{"id":798,"date":"2023-06-07T01:34:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T01:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/?p=798"},"modified":"2023-06-12T00:36:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T00:36:40","slug":"happy-birthday-mckenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/happy-birthday-mckenna\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday McKenna"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Happy Birthday McKenna<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Reviewed by Mart\u1f77n Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>
\nThe Hudson Backstage Theatre<\/em><\/strong>
\nThrough March 26<\/strong><\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Playwright-director Steven Silverman\u2019s dark yet amiable comedy offers up a multi-ethnic family whose members, despite living or being raised in racially turbulent Chicago, have no apparent animus over each other\u2019s skin colors. No, these folks are dealing with more explosive issues common to many a kith and kin, regardless of race, color, or creed \u2013 decades-old resentments, secrets that can tear them apart, and most important of all \u2013 who is bringing the cake to a three-year-old girl\u2019s birthday party?<\/p>\n

White, middle-class Carolyn (Heather L. Tyler), as always, is hosting another of her brood\u2019s get-togethers while her police detective husband Ray (Michael Dempsey) endures, as always, her laments of that fact. Younger brother Tommy (Ben Holtzmuller) and his husband Parker (Colbert Alembert), whose ambiguous ethnicity fuels a running gag, have just arrived from San Diego, and are soon joined by sister Deb (Tracey Rooney) and the kids\u2019 stolid Black stepdad Martin (Karl T. Wright) and his current \u2014 and ditzy \u2014 wife Lucille (Sara Ballantine). Bringing up the rear are the parents of the eponymous child of the play\u2019s title, youngest brother Ed (Ryan Woods), offspring of Martin\u2019s union with the siblings\u2019 now deceased mother, and his partner Julie (Stakiah Lynn Washington).<\/p>\n

Their banter is witty and mildly contentious, what with the sisters\u2019 copious affection for their \u201cdad\u201d Martin upsetting Tommy, \u201centrepreneur\u201d Ed\u2019s dubious pitches for investment to his latest deal, and long-held and inane family traditions. But when Tommy puts a shocking request on the table, the party descends into a domestic fiasco which is amusingly mediated by Ray\u2019s co-worker Irene (Mari Weiss), a droll 911 dispatcher couch surfing at Carolyn\u2019s and Ray\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Despite a predictable plot, there are some clever surprises, with Silverman also spreading enough jokes and angst around for his cast to dig into. Silverman also explores dysfunctional family dynamics and how memories of one relative may not match another\u2019s, delivering some poignant as well as piquant moments.<\/p>\n

The impressive ensemble has gelled to commendable levels of verisimilitude that bolster their characters\u2019 relationships under Silverman\u2019s keen direction and knack for tableaux. Ballantine\u2019s Lucille, sporting a boot brace of dubious provenance, offers some humorous wisdom and Washington\u2019s Julie belies her mousy demeanor at a key moment. Tyler\u2019s Carolyn plays the reluctant matriarch who still embraces the power of that position when she feels it being threatened. The tension between Holtzmuller\u2019s Tommy and Wright\u2019s Martin could have been bolder in a number of ways but the actors acquit themselves well with what Silverman has wrought.<\/p>\n

We get the family we deserve, it has been said, and for better or worse these folks, ahem, take the cake.<\/p>\n

The Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 7 pm; through Mar. 26 (no perf. Mar. 12.)\u00a0www.hbmtheplay.com<\/a>. Some roles are double cast. Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.<\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”902″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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