Some years mark auspicious beginnings.
“I debuted the same year as The Golden Girls,” notes Vince Kelley. The year 1985 brought both Kelley and the beloved sitcom, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, into the world. Now the actor gets to inhabit the world of the show he loved as a kid.
“I spent a lot of time with my grandmother when I was little, and she loved Golden Girls. So I would say, ‘Let’s watch the Old Lady Show! Let’s watch the Old Lady Show!’ That’s what I thought it was called. I didn’t get the jokes, but I figured if Nana was laughing, it must be okay.”
Fast forward a few decades, and Kelley is the one getting the laughs, playing Blanche in Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue, which runs at Herberger Theater Center through October 27. The 18+ touring show, a production of Murray & Peter Present and Innovation Arts and Entertainment, resets the sitcom, which has remained alive in reruns and maintains a passionate cult of fans, in contemporary times.
“It’s set in 2024,” Kelley explains. “It has all the nostalgia, all the catch phrases. ‘Picture it, Sicily…’ all of that. We took all the ingredients of the old show and combined them in a different way.” The parody stage show was written by Robert Leleux and directed by Eric Swanson, albeit with plenty of input from the cast.
Although a Detroit-area Michigan native, Kelley feels well-suited for the role of southern belle Blanche, played on TV by Rue McLanahan.
“I like to fancy myself a southern belle,” Kelley says. “In my mind, I’m Maggie the Cat.”
Kelley has been acting since he was encouraged by an elementary school teacher he had for first, third and fifth grade. He first performed in women’s clothes in a regional production of La Cage Aux Folles in Michigan.
“Later on, I played Angel in Rent, which is another rite of passage for a female-impersonating actor.” He does not, however, regard himself as a drag queen.
“I’m an actor,” he says. “It’s a semantic distinction, but drag queens have big personas and big costumes… I think to call me a drag queen diminishes drag queens, who are very hard-working performers. I’m just an actor.”
Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue plays through Sunday, October 27, at Herberger Theater Center. Tickets range from $43 to $88. Go to herbergertheater.org for details.
