Back in 2008 I read a news article saying that film maker, Del Shores, was writing and directing a television series that served as a prequel to his cult classic, Sordid Lives. At that point, I had never heard of either Mr. Shores or Sordid Lives.

Little did I know what would result when I did.

My roommate at the time had seen the film, so we set out to watch the series -- each with a different perspective. From the very first episode, I fell in love with the wacky, raucus characters with their heartfelt, real emotion. Sordid Lives knew how to walk the fine line between the absurd and the real.

I soon learned that the film and television series had been based on a play. While the series was still on the air, I found out that a local theatre, Spotlight Playhouse, was doing an informal reading as part of their Dramatic Reading Series. I jumped on that opportunity, and that led to five years of involvement with Spotlight. In that time, I served as in-house graphic designer, board member, and production designer for a number of shows. (See the Clue: The Musical and Theatre Poster sidebars on this page for examples of my work with Spotlight Playhouse.)

Although Sordid Lives: The Series was popular and was initially renewed for a second season on Logo, Producer Stanley Brooks held the show hostage by refusing to pay the actors and Mr. Shores for repeat airings of the show (which was rerun multiple times on the channel). This escalated to a lengthy legal battle where Mr. Brooks ultimately declared bankruptcy to avoid paying what he owed. This in turn doomed any hope of a second season ever airing.

It was during this uncertain time that I first reached out to Del Shores via e-mail and Facebook, offering my support. This led to intermittant chats and e-mails over the years where I started to jokingly refer to him as my guardian angel. It just seemed that every time I had writers block, I either watched one of his films, read one of his scripts, or had an e-mail volley with him, and suddenly the proverbial fog had lifted.

Flash forward to 2012 when my original play, 2&2, was rehearsing for its world premiere (and then in 2013 for its New York City premiere), Del took time to spread the word on his Facebook fan page -- a kindness for which I will always be grateful.

Throughout all of this, I really wanted to be involved with a full production of Sordid Lives (as opposed to an informal reading). In 2013, I shared a copy of the script with Quannapowitt Players' play reading committee. By the time deliberation had ended, Sordid Lives was part of its 2013-2014 season.

The above artwork was created for postcard and electronic mailings to promote the show.

In addition to creating the promotional artwork, I served as Digital Production Designer, devising projected PowerPoint backdrops for the multiple locations in the play. The slide show below illustrates examples of these backdrops.

Oh, and during the run of the show, guardian angel Del unknowingly struck again. Based on the artwork I created for the production, I got a freelance gig (Tails of Boston, which is detailed further up this page).

I hope it's not the last time he strikes.