Every year the folks down with the Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project put on a “Prelude to Pride” show with the help of the American Stage Theatre Company. This consists of doing a big send up or parody of a Hollywood classic. They have done hits like Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz and All About Eve.
“This year we were planning to do a spoof on Mommie Dearest,” says local performer Matthew McGee. “But we kept coming back to The Golden Girls, because even though it is an ’80s sitcom, it is so beloved by a young audience now as well as those of us who grew up with the show. It’s got this huge generational appeal.”
McGee is best known for playing Patti, the mother-half of the mother/son cabaret duo in The Scott & Patti Show, and works closely with American Stage, more recently seen donning the housedress of Edna Turnblad in the theater’s park performance of Hairspray.
“I teach a class at a university in Tampa Bay and I posed the question to the class,” McGee says. “‘How many of you know of the film Mommie Dearest?’ And only a few people raised their hands. Then I asked, “How many people know The Golden Girls?’ And every one of them raised their hands. Then I went to Target and I saw Golden Girls t-shirts, Funko Pop action figures of the girls, re-runs are on every channel, there’s a restaurant in New York themed after The Golden Girls. I thought, ‘We need to do this.'”
McGee pitched the idea to Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project founder Garry Allan Breul and after getting his enthusiastic approval and signing on to direct, the show, called The Golden Gurlz Live, was born. Golden Gurlz Live will be a parody of some “lost” episodes filled with memorable Golden Girls moments and some very special guests.
“When I started to gather material, I thought, ‘Let’s talk about the gay moments that have been on the show throughout its run and turn those moments into a ‘Do you remember that time?’ episode,” McGee says. “That’s the first act. In the second act the girls have come to St Petersburg to put on a telethon to raise money for Metro.”
Just as with The Golden Gurlz‘s fictional telethon, proceeds from the actual show go to benefit Metro Wellness.
The show will feature not just the four leads, all played by men, but many of the recurring characters you remember from the six seasons of The Golden Girls.
“I have always had a Bea Arthur look whenever I do drag so I was a natural Dorothy,” McGee says. “Then Scott Daniel from The Scott & Patti Show, I got him involved to be Blanche because I know he can sell that.”
The talented performer Joey Panek joins the cast as the lovable naive Rose and Emanuel Carrero, the youngest actor of the group, plays the oldest of the quartet, Sophia.
“It’s funny how that worked out because Estelle Getty, who played Sophia on the television show, was the oldest character but she was the youngest actress of the four,” McGee says. “So people asked us if we found a little old man to play Sophia, and we thought this turned out to be a fun parallel to the show.”
McGee also enlisted the help of writer T. Scott Wooten to pen parodies of some of the best ’80s TV commercials, including gems like “this is your brain on drugs” and “time to make the doughnuts.”
Tampa Bay’s “Music Man” Michael Raabe is on board as the music director and will be playing the familiar opening credits as well as the intros into each scene.
“It’s going to be like watching an actual live broadcast of the show,” McGee says. “We have a cast of 21 amazing performers who will not only be playing all sorts of characters from the show but also characters from pop culture and the commercials. There’s even a Magic Mike moment.”
If you haven’t ever seen an episode of The Golden Girls (if any such person exists out there) have no worries, McGee says you will still be able to follow the show.
“If you love men running around dressed up as older woman and throwing digs at each other, then you’re in the right place. You don’t even need to know The Golden Girls,” he says. “If you do know The Golden Girls it is safe to say there will be plenty of Easter eggs for you to look out for. I tried to throw in as many as I could.”
The Golden Gurlz Live makes its stage debut at American Stage June 19 and a second show plays June 26, with a possible extension. Before the show, there will also be a Golden Girls-inspired art auction with pieces created by some of Tampa Bay’s best artists. Proceeds raised go to Metro Wellness.
