BWW Reviews: Peter Mac & Co Bring Exciting New Golden Girls Parody to Oil Can Harry's

Peter Mac's New Lost Episode of TV's Golden Girls live onstage offers a wild and fresh take on our golden gal pals, but is still delightfully faithful to the original series in every way. It offers the style and flavor of the great writing and four very indelible characterizations played by four superb performers: Peter Mac as Sophia, John Schaefer as Dorothy, Paul Jacek as Rose and Sissy Debut as Blanche. This new parody plays at Mac's new venue Oil Can Harry's Loft Cabaret Thursdays & Fridays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm.

Mac's other Lost Episodes have been Judy Garland's musical variety hours, her TV Christmas Special and Easter Special costarring her children Liza, Lorna and Joey and Schaefer as Bea Arthur, presenting comedy mainly through song. The Golden Girls parody is of course a little play, and so comedic acting takes precedence over singing. Mac's script for the evening picks up where The Golden Girls series ended after 7 seasons in 1992. In case you forgot, Dorothy (Bea Arthur) married Lucas Hollingsworth (Leslie Nielsen), who happened to be Blanche's (Rue McClanahan) uncle. The original playlet has Lucas passing on and Blanche, Rose and Sophia coming to Georgia for the funeral. They, of course, are managing The Golden Palace in Miami, which was the failed CBS spinoff/ sequel to The Golden Girls sans Arthur in 1992-93. I will not give away any more of the plot, as I refuse to spoil the fun time you will have. It's campy, and as I stated before, following to the letter the style and format of the beloved original TV series. There are even a couple of flashback scenes that replicate actual episodes - you Golden Girls aficionados will remember these two with off-the-wall issues at stake, hilarious dialogue and all. And you'll love the little Wonder Woman spin the girls do to pull you into a flashback mode. It's adorably cute!

Mac is a hoot and a half as the outspoken trashy-mouthed Sophia, always with purse in hand. Schaefer duplicates Dorothy's facial takes and precise timing perfectly. There is one more drag - excuse me, tribute artist - Paul Jacek as Rose, and he conveys the innocent confusion to the letter...and the St.Olaf stories?...yes, they are deliciously present. Sissy Debut is the only female in the cast as Blanche. She is sexy, egomaniacal and a wonderful fit for Blanche's feigned self-confidence. The girls do sing a song they composed in an original episode, and there's even a brief interlude between scenes where the audience gets a chance to prove their worth as Golden Girls trivia experts. On the afternoon I attended the SRO crowd were treated to a tease of Mac as Judy and "Almost Like Being in Love". What a trouper!

Don't miss this slightly obscene, deliriously funny and totally loving one-of-a-kind parody: Oil Can Harry's in Studio City Thursdays, Fridays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. The Loft room looks terrific... and also plan to see Peter Mac as Judy Garland Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 6 pm, with a show that changes every few weeks. The lost Christmas Special is coming up in December!

http://www.oilcanharrysla.com/calendar.html

Don Grigware is an Ovation nominated actor and writer whose contributions to theatre through the years have included 6 years as theatre editor of NoHoLA, a contributor to LA Stage magazine and currently on his own website: www.grigwaretalkstheatre.com

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