San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A feel-good show about chosen family
‘Spirit of Heklina’ provides extra mischief for drag version of classic sitcom
With wigs teased and shoulders padded, the stars of “The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes” were ready to make their entrances on the second night of the show’s nearly monthlong run at the Victoria Theatre.
For stars D’Arcy Drollinger (Rose Nylund), Matthew Martin (Blanche Devereaux), Holotta Tymes (Sophia Petrillo) and Miss Coco Peru (Dorothy Zbornak) the jitters had mostly dissipated after a successful and emotional opening night on Nov. 30. The house “The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes”: Directed by D’Arcy Drollinger. Through Dec. 23. Two hours, 20 minutes. $35-$75. Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., S.F. www.thegoldengirlslive.com
lights went down and and the stage lights came up, revealing the show’s well-known tropical living room set. But before the music could start … Blackout.
The theater unexpectedly plunged into darkness as the sound of hard rain began to pound outside. The audience began to murmur, unsure of what was happening. Backstage, the actors laughed nervously and at once, several of them uttered: “Heklina.”
The late San Francisco entertainer began the annual drag re-creation of episodes of the beloved 1980s sitcom in 2007, inspired by the show’s ongoing popularity and its themes of chosen family, which resonated strongly in the queer community. Her sudden death on April 3 in London not only shocked her friends and fans, but briefly called into question whether the show would go on without its Dorothy.
Drollinger, who is also the show’s director, quickly announced that the
holiday tradition would continue as it did following the 2015 death of drag performer Cookie Dough, who played Sophia, because she felt “The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes” is simply too important to Bay Area drag fans. (Both queens are now represented on set in a framed photo and needlework art of the characters.)
It would be just like Heklina to wait until the
cast was comfortable to stop the show with a little supernatural intervention. While a similar power outage happened before a performance in 2022, the cast said they wouldn’t put it past their former co-star to cause mischief their first year without her.
PG&E was quickly called to replace the backstage power meter while Drollinger vamped on
stage, joking that Heklina was haunting the show and thanking the sold-out crowd for their patience.
But fans in the 480-seat house didn’t seem bothered by the delay. The bar remained open in the lobby, and many who were there said the wait allowed them to catch up with friends.
“The spirit of Heklina was throwing a monkey wrench at the girls, (and) it felt appropriate,” acknowledged audience member Rafael Vallin of San Francisco. “It’s live theater, anything can happen.”
Backstage, Peru, a famed New York queen who was friends with both Heklina and Bea Arthur, the actress who originated the role of Dorothy on the television series, stood in a dark corner of the wings still very much in character, her arms folded across her chest disapprovingly as Arthur so often did during the sevenseason series.
“Well,” she told the Chronicle dryly, drawing her vowels out in a New York cadence uncannily similar to Arthur. “You wanted a story!”
More than 40 minutes later, the power was finally restored and Act 1, based on the 1991 episode “From Here to the Pharmacy,” began at last. Tymes and Peru had the first scene as mother and daughter, Sophia and Dorothy, with Sophia turning to Dorothy to say, “You look different, pussycat.”
Peru took a beat, looked into the audience, then glanced up and ad-libbed, “It’s the lighting!”
As the audience burst into laughter and applause, it seemed fears about whether the actors would still have the crowd on their side were mostly gone, Tymes later said. It was also more validation for Peru taking over the role of such a well-loved performer when for many, the pain of
Heklina’s death is still fresh.
“Last night, the line was, ‘S— happens.’ That’s so like Coco to make that line work better tonight,” Drollinger said of her co-star, channeling the bubbly
optimism of actor Betty White, who originally played Rose on the TV show.
“The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes” uses the original scripts from the 19851992
sitcom of the same name, which followed four women living together in Miami as they navigated aging, dating and friendship. But because these are drag performers, there’s also the added mugging and playing to the audience you would expect, giving the show a uniquely queer, extra self-referential layer. “The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes,” running through Dec. 23, is at once about the performance, Christmasy touches and singalongs as much as the show’s appeal is also about the fans’ relationship to the material. Many mouth the words to jokes (ticket holders are warned before the show not to ruin punchlines) after years of watching reruns of the show on TV.
The deep love of the series was evident in many ways. Some attendees even dress up as the characters, like couples
David Annicchiarico (Rose) and Stephanie Smith (Dorothy) and Brad and Michael Flynn (Sophia and Blanche, respectively). All four have been going to the show for years, saying the strong comedic writing, characters and memorable performances are what keep them coming back. It’s also a source of joy during the busy holidays, they said.
“We walked into a bar in the neighborhood earlier in the outfits and people instantly knew who we were,” said Brad Flynn. “The bartender came out and wanted to hang with us. I think the show just makes people feel good.”
Friends Sarah Lucas, Megan Corbit, Rachelle O’Brien, Natalie Nolan and Brooke Hanniford, who drove in from the North Bay, have seen the show for the past six years, and even watched the livestream in 2020
“The spirit of Heklina
was throwing a monkey wrench at the girls, (and) it felt appropriate.” Rafael Vallin, audience member,
about the blackout
during the pandemic shutdown. The women, in their 30s and 40s, were children when the sitcom originally aired. “The Golden Girls” live onstage provides an occasion to celebrate their friendship, like the characters in the series.
“It’s a universal show, it was so ahead of its time on social issues,” O’Brien said of the series, which dealt with subjects including same-sex marriage, the plight of undocumented immigrants and antisemitism. “It’s about community, and being a community at Christmas celebrating together.”
The sitcom, created by Susan Harris, has gone on to have a life in pop culture with a longevity few others have. “The Golden Girls” continues to be seen in reruns on cable television as well as streaming services like Hulu. Drag performers in other cities including New York, Los Angeles and Seattle have mounted their own live versions of the show during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, but the San Francisco production has found a unique niche by performing during the holidays.
The cast of “The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes” credits the focus on chosen family as central to its enduring appeal as well as its unique place in the LGBTQ community.
“When you listen to the comedy of it, they were just brutal to each other sometimes with the putdowns,” Drollinger explained backstage. “But that’s such gay humor, how we talk to each other when we’re close.”
“Then it’s balanced by slapstick, almost vaudeville humor,”
added Martin. “That softens it.”
By Act 2, based on the 1992 episode “Goodbye, Mr. Gordon,” the cast members had shed their anxiety about the electrical system. In the wings of the San Francisco theater, time flies in a series of quick costume changes, moving set pieces and Christmas carols — led by pianist Tom Shaw — between scenes. By the end of the performance, the cast is exhausted.
“It was a long show tonight, but here’s the deal: No one else will ever have that show,” Drollinger said to cheers during a curtain call.
The cast agreed it had been an intense night — and an intense year. They also said they couldn’t have gotten through either without one another.
Fittingly, Drollinger ended her speech with words from the sitcom’s famous theme song: “Thank you for being a friend.”