There’s a cute show somewhere in “Thank You for Being a Friend,” an unauthorized musical parody of “The Golden Girls.” That show would have the same cast and a trimmed version of the same script, but these crazy kids would have to bust their butts rehearsing to transform the uneven mess currently on the stage of the Kraine Theatre into that “cute show.”

In “Thank You,” four women who closely resemble those cheesecake-lovin’ Miami-livin’ sitcom gals get all wound up when gay pop superstar Lance Bass moves next door—his loud outdoor sex parties keep them awake at night! So, you see, the underlying concept is goofy but has potential.

“Thank You” creators Nick Brennan (book) and Luke Jones (lyrics) are quite simply spread too thin. Brennan also plays “Roz” and Jones “Dorothea” and they do a respectable job of imitating the originals. They would be spread much less thin if they didn’t direct (Brennan) and design (Jones). They generally have the right ideas in these areas, but the execution falls far short.

Brennan has structured suspense into the script, but he can’t see from the inside that the pacing is very often lax. When you can’t hear Roz’s lyrics, there’s no-one to tell Brennan “louder.” And Jones’s design is clever and often funny, but it just as often gets in the way—there are so many time-consuming prop and costume bits that actually kill the payoff they should be helping. Jones should definitely leave more to the audience’s imagination.

Plus the warm and noisy Kraine doesn’t feel like the right venue for “Thank You.” The much-missed Fez would have been great—it definitely should be in a quiet, cool place that serves drinks. So perhaps the best way to get pleasure from this intermittently enjoyable spoof would be to have a couple cocktails beforehand at Boiler Room or one of the Second Avenue boy bars, and bring a fan.

For tickets click here.