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At Last, There's A 'Golden Girls' Puppet Show
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 1, 2016
Modified Oct 1, 2016
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 1, 2016
Modified Oct 1, 2016
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I am STILL waiting for that Golden Girls-themed cafe to open in Washington Heights, but until then, there's this: a Golden Girls puppet show, now on view at the DR2 Theatre in Union Square.
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, who also produced and directed “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show," "That Golden Girls Puppet Show" features a plush Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia, helmed by respective human actors Weston Chandler Long, Cat Greenfield, Arlee Chadwick and Emmanuelle Zeesman. The puppets all live in a miniature version of the original Girls' Miami home, complete with their infamous yellow wallpapered kitchen and famed table. The 90-minute parody promises to address all-things Golden, like Blanche's sex life, Sophia's time in Sicily, and cheesecake
Rockefeller told us the show originally started as a stand-up routine, but then he got the idea to swap actors for puppets. "Puppets allow us to stretch the humor further than on the original show and are wonderful characterizations of the original performers," he said. "I am certain most people would generally prefer a puppet making wonderful barbs than an actor giving an imitation of another actor portraying a character."
Though it seems hard to believe that a puppet could accurately convey Dorothy Zbornak's signature withering look, Rockefeller says there's no sass lost. "Sometimes the actors have to pause for a long time before they can get their next line out just because the audience is laughing so hard at Dorothy’s death stare," he said.
As for why The Golden Girls got the puppet treatment, well, it's safe to say the 1980s masterpiece was the greatest show about senior women ever made—other than Murder She Wrote, at least. "The Golden Girls captured something that many other shows haven’t—the comedy was smart, the characters were easily accessible and inspirational," Rockefeller said. "The characters supported and loved each other as they discussed issues that were way ahead of their time. It was a show that demonstrated that age was just a number, something that I wholeheartedly believe."
That Golden Girls Puppet Show runs until December 11th; tickets are $69 to $99 and can be purchased online.
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