Picture It, Tucson 2025 ‘Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue’ brings beloved characters to Tucson

“The Golden Girls” ran from 1985 to 1992 but has continued to shape generations of fans through reruns and streaming platforms. Most fans identify with one or more of the four main characters, Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia, or they know someone who is just like one of them. 

“Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue” brings the beloved characters before audiences in an interactive way. The U.S. tour will visit Tucson’s Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Saturday, Oct. 25. 

The show is produced by Outback Presents and Murray & Peter Present, best known for their work with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” tours and live shows. 

The story is set in current times, as if “The Golden Girls” continued and is now on streaming platforms instead of cable TV. 

In the show, Sophia is out on bail after being arrested for running a drug ring for retirees. Blanche and Rose are co-owners of hookup app for seniors. Dorothy is trying to be the level-headed one and keep the group together while seeing a younger, sex-starved lover. 

The show features an all-male cast performing female impersonation, including Ryan Bernier as Dorothy, Adam Graber as Rose, Christopher Kamm as Sophia and Vince Kelley as Blanche. 

Kelley began with the show three and a half years ago. Before this, he had worked with the producers Murray & Peter Present on another show called “Pray the Gay Away.” 

Kelley, who is originally from Michigan, started doing theater when he was around 7 years old, when he was “The Sound of Music.” 

As an adult, he has played more gender-bending, transgender or female characters in shows such as “Rent,” “Sordid Lives,” “La Cage aux Folles,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Legend of Georgia McBride.” 

All of the four actors have been with the show from the beginning or from the early days. 

“It’s a really tight family, which I think is a big secret to our success. The television show had wonderful chemistry, and that’s what skyrocketed it to number one. I think that we have that too. We have good chemistry offstage, and we’re funny onstage,” Kelley said. 

Kelley said before shows, they listen to a preshow playlist that helps get them ready. 

“You would think if you’ve heard ‘Dancing Queen’ over 300 times, you might be sick of it, but every time that song comes on, we’re up and we’re dancing. We’re having a good time,” Kelley said. 

The show is more adult in nature than the original TV show and is meant for audiences 18 and older. 

“It was pushing the envelope in 1985. So, imagine if they were on 40 years later. We’re just trying to keep up with the times. We’re trying to follow ‘The Golden Girls’ tradition of being trailblazers in content,” Kelley said. 

Kelley said the idea for a “Golden Girls” show came during the height of COVID. 

“Everyone during lockdown was watching ‘The Golden Girls’ on Hulu and was getting addicted to it…It’s been super fun to be a part of the process from the very beginning. From day one, I said,’ If I’m not Blanche, then I’m not doing it,’” Kelley said. 

The show was originally only supposed to run for one weekend in Washington, D.C.  It was so popular that it continued. 

Kelley said the basic storyline stays the same, but the four actors also have moments where they improvise. 

“You best believe that when we get to Tucson, we’re going to be making jokes about what’s going on in Arizona, what’s happening in Tucson. We always research when we’re on our way to a city so that we know what’s happening. We want the audience to feel like, ‘This show was made just for us tonight,’” Kelley said. 

Kelley said with the show being centered around four actors doing female impersonation, they can be over-the-top with their characters. 

“It’s a little bigger, a little bolder, a little raunchier, if you will. When a guy puts on a dress and goes full Tyler Perry, they have that ability. It makes it just a little bit more silly and fun,” Kelley said. 

Kelley said the four main actors all share a love for the show. 

“We all have our own favorite moments, usually tied to our character. It just goes to show how well the show is cast, that we all really identify with the different characters,” Kelley said. 

Kelley started watching “The Golden Girls” with his grandma as a child. 

“I would be with my grandma on Friday night. My mom would be out with her girlfriends, having a good time. We would watch it. I would say, ‘I want to watch the old lady show.’ That’s what I called it…I didn’t understand any of the jokes, but she was having a great time. Instinctively, I thought it was the funniest thing ever. I started rewatching it when it was on TV Land in high school. I’d be doing my homework at home, and I’d watch it. It reminded me of her. She was always a part of it. She was a classic Sophia. She was Italian, always in the kitchen, said whatever came to her mind, regardless of if it was the right thing to say but always from love,” Kelley said. 

As Blanche, Kelley speaks in an exaggerated Southern accent. He uses catch phrases which Blanche is known for, such as “Eat dirt and die, trash.” 

In preparation for the show, Kelley watched clips of Blanche to get down her mannerisms. He said being a fan of the show, he already knew a lot about the character. 

“A lot of the groundwork was done. I’ve been watching the show since I was like 6 years old…It was like walking into a second skin, if you will. But yes, I did tons of research on Rue McClanahan, where she’s from, how she got that voice and how she walks…. We all dug in really deep on our individual characters. That’s been such a fun and rewarding part to discover more about these women behind the characters,” Kelley said. 

Kelley said that through his research, he has learned how McClanahan was a big animal rights activist and was on Broadway at different points in her career. The actress was in a show called “Jimmy Shine” with Dustin Hoffman in 1968 and played Madame Morrible in “Wicked” from May 2005 to Jan. 2006. 

Along with his research on McClanahan, Kelley was also inspired by “Golden Girls” parody shows put on by the Ringwald Theatre, a company in Ferndale, Michigan. 

“I was always the costumer. I never got to be and always wanted to be Blanche… They were definitely a fun inspiration, a way to say, ‘This can be done, four men playing the girls. This is the style you can do it in.’ It was a good way to see what our show could be,” Kelley said.  

Along with portraying Blanche on the tour, Kelley is the costume designer. 

Often, he will incorporate pieces he finds at vintage and antique shops into the characters’ wardrobe. 

“If I find something on the road, I’m like, ‘Let’s see if we can make it work.’ You may see a different costume in the same week because if we find something that works, we’ll put it in the show immediately… The garments that go closest to your body, we’ll try to buy new because those have to be washed the most. I’ll find a really great jacket, a great trouser or a piece of jewelry that really puts you in the mindset of the character and time period. Then, some of the other stuff you can modernize around it,” Kelley said. 

McClanahan sold a line on QVC called “A Touch of Rue.” Kelley has acquired several pieces from this collection. 

“Rue McClanahan was one of the first women who had built into her contract that she got to keep all of her wardrobe from the show… She used the power of having those clothes to design this label with her name on it. I, as customer, am lucky enough to have scored a few of those pieces. So, in the show, I’m wearing ‘A Touch of Rue’ pajama set that I was able to find,” Kelley said. 

After the show, with a special ticket, fans can take part in a meet-and-greet where they interact with cast members and get onstage. 

“You get to come into the living room of the Miami house, and you can take your picture with us…We get to hear great stories of how people have their connection to the Golden Girls, like how they used to watch with their mother,” Kelley said. 

Some fans come out dressed as the characters. 

“We’ve had some costumes that are better than our costumes,” Kelley said. 

Kelley said over the years, he has met a lot of diehard fans of the show. 

“The amount of ‘Golden Girls’ tattoos that I have seen over the last three years is crazy, in some places that you shouldn’t be showing in public,” Kelley joked. 

The cast members try to engage with fans via social media by doing recent trends as their characters. Their content is available on Instagram and Tiktok under “@goldengirlstour.” 

More information on the show is available at goldengirlstour.com. 

 “Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue”
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25
WHERE: Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Avenue, Phoenix
COST: Tickets start at $50.60
INFO: musichall.tucsonconventioncenter.com