See ‘Sordid Lives’ on Hammond stage

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The cast of "Sordid Lives" includes: Andrea Creasbaum of Highland, Ind.; Tim Murray of Valparaiso, Ind.; Rip Johnson of Dyer, Ind.; Don Taylor of Hammond, Ind.; and Kim Bernstein of Merrillville. | Photo Provided

Updated: March 11, 2012 8:11AM

Del Shores loves to skewer Southern stereotypes.
The Hammond Community Theatre’s production of his play “Sordid Lives” is no exception.

“I like comedies geared toward an adult audience,” said director Dale Kelley. “Especially if the humor is dark and just a little off the wall.”

Shores, the author of “Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got the Will?)” and “Southern Baptist Sissies” has found his greatest success with “Sordid Lives.”

“Sordid Lives” was made into a film in 2000 and ran one season as a series on the LOGO station in 2008 with a cast that featured Olivia Newton-John, Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea and Jason Dottley.

The play revolves around a family converging for its matriarch’s funeral in Texas.

The family includes a mother who is wound tightly and in denial about her gay son, a barfly singer at the local watering hole, a cheating heart whose wooden legs accidentally aid in the death the family matriarch, the cheating heart’s wife who tries her hand at revenge therapy inspired by “Thelma & Louise” and her best friend.

The eccentric characters that fill Shores’ plays are a big part of the attraction for actors, but the scripts also explore universal human issues.

“While parts of the show are wild, fun, crazy and bizarre, it is a wonderful humorous look at various forms of intolerance and how they are overcome,” said Bonnie Johnson, an actor in the play.

Patti Shaffner is acting in “Sordid Lives” while recovering from knee replacement surgery. Kelley pulled her into the role of Bitsy Mae because of her acting ability and because she can sing and play guitar, but country music is not exactly her forte.

“I am a jazz singer typically, and Bitsy is a hard-core country singer, so the style was less of a fit,” Shaffner said. “In fact, I’ve written a song titled, ‘I Don’t Do Country’ after failed attempts to write for that market.”

Bitsy Mae has turned out to be a bit of musical therapy though, and Shaffner said the role has helped her learn some new tunes.

“The most fun has been learning to sing these songs and hymns in a country style and dig a little deeper to find the south Texas gal that Bitsy Mae is,” she said.

The cast of “Sordid Lives” includes Shaffner, Johnson, Nikko Elliott, Adrianne Bacavis, Kim Bernstein, Andrea Creasbaum, Don Taylor, Rip Johnson, Tim Murray, Bridget Barnett Choe, Jon Fetsch and Wayne Puchkors.

“My challenge was finding and selecting the right actors,” Kelley said. “The play is very much an ensemble piece and the group had to fit together as a family group and their friends.”