Vince Kelley Stars in a Dazzling Stage Parody That Brings Blanche and the Girls Back for a Night of Sass, Sequins and Cheesecake
by tony reverditto
On the off chance you have never heard of The Golden Girls television series, it is a beloved sitcom that aired from 1985 to 1992, following the lives of four older women — Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia — who share a home in Miami. Each character brings a distinct personality; Blanche is the flirtatious Southern belle, Dorothy is the sharp-witted voice of reason, Rose is the sweet and naive Midwesterner, and Sophia is Dorothy’s outspoken Sicilian mother.
Through humor, heart and a steady stream of cheesecake, the series explores friendship, aging, love and everyday challenges with warmth and wit, and has become a cultural touchstone and a timeless comedy classic.
The Golden Girls: Live! was an off-Broadway production that launched in 2003. Fast forward to the current touring production, Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue, which debuted in Los Angeles in 2023.
The all-new stage parody delighting audiences nationwide features a hilarious ensemble led by Ryan Bernier as Dorothy, Vince Kelley as Blanche, Adam Graber as Rose, and Christopher Kamm as Sophia, with Tommy Favorite joining the cast in the dual roles of Stanley and Burt.
Detroit may be famous for Motown, but it also gave rise to one of theater’s most colorful performers, Vince Kelley. Today, he’s dazzling audiences across the country as Blanche Devereaux in Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue.
But long before the wigs, sequins and Southern sass, Kelley was a boy with a dream, standing nervously in the wings of a community theater production of The Sound of Music.
That first audition at age 8 ignited something in him, a spark that eventually carried him to New York City. At the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), Kelley sharpened his natural stage instincts into a polished craft, mastering the triple-threat skills — singing, dancing, acting — that would anchor his career.
After the whirlwind of New York, Kelley found himself drawn back home to Michigan, where the Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale became both a creative haven and a personal anchor. For more than a decade, he inhabited bold and demanding roles, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Boys in the Band and Heathers: The Musical.
His performance in Heathers earned him the Wilde Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2016, a milestone that cemented his reputation as one of Michigan’s most magnetic performers.
His artistry doesn’t stop at center stage. Behind the scenes, Kelley is a costume designer with an eye for authenticity and a flair for style. Known for his resourcefulness, nearly 90% of his designs are sourced from vintage shops and resale platforms.
Among his prized finds is a palm-print nightgown from Rue McClanahan’s brief QVC line, a playful nod to the Golden Girl he now embodies on tour.
Stepping into Blanche Devereaux’s world has brought Kelley into a new spotlight. The RAGE Monthly caught up with him amid his national tour on the threshold of his California performances.
You’ve gone from your first role at 8 years old in The Sound of Music to Blanche Devereaux on a national tour. When you look back, what core values connect your evolution as a performer?
When I think back to what I remember from The Sound of Music, the first thing that comes to mind is the absolute electric feeling of being up on that stage. I’m still chasing that rush, 30-some years later.
I also think about my teachers, whether it be a formal teacher that I had or another performer I worked with who I was able to absorb a lesson or two from, and I think about how on stage I’m an extension of them, and I hope that I’m making them proud.
How have the New York and Michigan theater scenes shaped you as an artist and prepared you for this tour?
New York, without a doubt, taught me about the business, and the hustle and the drive. Doing eight shows a week is a marathon, and life on the road isn’t for everyone, but luckily, I was completely prepared. And truthfully, it was Michigan that prepared me artistically.
I’ve had so many opportunities to work with some truly amazing artists at regional theaters that have given me the confidence and the comedic chops to really make Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue the best it can possibly be.
Please share how costume design evolved into your theatrical journey.
While I was at school, we were allowed to take an elective, and I jumped at the opportunity to learn about costuming. It’s such a cool way to tell a character’s story before they even open their mouth.
Being an actor, you quickly learn to understand that you’re not gonna get every role so I started doing costumes as a way to stay busy between shows.
Touring means new cities every week. What is your favorite way to soak up the local color before hitting the stage for Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue?
Well, that kind of ties into one of my other passions, which is casting. The first thing I do when we arrive in a new city is check out vintage or antique stores.
I could literally spend all day going through racks trying to find a great deal. We also always make sure to ask some locals about food. We learned pretty quickly not to just google where we should eat, but really wanna eat where the locals eat.
How do you balance honoring Rue McClanahan’s Blanche while making the character your own?
There is such an incredibly fine line between character and caricature that I never want to cross. We all approach these women with such respect and reverence; it’s such an honor to have the opportunity to play them. T
hat being said, this is still a comedy show and we are here to make people laugh. And sometimes that looks like stepping outside of what the girls were allowed to say on television in 1985. I approach every performance thinking: Would Rue McClanahan like what I’m about to say?
What has been the most surprising or challenging part of stepping into Blanche’s heels? And do you have a pre-show ritual before Blanche makes her grand entrance?
Well, I will say that the heels are certainly not the challenge. For some reason, God gifted me the grace to be able to run all over that stage in heels. If I can be superficial, the most challenging part of this experience is the work your face goes through. Shaving every day, putting on pounds of makeup. I don’t wanna sound ungrateful in any way, but my favorite part of a day off is just not having to wear fake eyelashes.
As far as rituals go, we all have our own process. For example, Adam, who plays Rose, listens to a five-minute YouTube video of the best of Rose Nyland. Literally, before every single show. I, on the other hand, seconds before I’m about to enter, recite my first line of the show to Tommy, the actor who plays Stan, and ask him if I sound OK. He always answers truthfully.
Fans adore Blanche. What’s been your most unforgettable audience reaction on tour so far?
Straight men. You can tell at the beginning of the show, when you’re looking into the audience, who wants to be there and who is dragged there by their wife or a girlfriend. But as the show goes on, you can see them laughing and getting 100% on board.
And then they’ll come on stage for the meet and greet after the show and tell you that they have never seen an episode before in their life, but they’re so excited to go home and start from the beginning.
After the tour concludes, what future aspirations are on the horizon?
It will be hard to catch lightning in a bottle like we have with Golden Girls, but that’s not gonna stop me from trying. I would love to start developing a new show that we could take on the road. Please have your readers reach out with any suggestions for me.
Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue will play at multiple Southern California venues this fall: Thursday, October 24 at Fred Kavli Theatre at Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks (805.449.2787); Saturday, October 26 at City National Grove of Anaheim (714.712.2700); Friday–Saturday, November 1–2 at Balboa Theatre in San Diego (619.615.4000). goldengirlstour.com/tickets