Through August 3
Want to deal with an extremely rare disease that forces sufferers to endure adolescence and aging simultaneously? This is sixteen-year-old Kimberly’s fate.
Kimberly Akimbo, the Tony Award-winning musical now at Playhouse Square, shares a comically exaggerated look at poor Kimberly’s life as a “not typical teenager.” (Most people with her premature aging condition don’t make it past sixteen years old.) With book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, score by Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Danny Mefford, and direction by Jessica Stone, it ticks all the boxes for traditional Broadway success.
That the premise works at all is thanks to the creative team behind it and the excellent cast, starting with musical theater veteran Carolee Carmello. As Kimberly Levaco, Carmello (who is not a teen) touchingly conveys her character’s teenage insecurity and emotional vulnerability.
It doesn’t help Kimberly that her parents (and her aunt) are terrible people. In fact, they embody a teen’s fever dream version of an awful family. Jim Hogan (as Buddy, Kimberly’s father), Laura Woyasz as Pattie (Kimberly’s mother), and Aunt Debra (Emily Koch) almost immediately reveal themselves as psychopathic, pathological narcissists with few redeeming virtues.
That leaves newcomer Kimberly (her family has just moved into town), to make her own world, which, amazingly, she does (with help from new school friends). She even (kinda) finds “first love.”
Schoolmates Seth (Miguel Gil), Delia (Grace Capeless), Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman), Martin (Darron Hayes), and Aaron (Pierce Wheeler) make Kimberly’s life (what’s left of it) a joy. As Seth, Gil impressively combines nerdiness and sexiness and, as a bonus, shares a first kiss with Kimberly. He’s our hero.
Capeless, Friedman, Hayes, and Wheeler also win our hearts, especially their dance in the last scene. Those blue finale dance outfits are killer. (Thank you, costume designer Sarah Laux.)
There are over a dozen songs, but none of them stand out as more than ways to express the singer’s thoughts or obsessions. “Hello, Darling,” for example, sung by Kimberly’s mother to the baby she’s expecting, reveals how she hopes this baby will be better than the last one she made (aka Kimberly). Imagine having to overhear that. Somewhat better, the closing number, “Great Adventure,” does suggest that our hero will find a bit of joy before her life ends. (But I dare you to hum any tunes on your way out and bravo to you if you can.)
Other credits should go to David Zinn (scenic design), Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (lighting design), Kai Harada (sound design), Lucy MacKinnon (projection design), J. Jared Janas (wig, hair and make-up design), and Chris Fenwick (music director). Leigh Delano led a small pit orchestra from the keyboard.
Bottom Line: It’s an important theatrical experience since it won multiple Tony Awards in 2024 and it has a cast that exemplifies the best talent around, but it may work best in its original form as a domestic drama (2001) about a terrible life and a rare affliction. Not everything works as a musical.