Reviews

Baby Daddy

Alec Mapa’s delightfully funny solo show centers on his and husband Jamie’s adoption of son Zion.

Alec Mapa stars in Baby Daddy
(© Mike Ruiz)
Alec Mapa stars in Baby Daddy
(© Mike Ruiz)

Alec Mapa claims his parenting style is modeled after some of the greatest figures in musical theater — namely Fraulein Maria, Miss Hannigan, Auntie Mame, and Momma Rose. As you might imagine, this leads to some delightfully funny stories in the actor’s new solo show, Baby Daddy, now playing the The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Mapa begins the performance with a stand-up set referencing recent events — including Anderson Cooper’s public coming out, which provides some of the best lines of the whole evening. But soon enough, he shifts gears to talk about the primary topic of the show: his and husband Jamie’s adoption of their son, Zion.

Parenthood wasn’t always foremost in this couple’s minds. However, the combination of a midlife crisis for Mapa and multiple seminars on adoption while on a gay and lesbian cruise led to their 2010 adoption of Zion, a five-year-old African-American boy from Compton.

As a performer, Mapa has an abundance of charm, wit, and style. And as a writer, he knows how to craft his tales for maximum comic mileage. He can be incredibly raunchy, detailing certain aspects of his and Jamie’s sex life or talking about gay porn. But there’s also a sentimental streak to his work that is endearing, particularly when it comes to talking about Zion.

Everything has not always been smooth sailing for the newly created family, and Mapa’s details of a particularly explosive Thanksgiving are both cringe-inducing and hysterically funny. But what’s obvious throughout is the love the two gay dads feel for their child, and their efforts to create a safe, secure home for him.

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