Picture it: Miami. 2024. The Golden Girls are still up and at ’em. Sophia’s out on bail, naturally. The DEA busted her for running a drug ring for retirees. Meanwhile, Blanche and Rose have founded a dating app for seniors that’s doing quite well (of course); it’s even landed Dorothy her current beau, who just so happens to be Sophia’s prosecuting attorney. Sounds about right, doesn’t it? The cast of Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue seem to think so.
The parody show, done completely in drag, will take over the Orpheum’s stage on Thursday, March 28th. “I like to say it’s like meeting an old friend in a new place, with all the ingredients you know,” says Vince Kelley, who plays Blanche. “We got the taglines, we got the ‘picture its,’ but we’re talking about cell phones and apps and all this stuff from today.
“So it’s fun because the show was so in its time,” Kelley continues. “They were so quick on the references; something would happen in the news and they’d be talking about it on the show in the next two weeks. We like to embrace that as well. The show is never the same twice; if there’s something going on in the world, we’re going to find a way to bring it into the world of The Golden Girls for that night.”
Kelley says The Golden Girls was a fixture in his household growing up. “I remember being like 5, 6, 7, and my grandma would watch it all the time and I used to call it the ‘old lady show.’ ‘Oh, are we gonna watch the old lady show?’ And then when Nick at Nite was big and they started putting them in syndication, I was just obsessed, watched every episode. … [But] you can only watch every episode so many times, so [this show] is like getting to experience something new.”
For Kelley, choosing to play Blanche was a no-brainer. “She doesn’t take herself too seriously at all. She doesn’t mind being a bit of a joke and she had the best clothes, so that was a big draw for me,” he says. “If I had to pick a second it would be Sophia just because she doesn’t filter. I’m not quite there yet. When I’m old enough to play Blanche, then I can finally play Sophia.”
Kelley goes on to say, “You find different times in your life that you’ll relate to different characters. It’s part of the reason that people in the LGBTQ community are so drawn to them. They’re just these four big over-the-top, powerhouse comedians.”
While this show might not be the cable-friendly Golden Girls (“It’s like The Golden Girls if they moved to HBO,” Kelley says), the cast have strived to stay true to their characters. “When we come on stage, we’re just here to have a good time,” Kelley says. “And I think the spirit of the Golden Girls helps us through that every night. … We know that they would be like 100 percent on board with what we’ve come up with.”