YOUR GREAT ADVENTURE AWAITS
If you rearrange the letters of “progeria,” you can get “opera rig,” or “rigor ape,” or “prior age.” That last one is befitting. Progeria is an incredibly rare syndrome that causes people to age faster than normal. Though the turmoil of high school, a troubled home, and growing up in New Jersey would be traumatic enough for any teenager, Kimberly Levaco, the protagonist of Kimberly Akimbo, is afflicted with a similar “disease”, of which the average life expectancy is 16. And she is on the cusp of her 16th birthday.
Carolee Carmello and Miguel Gil
Skye Alyssa Friedman, Pierce Wheeler, Darron Hayes and Grace Capeless
Despite the bleak premise, this musical is full of color, light, and life. David Lindsay-Abaire (book and lyrics) offers a cunningly comedic script, and Jeanine Tesori’s score maintains her reputation for artfully story-driven and inviting music. It’s no wonder Kimberly Akimbo swept the Tonys in 2023. The North American Tour, which opened at the Hollywood Pantages last night, Wednesday, October 16, 2024, features three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello in the starring role, and she knocks it out of the park. It’s initially disorienting to see a 62-year-old woman play 15, but by the end you discover that, somewhere along the way, you’ve lost sight of the exterior and have been won over by a young girl who just wants the same things as every other high schooler — to see the world, to have their first kiss, to be loved for who they really are.
Emily Koch and Dana Steingold
Dana Steingold
This is how classmate Seth Weetis (Miguel Gill) sees Kimberly. The two connect over anagrams (which is where we get the title—”Kimberly Levaco” rearranges to “cleverly akimbo”) and form a bond that makes us all question whether we really know what it means to be selfless and compassionate. Gill’s performance is impressively nuanced, sincere, and endearing, something I hope the young actor is able to sustain throughout the tour because he is the linchpin for the whole production. We learn to see Kimberly through his eyes, which leads us to the heart of the story.
Skye Alyssa Friedman, Pierce Wheeler, Emily Koch, Darron Hayes and Grace Capeless
The National Touring Company of KIMBERLY AKIMBO
Another standout is Emily Koch who slays, as the kids say, in the role of Debra, the lawless aunt who whips up a whirlwind of chaos and hilarity. She stalks Kimberly’s family to their new town and ropes the kids into a fraudulent scheme that goes awry. The show is glued together by a “geek” chorus, a dynamic quartet of teens played by Grace Capeless, Darron Hayes, Skye Alyssa Friedman, and Pierce Wheeler, each one of whom delivers a laudable, finely spun performance. They become our proxy in a disquieting scene where Kimberly lambasts her self-absorbed classmates, highlighting how we can become preoccupied with our own discomfort when facing another’s disability or misfortune. Dana Steingold and Jim Hogan excellently capture the immaturity and volatility of Kimberly’s dysfunctional parents, who are eager to usher in their new baby in the hopes that this one will be “perfect”.
Carolee Carmello, Miguel Gil and Jim Hogan
Dana Steingold, Emily Koch, Carolee Carmello and Jim Hogan
Kimberly Akimbo does several things right. It manages to take a remarkably esoteric situation and make it universal. Who doesn’t long for a life full of adventure? Who doesn’t feel the visceral anxiety of time slipping away? Who doesn’t wish to be accepted for who they are on the inside? The show strikes the perfect balance between acknowledging the crushing weight of the circumstances and honoring our profound need for hope and joy, understanding that art is often the only way we revive them when they’re lost. We know the inevitable is coming, and it leverages that expectation to a smart and beautiful end. Most importantly, it treats Kimberly and everything she represents with utmost respect. A character like this could easily have been used as inspiration porn. But the writers and performers don’t indulge. Instead, they bring us into the vibrant world of a young girl with fears and aspirations we all share. Through her, they show us how kindness can be a superpower, how we’re more alike than different, and how every moment and person is worth cherishing.
Carolee Carmello and Miguel Gil
photos by Joan Marcus
Carolee Carmello and Jim Hogan
Kimberly Akimbo
national tour
reviewed at The Hollywood Pantages on October 16
ends on November 3, 2024 at The Hollywood Pantages
for tickets ($44-$172), visit Broadway in Hollywood
tour continues; for dates and cities, visit Kimberly Akimbo
Miguel Gil
