
There are certain theatrical events that I look forward to attending each season and Hell in a Handbag's Holiday shows are always at the top of my list. ‘The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes – The Holiday Edition, Vol 2’ should be on the top of everyone’s list.
When I'm sitting in the super cozy Mary's Attic filled with Christmas lights watching one of their wonderful camp parodies, I always feel like I am at home and in the company of great friends and family. This time I love everything about this show, including the opening when host Lori Lee (sidekick Flo) leads the audience in singing the theme song from Golden Girls TV show set in sunny Miami where I grew up.
Thank you for being a friend.
Travel down the road and back again.
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant
.And if you threw a party,
invited everyone you knew.
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say,
thank you for being a friend.
This year’s 'Lost Episodes,' written with cheeky humor- as well as great compassion by Artistic Director David Cerda has especially sweet plotlines that remind me again how lucky one is to have friends and family around you... particularly during your golden years.
Ed Jones as Rose Nylund, who still believes in Santa Claus is a scene stealer, as always delivers his spot on and totally endearing portrayal of the character made famous by the still "golden" Betty White.
Grant Drager as Blanche delivers the sass and unabashedly sexy spice that shows even golden girls still have sexual needs that they should not be ashamed of! David Cerda as Dorothy and Ryan Oates as her mother Sophia bring home the dry humor that makes me laugh out loud every time. But I am also reminded of the true bond between mother and daughter when Sophia breaks her poker face and gently asks her daughter, "What's wrong pussycat?"
Directed and choreographed by the very talented Stevie Love, each scene has a huge variety of great physical comedy and lighting surprises that make you wish the play was longer. Lori Lee is the host of the evening and gets acquainted with the audience between episodes with fun Golden Girls trivia that includes prizes for the audience members. Having the house lights up and interacting with Lori and others as they try to guess the answers lets you actually get to mingle with the audience you are sitting in and is a lovely part of the show.
If you've already been to a Hell in a Handbag Production and are addicted to their special brand of camp humor and music like I am, you already know how unique and fun their shows are. If you haven't been to one yet, ‘The Holiday Edition, Vol 2’ of Golden Girls is a PERFECT production to attend.
Tis the season to curl up on one of the comfy couches at Mary's Attic with a hot toddy in hand and have a long, hard... laugh with your favorite family of friends!
‘The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes – The Holiday Edition, Vol 2’ is being performed at Mary’s Attic through December 29th. For more information visit www.handbagproductions.org.
Following last year’s smashing sold-out engagement, the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance proudly presents the return…
Oil Lamp Theater, currently at 1723 Glenview Road, announces its new future home will be at the former Ten Ninety Brewing Co.…
Nothing Without a Company (NWaC) is proud to announce five performances of The Trouble With My Hair: Coloring, Cutting, and…
Over the course of one night, through a haze of tequila, texting, and Taylor Swift, three teenagers banter, bicker, and…
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the greatest farces ever written. His wordplay caricatured high society,…
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, opens its new theater in Evanston with The Front…
A bold story about the controversial creation that reshaped women’s lives is the focus of The Birth of the Pill,…
Full cast and production team have been announced for City Lit's season-opening production of SHANE, Mark Pracht's World Premiere adaptation…
PrideArts' 2026-27 season will open in August with the world premiere of Chicago-based playwright Matt Schutz's WINDOWS, a comedy of LGBT…
Following a critically-acclaimed, sell-out run of Just For Us at Steppenwolf Theatre and around the globe, Tony and Emmy Award-winning comedian Alex Edelman returns…
Get ready to have the time of your life! Broadway In Chicago is pleased to announce that single tickets for DIRTY DANCING:…
Overshadowed Theatre Productions brings fresh energy to one of musical theatre’s most enduring classics, offering a spirited and thoughtful take…
John Mulaney didn’t just perform at Wrigley Field. He made history there. In a venue synonymous with baseball legends, rock…
In the sharp-tongued world of Sarah Burgess’s Dry Powder, presented by Gwydion Theatre Company at the Greenhouse Theater Center, the…
Gary Gulman brings his new tour, 7th Hour: An All New Standup Show, to The Den Theatre, offering Chicago audiences…
It is possible that Oak Park Festival Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 “trivial comedy for serious people,” The Importance…
Suffs is a musical about history, yes, but more importantly, it is a musical about momentum: who creates it, who…
Under the leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, Court Theatre proudly presents the Spotlight Reading…
Great Lakes Operetta is delighted to present its first full-length, fully-staged operetta, Jacques Offenbach’s seminal work, Orpheus in the Underworld! Originally…
Nonesuch Records releases Natalie Merchant’s Cabinet of Wonder—a digital collection of seventeen songs and accompanying videos from the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s…
Oil Lamp Theater, currently presenting The Last Five Years, now extended through July 19, is proud to announce the cast and creative…
Sandbox Theatre Collective has announced their production of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1. Directed by Alex Albrecht and running…
Broadway In Chicago announced today that tickets for Kokandy Productions’ critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning revival of JEKYLL & HYDE will go on sale…
Set in a debt collection call center, Do You Feel Anger? captures how a toxic workplace manifests itself in today’s…
The Broadway musical - Disney's The Little Mermaid - will hit the Uptown Music Theater stage this summer in Deerfield,…
Collaboraction Theatre Company’s new House of Belonging is now fully activated in the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave…
Babes With Blades Theatre Company's (BWBTC) 2026 season opens with a world premiere, yo ho., by playwright SMJ, directed by…
Goodman Theatre’s Iceboy! arrives as a gleefully off the rails musical that blends Broadway glamour, Neanderthal chaos, and theatrical myth…
What’s on the minds of Chicago’s youth?Find out when Collaboraction Theatre’s 2026 The Light Youth Ensemble brings their talent, fused…
Is there anything more alluring than a summer night in Chicago? The lakefront beaches, the meandering pathways, the festivals and…
TimeLine Theatre announces cast & production team for world premiere THE BIRTH OF THE PILL
Nothing Without a Company presents The Trouble With My Hair: Coloring, Cutting, and Coming into Who I Am - Five Performances across Chicago, August 21st-30th
Theater Wit presents the Chicago premiere of Adolescent Salvation, August 14-October 3
Harris Theater Presents return of Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, Aug. 28
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.