The Golden Girls: The
Christmas Episodes 2017
D’Arcy Drollinger & Matthew Martin, Directors
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| Matthew Martin, Heklina, D'Arcy Drollinger & (in front) Holotta Tymes |
There are many ‘only-in-SF’ traditions all year round,
including during the holidays. The
Embarcadero buildings light up to be seen from Marin County to Oakland. SantaCon (which originated in SF in 1994)
sees thousands of Santas in various arrays of costume (and not) trolling the
bars. Christmas trees tap dance at Beach Blanket Babylon, and sold-out
crowds return yet again to A.C.T. for The
Christmas Carol (as they have for decades).
And as they have since 2011, packed crowds of 500+ flock to Victoria
Theatre to see four men in drag bring the house down howling with laughter in
their love-filled tribute to Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia -- this year
simply entitled The Golden Girls: The
Christmas Episodes 2017.
As someone who was lucky enough in 2006 to stumble into one
of the first, mostly verbatim episodes of the local Golden Girls in a living room parlor on Hayes Street (with a
standing-room only crowd of maybe thirty or so), I have been a huge, year-in,
year-out fan of these live reruns of one of my (and most everyone else’s)
all-time favorite TV sitcoms. It did not
take long for then-producers, Heklina and Cookie Dough, to expand their offerings
beyond Pride into the December holidays.
Most of the month of December is now where the annual production has
found what seems a permanent time-slot home with literally thousands of loyal
fans coming annually -- many who come in their own versions of ‘ugly’
Christmas sweaters, skirts, and dresses (both men and women, of course).
Because there were not really that many Christmas episodes
made with the girls in their Miami home, Directors D’Arcy Drollinger and
Matthew Martin have chosen two wonderfully delightful, non-holiday episodes and
plopped them into the four roommates’ house that has been decorated with fully
lighted tree, ample garland, and holiday trinkets galore – all part of the
elaborate set design of Hector Zavala that will look familiar and please any
long-time, die-hard fan of The Golden
Girls. The first half of this year’s
offerings has a parallel storyline, first with Dorothy going on a blind-date
with a man suffering from depression but evidently not having any trouble when
it comes to the bedroom. While she is
coming home in the early mornings exhausted but with a big smile on her face
(but always hungry because there is never any time to eat), Rose and Blanche
are spending time in the “Be a Pal” program to be ‘big sisters’ of sorts to two
wayward teen girls – and where they land as a result of a shopping trip with the
two is not where they had planned! Guest
stars Michael Phillis and Manuel Caneri are Jackie and Marla, two girls doting
on Blanche’s lessons on how to be sexy and planning on the side how to repay
big-time the generosity of their new big-sisters.
The second half of the evening has Rose leading a
neighborhood campaign to save a 200-year old pine tree, but the cranky
octogenarian on whose property it is wants only to allow the city to remove it
and pave over the yard for an expanded lane in the street. Michael Phillis is
hilarious as the wicked old witch, Mrs. Claxton, who has a surprise to end all
surprises when she finally gets sweet Rose fully riled in righteous anger.
Each of the four principal actors reprises his annual role
with a seasoned exactness of his original Golden Girl that is uncanny in every
respect (as well as of course absolutely hilarious). Each captures the voice; the expressions; the
walk; and the overall snappy, snippy, and/or sexy attitudes his girl requires. Each drag star only has to appear on the
stage; and she is met with loud, thunderous waves of laughs and applause. Often those guffaws come not only because of
the impersonations but also in because of the fifty or so costumes created by
Glenn Krumbholz. Those dresses, pant suits,
nightgowns/robes, etc. are themselves worth the price of the ticket; and the
big shame is that Mr. Krumbholz is not present to get a much-deserved standing
ovation at evening’s end.
D’Arcy Drollinger is the ringy-dingy-in-the-head Rose
Nylund; and his Rose knows how to look as if out-to-lunch when others’ comments
go over her head, how to tell a St. Olaf tall-tale with full-face belief, and
how to win everyone’s love with her big, Iowa-born heart. As Blanche Devereaux, Matthew Martin can turn
on the Blanche-iconic sexy, seductive looks and poses that send the house into
spasms; and she knows how to hold the pregnant pause just long enough to keep
attention and spotlight on her Blanche as long as possible.
Heklina is larger than life as Dorothy Zbornak (both due to
her own body size and all the puffed hair that Becky Motorlodge has created for
her wig). She moves in like a Viking
Moving Van but always with style and grace; and she has that Dorothy nasal
voice and those rolled eyes and looks of ‘who me?’ that Bea Arthur made so
famous. Holotto Tymes stepped into the
role of Dorothy’s pipsqueak-of-a-mom after the original, Cookie Dough, died
tragically in 2015. Her Sophia Petrillo
has a huge presence in her petite body as she growls and grumps at everyone and
has a cynical retort that often is full of truth-telling in unsolicited response
to almost anything the others might say (especially Rose).
Together, these Golden Girls are both great replicas of the
original while adding many of their own drag-queen touches and flairs that make
them totally unique.
While the well-known theme song (always sung in full-voice
by many of the audience members) still introduces each segment and its pieces,
the one thing I miss from the original, local episodes by this troupe is the
recordings of vintage TV ads they used to play during the commercial
breaks. Replacing them in this holiday
version is Tom Shaw leading the crowd from his piano and in this Santa Hat in
number after number of holiday standards.
Because there are so many commercial breaks in those original episodes,
the sing-a-long begins to lose some thrill and muster as the evening
progresses; but kudos for Mr. Shaw for never shedding his big smile and huge
dose of Christmas cheer.
And while I dare not give away the ending of Episode 1,
Sophia steals the show in a way that is not to be missed and will be an image
long remembered from this year’s version of The
Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes 2017.
Can’t wait until next December and Episodes
2018!
Rating: 3.5 E
The Golden Girls: The
Christmas Episodes 2017 continues
Thursday – Saturdays, 8 p.m. through December 23, 2017 at the Victoria Theatre,
2961 16th Street, San Francisco.
Tickets are available online at https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1550413-golden-girls-christmas-san-francisco/
or http://www.victoriatheatre.org/index.php/box-office.
Photo: Mr Pam
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