With her husky voice, mannish demeanor and pointed one-liners, Bea Arthur was a natural for men who impersonate women.

The actress, who died April 25 at age 86, made a name for herself on Broadway in Mame in 1966 and on television as the title role in the 1970s sitcom Maude.

But she reached the pinnacle of gay icon in the 1985-92 sitcom The Golden Girls that became a gay cult classic.

The Golden Girls' two gay episodes will be re-enacted on the Santa Fe Playhouse stage Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during Santa Fe Pride, a 10-day celebration of gay culture.

The groundbreaking episodes involve visits from Dorothy's (Arthur's character) college roommate who turns out to be a lesbian and Blanche's (played by Rue McClanahan) estranged gay brother.

Darron Dunbar, known locally for his drag-queen persona Wenda Watch, compares The Golden Girls' popularity among gays to that of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and the TV series Designing Women.

"There's something about the all-female cast," he said. "People were able to listen a little bit more when it came from old women — you know, even all the dirty jokes and everything — because it was so funny. It was like from an aunt or a grandma or these old women you like to be around, so I think that's a big part of why the guys love 'em."

Two years ago, San Francisco drag queen Heklina began doing live re-enactments of the Golden Girls episodes during her "Trannyshack" shows in the Castro district to sold-out audiences. Dunbar, who lived in San Francisco until two years ago and knows Heklina personally, said he decided to bring the shows to Santa Fe this year.

"Every year, Pride here does something in conjunction with the Santa Fe Playhouse, and they'd always kind of done more somber things, kind of more serious, AIDS-related," Dunbar said. "I thought it was time to have some fun, so I yanked the scripts from Heklina's shaking hands — she didn't want to give them up — and so that's how we're doing it here."

Like the San Francisco production, Santa Fe's mostly has men in women's roles and women in men's. Dunbar is the McClanahan character Blanche. Richard Peters plays the Arthur character Dorothy. Daphnee Banks is the Estelle Getty character Sophia. Kenny Brown is the Betty White character Rose.

Dorothy's gay roommate, Jean, is played by Lori Romero in the one instance of a woman playing a woman. Blanche's gay brother, Clayton, is played by Laura Warnest. Dorothy Piriz plays Clayton's partner, Doug. Corey John is the voice of a studio page. Doña Hatch, president of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance, which is sponsoring Santa Fe Pride for the eighth year, also has a cameo role.

IF YOU GO

What: Theatrical presentation of the two gay episodes from The Golden Girls

When: 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Where: Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas St.

Admission: Donations at the door

Reservations: 988-4262