Joan Marcus
When you say, ‘I’m going to see Kimberly Akimbo‘, to anyone who has little familiarity with musical theatre beyond the big name shows that dominate Broadway and tour the country, you’d most likely be met with, ‘What’s a Kimberly Akimbo?’ You can tell them it, in fact, is a big Broadway show that earned eight Tony Award nominations and won five including the biggies: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Score for a Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. Most people are still unlikely to know what the show is because it’s not based on a bestselling novel or major motion picture (remember when movies used to be based on stage shows and not vice versa?), however it is based on a 2001 play by David Lindsay-Abaire, which made its way to Off-Broadway in 2003. Lindsay-Abaire later re-teamed with composer Jeanine Tesori (the pair had worked on Shrek the Musical in 2008) to add songs to the play, and that version opened Off-Broadway in December 2021, then transfered to Broadway in November 2022 where it played 32 previews and 612 regular performances, closing on April 28, 2024 with the national tour launching in September of that year. After nearly two years, Kimberly Akimbo‘s first national tour is winding down, and we have to say right up front — if you’re in Baltimore, Providence, Rhode Island or New Haven, Connecticut … RUN to get your tickets before time runs out. But you still may be asking — what’s it about?
Kimberly Akimbo is set in Bergen County, New Jersey in 1999, when the internet was still in its infancy (and you had to fight over the use of the landline with whoever wanted to make a call) and kids did not have cell phones to keep them entertained or distracted. The show opens with 15-year-old Kimberly Levaco hanging out at the local ice skating rink where a quartet of other kids from school are. Those include Martin Doaty, Aaron Puckett, Teresa Benton and Delia McDaniels, with another student, Seth Weetis, apparently the only employee on duty. All six of these kids are the nerds and outcasts of the class, but Kim stands out the most because she has an unnamed disease that causes her to age rapidly (aka progeria), so she looks like a 65-year-old woman. Yet, no one treats her any differently even though she’s the new girl in class. The rink closes and Kim waits for her father, Buddy, as snow gently falls, and when he arrives … he’s two-and-a-half hours late because he spends too much time drinking at the local bar, so he advises Kim to tell her mother that they had car trouble (an easy problem to believe when there are no cell phones). When they get home, mom Pattie — who is nine months pregnant and has both arms in casts after having a carpal tunnel syndrome operation so she can hold the baby — is told a crazy story by Kim about helping a woman who slipped in the snow which escalated to an outlandish lie that Buddy will never remember. Pattie is also making a video diary for the new baby because she’s sure she’s going to die. The parents are highly dysfunctional and use colorful language freely, causing Kim to have started a Swear Jar to help fund an outing to the Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park. But the Levacos also have a secret that Buddy does not want Kim telling anyone — they are originally from Lodi, New Jersey. He has his reasons. Kim gets tired of their nonsense and goes to her room to write a letter to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, proposing two over-the-top wishes, including being a superstar model for a day, with the third being a more reasonable treehouse (guess which wish gets granted). At school, Martin, Aaron, Delia, and Teresa are busy preparing for a talent show, performing a medley from Dreamgirls to compete with rival West Orange’s Evita medley. But they need costumes fitting for the performance. The four also have a major issue which none of them seem to realize: Martin like Aaron, Aaron likes Delia, Delia likes Teresa, and Teresa likes Martin. They also have a science project about illnesses coming up and Martin has chosen Aaron as his partner, which makes Delia more than happy to team up with Teresa. Seth has asked Kim what her project is about, and she has chosen … glaucoma, which surprises Seth because he though she’d choose her own condition, which he would love to team with her on. She initially leaves him hanging, but eventually warms up to the idea since she is pretty much an expert on the topic. Seth is awkwardly sweet and he also loves puzzles and anagrams, creating ‘Cleverly Akimbo’ from her name. While all six students are hanging out in the school library, a woman suddenly appears and she knows Kim all too well … it’s her Aunt Deb. From Lodi. Left behind when the family up and fled, spending some time living in the woods until she took up residence in the school library, waiting for Kim to make an appearance. Kim initially refuses to tell Deb where they live now, but she writes down the address, and Deb surprises Pattie by crawling through the kitchen window later that night, followed by a drunken Buddy, who is not thrilled to see Deb in his house. Kim seems to enjoy the chaos she helped create. Deb has a dream to fly off to Hawaii — instead of doing something normal like getting a job at Costco — and enlists Kim and her friends in a scam to steal checks from a mailbox, alter them, and cash them so Kim can make her dream come true. Kim only agrees if Deb will give some of the money to the kids for their costumes, and if she gets a say in the plan. Deb agrees, and Kim has a doozy of a plan that involves herself dressed as Seth’s grandmother, helping him at the bank cashing all of his birthday checks. It’s all only ‘slightly illegal’ and Deb assures them that teenagers can’t get in trouble because … they’re teenagers.
