Men about towns

Jason Dottley and Del Shores are happy making Dallas their second home

STEVEN LINDSEY  | Contributing Writer
stevencraiglindsey@me.com

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NATION OF JASON
The Rose Room at Station 4,
3911 Cedar Springs Road.
June 17. Doors open at 9 p.m.

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Hollywood has had more than its fair share of powerful couples. Bennifer. Brangelina. Tomkat.

And now, Delson?

Yep, Del Shores and Jason Dottley are gay, they’re in love and they’re diversely talented. And they seem to have made Dallas almost a second home.

“I love Dallas so much, I listed it twice in an article on my favorite places in the South that I did for a gay travel site,” Dottley says.

“We have great friends here and always stay with our friends Patrick and Kevin. Texas will always be my home state and Dallas has adopted me and treated me like a star and a friend,” adds Shores, who grew up in Winters, Texas, and sets most of his plays in the Lone Star State.

Both stay incredibly busy. Between them, they have nearly every entertainment segment covered: singer, actor, dancer, playwright, producer, director, screenwriter, activist and standup comic. Throw in craft services and they’ll never want for work again.

Shores gave the world a comedy classic with Sordid Lives, a play-turned-movie-turned-TV-series-turned-live-comedy-show that has practically become the writer’s alter ego. Then there are his other plays and movies, like the upcoming 2012 release of the movie version of his tragicomedy The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, as well as plans to turn his latest critically acclaimed play, Yellow, into a film.

For husband Dottley — whom Shores married first in 2003 and then again (legally) in 2008 prior to passage of Proposition 8 — acting in Shores’ projects is only one of his occupations. Pop music is keeping him busier than ever; his first single, “Party Round the World” with Debby Holiday, brought him a Billboard Top 20 record. He followed up with “Hit Play!,” which broke into the Top 30. He’s performed both in Dallas.

Now, he’s making it a threefer. This week, his latest single, “Pop It,” dropped and will certainly be one of the songs he performs as part of his Nation of Jason tour at Station 4 on Friday.

Tonight is just the beginning of a full summer for Shores and Dottley, who will be touring again together: Shores with his new show, Del Shores Sordid Confessions (booked for July 8 in the Rose Room), and Dottley with Nation of Jason.

For anyone looking to catch either star while they’re in town, there’s a certain diner that is a pretty sure bet, as it’s on both of their short lists for favorite places to eat.

“Lucky’s, every time,” Dottley says. “Same dish: chicken fried chicken. I don’t even have to say it, they just know.”

For Shores, favorite hangouts include “The Rose Room and the Round-Up. And I like The Tin Room for a not-so-guilty pleasure. I gave up guilt,” he says. “Uptown [Players] is always a treat.”

“Oh, and anywhere Krystal Summers is performing,” Dottley adds.

If he’s lucky, he won’t have to go far, as Summers is a regular cast member at the Rose Room where Dottley performs tonight.

“My Nation of Jason tour is eye-candy mixed with hot music and a sense of old-school style that I think has been lost on club culture. It’s fun. It should make you feel good about life, to make you wanna dance!” he says.

Shores has been tap dancing a bit himself these days — only not onstage. First there was the bitter fight with the Logo network over residuals from the Sordid Lives series, which left heartbroken fans yearning for a second season that will never be. (There appears to be a happy ending though: He is already talking about doing more Sordid Lives movies, and the experience provided grist for his standup routine.)

He also engaged Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield (“What an asshole, right?” Shores says plainly), who sponsored a bill preventing the discussion of homosexuality in schools, in a war of words on Facebook, challenging the politician to a debate and calling him a coward when he tried to wiggle out. And he’s currently on a crusade against gay Republicans.

“Oh, and I can rant, can’t I?” Shores laughs. “Let’s just say that the Log Cabin Republicans and I are not loving each other lately. I challenged the [Dallas Chapter] president, Rob Schlein, to a debate here in Dallas. I wanted to charge and give all the money to the cause of our choice — mine was Youth First Texas. He would write nasty comments on my fan page, but was too chickenshit to debate me on the topic: ‘How Can You Support Gay Rights and be a Republican?’ It’s appalling the anti-gay rhetoric in the Texas GOP platform. I don’t get it.”

Rants aside, the meat and potatoes of his life is supporting Dottley, and vice versa. Dottley has booked the first date for his debut one-man show at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco: XXX: My First 30 Years … Get Your Mind Outta the Gutter (he hopes to bring it to Dallas eventually, too). And Shores has more irons in the fire beyond pissing off the political right wing in this country.

“I pursue my writing and directing, Jason his acting and singing and we work our asses off to make everything work!” Shores says. ”And we love it still.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 17, 2011.