By Nathan Top
While the theatre world is often saturated with jukebox musical, movie musical adaptations, and revivals of long-standing works, usually once or twice a season comes a musical that is purely made for stage that highlights the opportunities and parameters the come from the musical theatre medium, showcasing thoughtful writing and intelligent execution. Kimberly Akimbo is that show this season.
The Story of Kimberly Akimbo
The story centers on 15-year-old Kimberly Levaco, a shy new girl in Bergen County, New Jersey with a disease that makes her age four to five times as fast as normal. As she approaches her 16th birthday, which also happens to be her life expectancy age, Kimberly seeks to make the most of the time she has left. This proves to be a bigger challenge than expected while navigating her relationships with narcissistic parents, criminal aunt, fellow high schoolers, and awkward-yet-charming crush, Seth.
Kimberly Akimbo is a Musical
With book and lyrics by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee Jeanine Tesori, Kimberly Akimbo is the winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Tesori’s score is stylistically on-brand. As with previous shows (Fun Home, Caroline, or Change), the score is a delightful hybrid of wind-and-string chamber music with pop/rock undertones throughout. Lindsay-Abaires lyrics are adequate, but the script is vibrant and fun. The subtext ripples throughout the show the longer it goes, making us laugh and breaking our hearts in the same line.
Direction and Design Team
Director Jessica Stone from the beginning captures the period tone of the show. Set in 1999, we understand the world is a little different, especially for teenagers. It is awkward, painful, and confusing, without an escape with the use of cell phones.
Scenic designer David Zinn, lighting designer Jeanette Ol-Suk Yew, and costume designer Sarah Laux create a colorful and nostalgic 90’s visual to serve as a functional backdrop to this character-driven story.
There is an innocence and whimsy to the pre-Y2K era that Stone leans into. The universal wants to be seen, heard, and loved are the same; the way the show demonstrates them is a little different. Stone capitalizes on the humor and heart of the situation at hand, a teen cursed with an older woman’s body. The comedic timing is fast and bright and never bogs down the story of the show. There is no lack of irony in every interaction, even down to the subtle misstatements and uncomfortable exchanges.
Performances
Carolee Carmello’s performance as the titular Kimberly Levaco hums with nuance, capturing all the teen awkwardness with the heartbreak of a realistic adult expiration. Her number “Make a Wish” is charming and funny until the bridge, where she leans into the sorrow of her reality.
Justin Cooley’s Seth is winning and funny. While his character isn’t scripted many outright zingers, Cooley captures the humor of being sixteen, having so many feelings combined with clunky execution in expressing them.
Jim Hogan and Laura Woyasz portray Kimberly’s incorrigible parents, Buddy and Pattie. The bulk of the kitchen-sink drama takes place between them and Carmello. While clearly dislikable, Hogan and Woyasz bring enough empathy to their flawed characters that we still empathize with Kimberly’s desire to be seen by them.
Emily Koch, as almost if by design, steals the show as Kimberly’s malefactor Aunt Debra, who does a significant amount of the show’s comedic heavy lifting and belts the showstopping contemporary gospel number “Better.”
Overall
Kimberly Akimbo is a purely original show and a showcase of theatre as its own art form. It’s not trying to act like a movie. It’s live, it moves and breathes with each performance and new setting, providing meaning to different people at different points in their lives, and gives a reason to keep supporting and celebrating live theatre.
Tickets
Kimberly Akimbo runs now through March 2nd at Cincinnati’s Aronoff Theatre, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati. Purchase tickets here. (Good news–a limited number of RUSH tickets will be available 2 hours before each show!)