Joan Marcus
The story continues on as Buddy fears Seth may be having romantic feelings for his daughter, and Kim has had it with her father’s unfulfilled promises, especially after he comes home drunk again, but with the one thing Kim wants — passes to Great Adventure. Except they’re expired, and Kim finally blows up at her parents, which has the effect of making Buddy stop drinking, and Pattie promises to be a better mother to the baby than she was to Kim — those are the ‘birthday gifts’ they give her at the surprise 16th birthday party Seth throws for her at the ice rink (it should be noted that a person with Kim’s condition has a life expectancy of 16). Kim may be having feelings for Seth as well, and as Deb’s plan is in motion, the promises Buddy and Pattie made slowly unravel, and it’s finally revealed why they ditched Deb and fled Lodi, the stress of everything taking a toll on Kim, who has a ‘cardiac event’. She fakes being asleep when her parents are in the hospital room, but is happy when Seth is there, and she assures him that nothing will stop her from following through with Deb’s plan … except she does not want him to be involved. Or any of the others for that matter. Seth won’t hear of it, but the question remains — will they be successful, and can Kim get away from her toxic family and live out her dreams?
I really had no idea what to expect from Kimberly Akimbo, only knowing that it was about a girl who ages rapidly. Was it going to be a tragic drama? Thankfully, the answer to that is a resounding no. Kimberly Akimbo has laughs galore, and two really big ones when Buddy confronts Kim about Seth’s intentions with her, and when Deb takes it upon herself to help the other four kids finally see the situational entanglement they’ve gotten themselves into. The reveal of what happened in Lodi is also quite funny. The only real moment of drama comes when Kim has her health scare, but that also quickly gives way to laughs, and the finale is tearfully joyful. So you may feel your eyes well up a little at the end, but the whole show is just flat out funny. The songs are also wonderful, usually helping to drive the plot forward or explain situations, and you are sure to be humming the finale number, ‘Great Adventure’, on the way out of the theatre. Director Jessica Stone has done a wonderful job of bringing Lindsay-Abaire’s words to life with a remarkable cast and some wonderful production design, courtesy of David Zinn, transforming the interior of the skating rink lobby into the Levaco home and various parts of the high school. And I have to tell you, there is nothing more magical than seeing it snow on stage. All of the various settings are augmented by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew’s wonderful lighting design, from the cold blue of the rink, to the warm yellows and red of the home, and the brightly lit school library and hallways. Sarah Laux’s costume designs are also wonderfully authentic, nothing flashy, just clothes that suit the characters but feel lived in. I don’t know how many actors in the show wear wigs, but the wig for Kim, by J. Jared Janas, is remarkable to the point that I just assumed it was the actress’ real hair (Kim also gets to actually don a wig later that elicits some laughs, especially when she’s told who she looks like in it). Everything on the technical side of the production is perfection.
