to be gay. It’s a good time to be me.”

I asked, “Are those interchangeable?” “No. I don’t think so,” he replied with a big laugh.”

While Leslie has many opportunities on the horizon, he’s not turning any of them down.

“I had an interesting talk with Sean Hayes about, you know, ‘where do you go from here?” explained Leslie. “You know, he’s had this huge career. And I said, ‘Well, you’re producing now.’ And he hit the nail on the head and he said, ‘But you know what? You’ve got to have ten plates spinning to get one.’ You know, that’s just the way this business works. You just got to have all sorts of irons in the fire…”

In The Beginning There Was…

“Oh my god,” said Leslie. “Del Shores gave me my first equity gig, my first stage gig—as was his first equity gig. We took off to Kansas City to the Tiffany’s Attic to do his first play, Cheatin’. I was making $165 a week. He was making $165 a week for acting, $50 a night for writing, and we thought it didn’t get any better. I can remember at some point looking at him and saying, ‘It just doesn’t get any better than this.’ He ended up getting married there in Kansas City. I was the witness.”

As time went on, Del wrote the role of Brother Boy in Sordid Lives specifically for Leslie. “We opened Sordid Lives at what is now the Greyhound bus station at Hollywood and Cahuenga,” said Leslie.

Let me be the first to tell the diehard Sordid Lives fans out there what I coaxed out of Del, probably against his attorney’s advice, about the upcoming TV version.

“To return to these characters, I’m backing the story way up…the day Tammy Wynette dies is when it starts. You know, and Brother Boy is a mess in the pilot…”

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