Photos: David Dean Bottrell's TEENAGE WASTELAND to Premiere at Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival
The concert film, directed by Karina Padron, was shot live at Dixon Place in New York City.
David Dean Bottrell's solo storytelling show TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen is coming to the big screen, with the concert film making its world premiere at Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival on Saturday, September 26 at 7:30 PM.
Filmed live before an audience at New York City's Dixon Place, TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen captures Bottrell's acclaimed off-Broadway performance. The film is directed by Karina Padron.
In TEENAGE WASTELAND, Bottrell revisits the years of adolescence—ages thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. Through a collection of true stories, Bottrell explores growing up in small town America, coming of age, queer identity, shame, desire and self-acceptance.
Iconic playwright and performer Charles Busch calls Bottrell 'the real deal,' adding: 'David Dean Bottrell's latest solo theater piece about coming of sexual age in the evangelical South is a tour de force of brilliant storytelling. Hilarious and heartbreaking.'
Bottrell is known to television audiences for his acting career, including recent appearances on Apple TV's series Widow's Bay, in which he played the Reverend Collins. He has also played guest star and recurring roles on television series including Boston Legal, True Blood, Mad Men, Justified, Bones, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Days of Our Lives, Rectify and iCarly. His book, Working Actor, is published by Penguin Random House.
TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen originally premiered in 2025 off Broadway, playing to audiences both in New York and on tour. The concert film preserves the energy and immediacy of the live performance while bringing Bottrell's storytelling to a wider audience.
'I'm so thrilled that TEENAGE WASTELAND is having it's world premier at Cinema Diverse,' says Bottrell. 'The live version played to a sold-out crowd at the Revolution Theatre in Palm Springs last year. The city has such wonderful, supportive audiences so I'm especially excited to share this film with them! I hope everyone will come to the screening on September 26!'
Screening Information
TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Saturday, September 26, 2026 — 7:30 PM
Runtime: 80 minutes
Directed by: Karina Padron
Starring: David Dean Bottrell
Tickets and festival information: Palm Springs Cultural Center
About Teenage Wasteland: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
An 80-minute concert film filmed live at New York City's Dixon Place, TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen is David Dean Bottrell's journey through the terrain of adolescence. Combining humor with vulnerability, Bottrell revisits the people, places, humiliations and revelations that shaped him.
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