Joan Marcus
Beyond perfection, though, is the cast. Ann Morrison is a marvel as Kim, perfectly embodying a teenager’s attitude through the way she speaks and uses her body language. Yes, she looks like a 60-something woman, but you still buy into the idea that she is about to turn 16 … which really helps when it comes to how she and Seth begin to get closer and closer. Morrison also clearly shows us that Kim is the most mature person in her family, a child who had to take on the role of the adult because of all the family dysfunction. She also has a terrific voice, blending well with the others in the many group numbers, and really getting to shine in her solo ‘Make a Wish’, and her duets with Seth, ‘Now’ and ‘Hello, Sister’. She also has a really heartfelt number with Buddy and Pattie, ‘Before I Go’, which will also tug at your heart. Morrison is simply wonderful as Kim. Matching her is Marcus Phillips as Seth, giving the boy such a nerdy sweetness that he is irresistible. I don’t know what he sounds like out of character, but the voice he has created for Seth is just so adorable, I could listen to him talk all day. He also shows Seth’s total awkwardness with Kim, revealing things to her he never thought about until Buddy put them in his head (though if that was all it took, those thoughts were probably in his head already). He also has a wonderful voice, showing it off with Morrison in ‘Anagram’, and in his solo, ‘Good Kid’. Phillips shows how much Seth adores Kim, and you just want them to find happiness together.
Jim Hogan has the hard job of making Buddy likable, even though he also has to be a terrible person in general, and easily prone to melting down, like when he thinks Seth is having romantic thoughts about Kim, or when all the family secrets are revealed at what is supposed to be a normal family dinner (something Kim has never experienced). He also gets to show off his voice in two solos, ‘Happy for Her’ and ‘Hello, Baby’. Laura Wayasz really has the most difficult role of Pattie as she has both arms in casts for the majority of the show, barely able to pick up some small things with her fingers. Her video diaries for the baby are cute, and sometimes quite passively aggressive, but through it all we still root for her … and then a major secret is revealed and we have to wonder if she might be the worst of all. Well, Pattie and Buddy do get the Bad Parenting Award for quickly changing Kim’s room into a nursery when she’s in the hospital, having no real thought that Kim might actually come home, so it’s a toss up as to who is the worst parent. Wayasz also has a lovely voice, shown off in her solo, ‘Hello, Darling’, and joining Morrison and Hogan for ‘Before I Go’. The role of Debra is normally played by Emily Koch, but at our performance the role was taken on by understudy Sarah Lynn Marion, and she was a force to be reckoned with, her Deb wild and out of control (perhaps because she lived in the forest for so long), with a singular goal to get to Hawaii by any means possible, as long as they aren’t legal. It seems that the only person who can tame her is Kim. She steals every scene she’s in with her bigger-than-life personality, and while she has no solos, she manages to shine in group numbers like ‘Better’, ‘How to Wash a Check’ and ‘The Inevitable Turn’. I can’t judge her performance against Koch’s, but it was a real treat to watch Marion just tear up the stage.
Darron Hayes, Max Santopietro, Gabby Beredo and Skye Alyssa Friedman are also wonderful as Martin, Aaron, Delia and Teresa, respectively, so clueless as to who likes who — although the girls obviously have Martin’s number since they automatically assume he can design their costumes for the show — all harmonizing together beautifully, having some fun with the ‘Our Disease’ number, and offering up some choreography, by Danny Mefford, during the family’s big breakdown number. But do they ever get their Dreamgirls costumes? Don’t run out before the end of the show, and you just might find out.
I really wondered if I wanted to see Kimberly Akimbo because I knew so little about it and I was just afraid it was going to be a total tearjerker. I am so happy I did go because it was funny and charming, and it has a wonderful message about how life is short and we all need to live it to the fullest — and happiest — that we can, no matter what obstacles we may face. A great production, wonderful songs, and an outstanding cast are just some of the reasons you should not miss out on seeing Kimberly Akimbo. I don’t know what the future holds for the show after May 17, but if it comes around again, or if your local theatre group mounts a production, please do yourself the favor and see this show. You won’t regret it.
Kimberly Akimbo runs about 2 hours 25 minutes with one intermission. Recommended for ages 13 and up. Children under 5 are not permitted in the theater. The show contains some strong language, crude humor, references to alcohol use, and authentic New Jersey vernacular.
Kimberly Akimbo runs through May 3 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. The last cities on the tour are Providence and New Haven. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Kimberly Akimbo – National Tour (2026)
Kimberly Akimbo Musical
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
