‘That Golden Girls Show!’ a puppet paradise

‘THAT GOLDEN GIRLS SHOW! A PUPPET PARODY’: Rose, Dorothy & Blanche enjoy cheesecake. Photo: Russ Rowland

THAT GOLDEN GIRLS SHOW!
A PUPPET PARODY
Created & directed by Jonathan Rockefeller
Puppet creation & puppetry direction by Joel Gennari
Through December 31, 2016
DR2 Theatre
103 East 15th Street
800-745-3000, http://www.thatgoldengirlsshow.com/

By Scott Harrah

One doesn’t have to be a fan of “The Golden Girls,” the classic 1980s TV sitcom about four sassy older women in Miami, to appreciate this “puppet parody” of the show, but it helps.  This hilarious one act is more like a tribute to the aging best friends and roommates than a bona fide send-up because many of the classic one-liners are literally lifted from actual episodes, but nothing in creator/director Jonathan Rockefeller’s delightful puppet version is meant to be taken as serious theater.  As a puppet paean to four of TV’s most beloved comic icons, it definitely works, and is the perfect escape anyone looking for laughs this holiday season.

Many of the trademarks of the show are lovingly depicted here in David Goldstein’s kitschy set, from the gaudy 1980s pastels, floral prints and wicker furniture to the kitchen where countless cheesecakes are shared amongst the geriatric “girls.” Just like in the mega-hit Avenue Q, the puppeteers are all visible on stage, bringing the colorful characters to life. There’s, of course, quick-witted octogenarian widow Sophia (Emmanuelle Zeeman) and her dry-humored divorcée daughter Dorothy (Michael LaMasa); sex-crazed, self-absorbed Southern belle Blanche (Cat Greenfield); and simple-minded nitwit Rose (Arlee Chadwick), the lovable former Minnesotan who can’t stop telling her endless, annoying St. Olaf stories.  The only non-puppet character here is Dorothy’s “yutz” of an ex-husband, Stanley (Zach Kononov).

Much like many in the classic “Golden Girls” episodes, the plot in That Golden Girls Show! A Puppet Parody is paper-thin. Suffice it to say (without giving too much away), Stanley has returned to ex-wife Dorothy with a promise of newfound riches (a recurring storyline in the actual show).

There’s another reason to see the show other than to laugh at tried-and-true ”Golden Girls” one-liners: The amazing onstage puppetry of the gifted cast, with their exaggerated facial expressions and spot-on vocal impersonations of the real-life actresses that played the original “girls” back in the day.  The two biggest standouts are Mr. LaMasa, who replicates Bea Arthur’s inimitable, domineering Dorothy with winning zeal; and Cat Greenfield’s sultry, madcap camp take on Rue McClanahan’s over-the-top Blanche.

The show’s self-referential skewering of episodic TV and gleeful celebration of the cult following of “Golden Girls” in syndication are perhaps more solid than the production itself.  At times, it really does seem like we’re watching an extended version of several classic episodes from 30 years ago with raunchier language, but so what?  That Golden Girls Show! A Puppet Parody is so much mindless fun it deserves—like the real Bea, Rue, Betty and Estelle in syndication—to run forever.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 14, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on November 13, 2016

Scenes & outtakes from That Golden Girls Show! A Puppet Parody

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

via GIPHY