‘Golden Girls’ comedy makes fifth return to reopened Roxy’s
Returning with his castmates to play as “The Golden Girls” at Roxy’s Downtown is like slipping into “a comfortable pair of slippers,” Scott Noah said.
“We’ve been playing the characters long enough that we know what we’re doing and that gives us enough room to play, and play with each other, and the audience picks up on it,” said Noah, who’s played Rue McClanahan’s Blanche Devereaux for four of the past five years. “That’s what the audience loves the most, that we’re having fun.”
Kyle Vespestad, who has played Betty White’s Rose Nylund throughout the run, agreed.
“It’s so lovely to know what you’re getting into before it happens,” he said. “This is our fifth year of doing ‘Golden Girls,’ so we don’t have to think, ‘Is the audience gonna like it?’ We know the audience is going to like it – they love it. It’s very easy to come back and play with all of the actors who are in it.”
After a three-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic, three new episodes of “Golden Girls” returns to Roxy’s next week, scheduled to run through Aug. 9.
As of June 21, the theater will return to full capacity of 150, but has instituted a “Social Distancing Wednesday” where cautious patrons can keep a 6-foot distance at half-capacity. In all performances, beverages and desserts – cheesecake (of course) and Bundt cake – will be on disposable cups and plates.
Along with Monte Riegel Wheeler, who channels Bea Arthur’s Dorothy Zbornak, and Tom Frye, as Dorothy’s outspoken mother Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty in the 1985-1992 TV series), Vespestad and Noah screen a handful of episodes each year to select which three would play best on the Roxy’s stage – with a limited number of supporting characters and settings.
For Noah, “That’s all it takes for me, to sit and watch it and pick up on all the little mannerism and quirkiness and stuff of Blanche.”
Vespestad said returning to Rose comes naturally.
“It just kind of happens. I don’t think about it anymore,” he said. “Everybody in the cast just shows up and everyone’s kind of in character already.”
This year’s episodes:
· “Isn’t It Romantic,” where a visiting lesbian friend of Dorothy develops feelings for Rose (second season)
· “High Anxiety,” where Dorothy and Blanche help Rose overcome a dependency on prescription medication (fourth season)
· “An Illegitimate Concern,” where Blanche meets a young man who claims her late husband is his father, and Sophia talks Dorothy into a mother-daughter pageant at Shady Pines – Sonny & Cher alert! (fifth season)
Christine Tasheff and Max Wilson play a variety of supporting roles.
Of the 37 scheduled performances, four are already sold out and another nine were listed as “Almost Gone” on Roxy’s website calendar.
Noah and Vespestad said that’s an indication of the loyal fans of Roxy’s version.
“There are so many dedicated fans that come here,” Noah said. “Women, girlfriends come here and make it an evening, and they have matching T-shirts on. There are earrings and bracelets and they send that stuff back to us. There doesn’t seem to be a lack of enthusiasm with audiences here.”
Part of the success of a stage “Golden Girls,” the actors said, is its constant play on TV. The Hallmark Channel devotes six hours a day to the sitcom on its weekday schedule, and TV Land plays 11-hour marathons every Sunday.
“You can’t help but watching ‘Golden Girls’ when you’re flipping through the television these days,” Noah said.
“It ended in the late ‘90s, but people are still watching,” Vespestad said. “Kids are watching it now and thinking, ‘Wow, this is really funny.’ They (the episodes) don’t ever get old.”
‘The Golden Girls’
When: June 18 to Aug. 9; performances at 7 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas, Wichita
Tickets: $30 and $25, from roxysdowntown.com or 316-265-4400