By Megan Fitzgerald

The Sunshine Cathedral will transform into a glittery haunted house of laughter and nostalgia when The Golden Ghouls take the stage October 25, 2025. The Halloween drag show reimagines the beloved Golden Girls with a spooky, campy twist — complete with live singing, costumes, and audience engagement.

I caught up with Jason Schmidt, producer of the show who also plays Dorothy, to talk about the origins of Golden Ghouls, what audiences can expect, and why Golden Girls fandom never dies.

For those who haven’t heard yet, what is The Golden Ghouls?
So it’s a Golden Girls Halloween drag show. The way our shows work is we’ll usually come out to a group number, and then each girl will do their number. Since it’s Halloween, each girl is dressed up in whatever costume they might wear. I think I start as a mummy, Blanche is a cat, and Rose gets confused — she comes out as a Christmas elf. And in all of our shows, the role of Sophia is always played by an audience member. By the end of the show, we’ll have crowned our new Sophia, with the hair, glasses, and handbag, and then a big photo moment together.”

How do you decide who becomes the new Sophia each night?
“We have a song called — you know the RuPaul song — You Better Work. We do You Better Walk. We bring up a couple of contestants, and then we walk them around the theater on a walker, or like you have a bad back or hurt your knee. By the end we’ve whittled it down, and then the audience decides. It’s usually a short lady of a certain age, but sometimes it’s not.”

Why does Halloween pair so well with the Golden Girls?
“There are so many drag Hocus Pocus shows, and we definitely did not want to do Golden Pocus. I’m a huge fan of the Paul Lynde Halloween special, which you can watch on YouTube. And the Golden Girls never did a Halloween episode, so we thought, hey, let’s. It also gave us something to do in October — there was a need, and if there’s an itch, scratch it.”

How do you keep the characters recognizable while letting each actor add their own flair?
“It’s best to cast an actor who’s already sort of that archetype. The pragmatic, sarcastic one is Dorothy. Someone a little naïve is Rose. Someone sexy and vampy makes a good Blanche. Once you cast that way, you start layering on the character, and the actors have seven seasons of source material to draw from. We give the performers a semi-blank canvas to create their numbers, so they end up doing something they’re excited about.”

What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
“The biggest thing is to just be able to have fun — just let loose. Our shows are a great opportunity for people to dress up themselves. A lot of our fans already come dressed as Sophia because they know there’s going to be a competition. It really is a community. The Golden Girls fans are wonderful and welcoming — kind of like Comic Con, but for Golden Girls. It creates a queer space that’s also open to anyone who loves drag, Halloween, or just having fun.”

Is this the first time you’ve done a Halloween version?
“We started this last year in October and toured it around. This is our second year doing Golden Ghouls.”

Where do you tour?
“The company is based in Philadelphia, and we started in New York. We’ve always done Florida since the beginning. We did Empire Stage, then Island City Stage, and now we’re really glad to be over at Sunshine Cathedral — where our idols like Varla Jean Merman and Miss Richfield perform. We’ll tour anywhere. We actually did a U.K. tour last year of our game show, and we’ve done shows in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as well.”

How would you describe The Golden Ghouls in three words?
“Camp. Wild. Grandma.”

What sets your troupe apart?
“We sing live. We do a lot of three-part harmony when we can, and we try our best to mix it up. That’s what sets us apart — live singing, harmonies, and always interactive because an audience member gets to play Sophia.”

If the real Golden Girls went to a Halloween party today, what do you think they’d wear?
“I’ve been doing a Bea Arthur type since 2010, and I know she once went to a costume party dressed as Cleopatra. Something dramatic — very theater actress. Probably something a little serious, but still fabulous.”