Picture it: Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia live on in Golden Girls puppet show
David Bell | CBC News | Posted: February 8, 2019 12:18 AM | Last Updated: February 8, 2019
Q: Is it possible to love two men at the same time? A: Set the scene, have we been drinking?
A slut, a moron, a substitute teacher and a survivor of the great Shady Pines fire of 1985 walk into a bar — except the bar is Bella Concert Hall, and Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia now live on in puppet form.
Thank You For Being a Friend brings the hit 1980s television comedy, The Golden Girls, back to life, and the actor playing Blanche says the style and jokes will appeal to many.
"There are so many multi-generational fans, still living their best lives looking for some Golden Girls content," Seanna Kennedy told The Homestretch.
Prior to auditioning, however, Kennedy was a GG newbie.
"I knew of it. I had seen bits and pieces, but I hadn't watched a full episode. But I watched the entire first season on DVD before I auditioned. I was obsessed. It's such a great show — I had no idea."
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The set is a dead ringer for the colourful, '80s-style Miami home where the original took place, she said, and the type of puppetry gives the show a new look.
An Avenue Q-style of puppetry is employed, where you can see both the puppet and the person bringing it to life.
"It is a really interesting way to watch puppetry, because you get all of the emotion from the actual puppet, but you also see all of the emotion and body language in the human, and it reflects on the puppet. So it becomes this one entity where people see one character, but you are getting it from both sides," Kennedy explained.
"If you do it properly, your eye goes to the puppet, but you are also taking in everything the human actor is doing, and it's informing what you see. You get that visual information and put it onto the puppet."
Theatre troupe Joseph Patrick Presents brought the show from Australia, and it's been touring Canada for about three years.
"These are four women just telling their truth," Kennedy said.
"Because they are older ladies, they can get away with these really sassy comments that might not read as well from somebody younger. It is also the love they have for each other, and the ribbing and teasing which make for some great one-liner quips."
And the puppet versions of Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux (Yes, those initials spell "bed") and Sophia Petrillo do all the same things the actors did.
"They eat cheesecake, they read a book, they do a dance number. We worked with our director and puppet coach, and we figured out each moment, bit by bit, how to make it work with puppets."
Thank You For Being a Friend runs Saturday at 8 p.m. at Mount Royal University's Bella Concert Hall.
We might finally learn the answer to the age-old question, "Is it possible to love two men at the same time?"
"Set the scene," Devereaux said.
"Have we been drinking?"
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