a play by John Patrick Trapper, & directed by Sean Riley
"Miami, Miami... you got style! Blue sky, sunshine, white sand by the mile!" Any true Golden Girls fan can recognize this jingle in a heart beat and being as how I have an 'x' amount of episodes DVR'd at home, I most definitely fall in to this category. Needless to say when I heard of this play about 4 gay men whom are so obsessed with the GG's they move to Miami to live their lives as the golden quartet, it instantly peeked my interest. Will the actors be able to capture and simulate the very characteristics that have come to define Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia? Will the play have it's own original and unique feel instead of being a complete GG replica on stage? I sat back, grabbed my glass of wine, and prepared myself to travel down the road and back again on a wild ride through the delusional minds of these four men in drag.
The play, written and produced by John Patrick Trapper, was humorous to say the least, but it's shining moments revolved around the characters of Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose. Guy Windsor's portrayal of the bed-hopping, man-loving, Blanche Devereaux was borderline excellence. Brian Rohan, and Kevin Fabian also won high marks for their hysterical interpretations of the bitchy, smart-ass Dorothy, and the dim-witted Rose. One disappointment, however, was the portrayal of Sophia Petrillo played by Marc Segal. At times the drag Sophia seemed out of place and by play's end the chemistry with the other GG's was totally lacking. Another character I found a bit baffling was the therapist Dr. Greenberg, played by Donna Pieroni. The 4 men seek her assistance in an attempt to understand their obsession with the GG's but it turns out Dr. Greenberg has her own addiction to different TV personas, one being Florence from The Jeffersons. This was a bit too much to take in. Pieroni's character came off underwhelming and overreaching in her relevance to the play. I feel she would have been the most affective in a more limited role.
A final critique (whewww!) I must dish out is in regards to Act II. Act I did an amazing job at setting up the characters, who they are, what they're about, and why they associate so much with the Girls, but Act II was a bit... shall I say... hooo hummm. Act II had the actors going through the motions, reenacting some of the GG's best scenes word for word. But as one theatre audience member put it, "I wish there was more originality in the second act. I have the seasons on DVD at home. If I wanted to see the scenes reenacted this way I could have stayed home, put on a wig, and done it myself." Ouch! But I must agree. Act I showed genuine originality, and even allowed the actors to ad lib from time to time with great success. But because Act II required the characters to replicate the scenes verbatim, it toned down the overall potential of the play.
The saving grace of the play, however, was the interaction between Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose. I found myself LOL every time these three took the stage and that is where I give this play it's highest marks. If you're looking for a humorous way to spend an evening in an intimate, and up-close setting then grab a pal and a confidant and head to the Meta Theatre on Melrose in LA and treat yourself to The Golden Gays. For pure laughs this one is hard to beat!
Toñito's Rating: B -
-Antonio Xzavier Garcia
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WHAT: "The Golden Gays," written by John Patrick Trapper. Directed by Sean Riley.
WHO: Starring Guy Windsor, Brian Rohan, Kevin Fabian, Marc Segal, Donna Pieroni, and Nick Denning.
WHERE: The Meta Theatre, 7801 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, Calif.
WHEN: Plays for a limited time, evenings, Fri-Sun.
LINK/TIX: http://www.thegoldengays.com/
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