THE GOLDEN GAYS: THE GOLDEN GAYS’ GAME SHOW

There I am, sat in the semi dark of Komedia Studio listening to fantastic pop, the dance music of my earlier life and waiting to see a drag tribute to an American sit-com from the mid eighties to the early 90s. And there, in a city where you can catch local drag seven nights a week and 52 weeks of the year I start to wonder. With so much drag, especially since a certain Miss Ru Paul invaded our lives, is there any need to import drag from the U S of A?

Five minutes into the show my question is answered. This premiere American troupe is simply brilliant. The costumes are true to the characters that they are playing, the choreography is good and well executed, the material well crafted and the schtick, American for comedy expertise is… well it is well researched and expertly delivered. Of course on a tiny stage with, at times, problems with lighting, turned to the teams advantage by some very quick thinking, the whole has a slightly ramshackle edge, but it matters not.

Golden Girls holds an iconic place in sit-com history. We Brits made a half hearted attempt to make our own version, set here in Brighton but it didn’t work and why not? Well a talented cast of experienced actors simply did not have the key element of sass. And it is sass that sets it and this tribute show apart for slutty Blanche Devereaux, dour and worldly Dorothy Zbornak,  dim but delightful Rose Nylund, and Ma – Sophia Petrillo, the razor tongued matriarch.

In this well wrought confection of a show Sophia is missing but across a series of classic American game shows with contestants plucked from the audience the team seek to find a substitute. The games are silly but fun, the cast merciless in ribbing their poor victims, but never cruel, well not very cruel, and we the audience sit in both fear and hysterics. Between games all three take turns in delivering songs, solos and ensemble numbers, and all three prove that as well as being great comedians and actors they can both sing and dance. And they deliver fine portrayals of those characters too.

Jason B. Schmidt is perfect as Dorothy, imposing in stature as Bea Arthur was and as dry. Yochai Greenfeld masterfully manages to embody lascivious Blanche and can belt out a tune with ease. Keaton Delmar Johns delivers all the sweet and innocent charm of dippy Rose with grace and all three are well drilled when it comes to delivering dance routines on a stage the size of a handkerchief.

An audience with plenty of hardy Golden Girls fans lap it up, some geekily well versed in the detail and those less familiar are swept along on a wave of merriment. I left several hours later aching from laughing and impressed. This is not just drag, this is comedy theatre delivered with style, skill and saucy energy, and I suspect no two shows are alike. Sadly this was the last show of their UK tour but when they return, and I hope they do, fight for a ticket.

Andrew Kay

10 September

Komedia

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