PICTURE IT: MIAMI, 1985, AGAIN, BUT WITH SINGING
When Bea Arthur initially gave a firm “No” to participating in the 80s sit-com The Golden Girls, she nearly denied millions of soon-to-be loyal fans 180 episodes of endearing, quotable, tremendously-funny memories. Thankfully, with a not-so-minor change in the roles (reversing Betty White and Rue McClanahan’s casting), Bea was intrigued again and television history was made.
The writing was so good that it’s no wonder the series is constantly streaming as two more generations have gotten to know the three aging roommates: hard-edged Dorothy, sex-crazed Blanche, and dippy, sweet Rose, plus Dorothy’s cantankerous elderly mother Sophia. Its endurance makes it ripe for parody and what better outlandishness than a set of musical, drag, fictionalized episodes to do so?
A threesome of roommates first appeared at RuPaul’s DragCon NYC 2017, and then at the famed Rue-La-Rue Café in Washington Heights, New York, as The Golden Gays, who went on to perform sold-out engagements Off-Broadway, after which they set their sights on touring across the country. Coming up at The Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, The Golden Gays will be presenting their holiday version, The Golden Gays: Thank Yule for Being a Friend, which runs December 12-22, 2024.
The company players have changed over time but the current company includes three professional actors who use their talents to bring choreography and three-part harmonies to their plots in ways that original scriptwriter Susan Harris probably never dreamed lay ahead 30+ years after the last episode was filmed. Casts vary internationally; at Diversionary’s Yule show this month, you’ll get to enjoy Jason B. Schmidt as The Dorothy, Joseph Allen “Sunshine” Harter as The Rose, and Matthew Tierney as The Blanche. Who will play Sophia? It’s not much of a spoiler to say that someone in the audience gets to play Sophia, adding to the delightful silliness of the show. They call it #TokenSophia.
The plot of the show is described by the team as this: Before traveling to spend the Holidays with their families, Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose participate in a golden gift exchange full of hilarious surprises. Just as they get to the airport a winter storm blows in, leaving them trapped! In an unexpected Charles Dickens twist of events, the three grannies must visit their past, present, and future to save Christmas (and find Sophia) just in time for turkey lurkey.
Expectations of loyal fans are high and the actors know this. The actors take seriously getting into character because of their commitment to what they’re doing. They blend their theatre backgrounds with a great deal of research into what it is to be each Golden Girl, creating somewhat exaggerated, almost animated-like versions of the fabulous Golden Girls that we all know and love, but extra bold to match the drag version with a hint of parody.
Co-founder Andy Crosten, who first played the seductive Blanche Devereaux, adds, “We’re all actors first and foremost with acting training. We like to use the term “Dragctor” because we’re not a drag queen and not an actor, we’re a dragctor. We’re portraying the women, you know. I don’t think of myself as Rue McClanahan in my off time. I like to be Andy, living a boy life, once in a while, when I have a minute off.”
In addition to this holiday production, The Golden Gays also offer Golden Girls Drag Brunch or Drag Night, Bea Arthur Drags Bingo, Beatrice Arthur: Astral Dame (musical), Beatrice Arthur: Holi-Dame (holiday musical), Bea Arthur is Judging You (stand-up), and a game show format called The Golden Games and Hot Flashbacks, their primary offering outside December.
See a CNN interview with the three stars:
The Golden Gays: Thank Yule for Being a Friend
Diversionary Theatre
4545 Park Boulevard #101 in University Heights
December 12-22, 2024
Thurs at 7; Fri and Sat at 8; Sun at 2
for tickets, call 619.220.0097 or visit Diversionary
for more info, visit The Golden Gays
