'Chicken & Biscuits' a yummy but flawed dish

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: (left to right) Ebony Marshall Oliver, Michael Urie, Devere Rogers & Cleo King. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

CHICKEN & BISCUITS
Written by Douglas Lyons
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
Through November 28, 2021
Circle in the Square
235 West 50th Street
212-239-6202, https://chickenandbiscuitsbway.com/

By David NouNou

Since the inception of dramedies and a barrage of mediocre sitcoms on TV, comedies have gotten scarcer and scarcer on Broadway. Once a staple for entertainment (Neil Simon’s annual outings), they are now almost non-existent. However, one has managed to squeeze in this season. At times it borders on the absurd and broad farce, but we’ll take our laughs any way we can when comedies are so desperately needed in these times.

The story centers on the death of a Southern Baptist minister, whose family has come together for his funeral. What we get is a few more members that the family didn’t expect. The two sisters mourning their father are Baneatta Mabry (Cleo King), the older and more sensible one, and the self-proclaimed beauty and flashier younger sister, Beverly Jenkins (Ebony Marshall-Oliver). Beverly believes that displaying her bosom at her father’s funeral is more important to attract a man who has come to pay his respects than to be appropriately dressed.

Baneatta is married to Reginald Mabry (Norm Lewis). He has taken over the ministry and is supposed to deliver the eulogy. They have a daughter, Simone (Alana Raquel Bowers) who has been dumped by her boyfriend—a man she was expecting to marry— for a white woman. They also have a son, Kenny (Devere Rogers) who is gay and the only person who accepted him was his deceased grandfather. Kenny has brought his white, flamboyant, sweet Jewish boyfriend, Logan (Michael Urie), and he has a tough time being accepted at a Baptist funeral. Also, there is La’Trice Franklin (Aigner Mizzelle), Beverly’s high-strung, eccentric 15-year-old daughter whose father left her when she was young. There is a last-minute secret character, Brianna Jenkins (Natasha Yvette Williams), whose identity I will keep a secret. Needless to say, they all have issues.

The premise is grand and really fun; there are even some very touching scenes between the characters voicing their feelings, but the playwright, Douglas Lyons and the proceedings are greatly misled by a young, inexperienced 27-year-old director, Zhailon Levingston, making his Broadway debut. The director has totally failed the show and the cast in giving them any nuanced direction. There is very little cohesion to the scenes other than what Mr. Lyons has given us. The cast are left to their own devices at times, mugging and ranting relentlessly. Their deliveries are not modulated and everything seems to run helter skelter.

Even seasoned performers like Norm Lewis and Michael Urie—both of whom have had many Broadway ventures and have always been interesting to watch—seem to be trying too hard. Cleo King does her best in being the matriarch of the family, but the most natural and enjoyable performance is delivered by Natasha Yvette Williams who comes near the end of the play and allows her natural sweetness to envelop the theatre.

You won’t get many surprises in Chicken & Biscuits, but you will get an enjoyable evening full of laughs.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 10, 2021
Reviewed at October 9, 2021 press preview performance.