If you’re wondering whether the hype is real about “Kimberly Akimbo” – which won five Tony Awards following its 2022 Broadway run, including best musical, book and original score – yes, it is. The touring production at the Hollywood Pantages through Nov. 3 exuberantly celebrates quirkiness through witty wordplay and stellar singing.
The title refers to Kimberly Levaco (Carolee Carmello), a 17-year-old with a disease that makes her age prematurely, who recently relocated to a small New Jersey town in 1999 (evoked by David Zinn’s scenic design and Lucy MacKinnon’s video projection). She still looks and acts like a teen, only with some gray in her long hair and an adult face.
She and other kids who don’t get invited to parties for being “too” something – Delia (Grace Capeless), Martin (Darron Hayes), Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman) and Aaron (Pierce Wheeler) – hang out at the local ice-skating rink where another classmate Seth (Miguel Gil) works, who comes up with the anagram “cleverly akimbo” for Kimberly’s name.
The opening “Skater Planet” immediately serves up these teens’ vulnerability on a platter. That openness toward “difference” and coping with the daily social awkwardness of teen life is what makes David Lindsay-Abaire’s book and lyrics (based on his own 2001 play) so endearing, which Jeanine Tesori’s melodic music only amplifies.
Kimberly herself not only grapples with her disease but also her family: her father Buddy (Jim Hogan) drinks too much and makes promises he can’t keep; her very pregnant mother Pattie (Dana Steingold) seems to have written Kimberly off already; and her Aunt Debra (Emily Koch) routinely breaks the law to make her own life “Better.”
There is also a family secret that had prompted the Levacos to move to a new town on the down low – not even telling Aunt Debra.
Directed by Jessica Stone, the teen characters hit their marks and notes impeccably. They are a pleasure to watch navigating high school science project teams, a dance competition with a rival school and humorously misplaced crushes.
The adults are also spot on, especially Steingold as Kimberly’s mom recording videos for her future baby with the hilarious “Hello, Darling,” though that song’s later reprise with a poignant “Father Time” seems an unnecessary digression that interrupts the flow of the plot.
And Carmello as Kimberly astounds with her amazing voice and combination of tenderness and strength as she grapples with her disease, family, friends and her own dreams – which may not be limited to the treehouse she asks from the Make a Wish Foundation.
“Kimberly Akimbo” is ultimately about surviving as best you can with the cards life deals you, which you could not control. How to play your hand, though, and create your own “Great Adventure” is up to you, despite the odds.
“Kimberly Akimbo” continues at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, through Nov. 3, with shows Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (866) 755-2929 or visiting BroadwayinHollywood.com. Run time is 2 hours and 25 minutes, including intermission.
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