A high-school student, Kimberly, crushes on the tuba-playing, Elvish-speaking Seth, and the two nerdy adolescents express their affection by making word scrambles. . So paired with Tesoris peppy, jingle-like, adequate score is a heap of sadness. She steers the second act into a Catch Me If You Can if that movie was set at a Hackensack Dunkin Donuts. These are edited excerpts from the discussion. Kimberly Akimbo. As she grieved the loss, Milligan was able to postpone her virtual tryout for Kimberly Akimbo. By the time she landed the part, however, theaters and other performance venues were shuttered indefinitely to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Off-Broadway and Broadway stagings of Kimberly Akimbo are the major productions thus far, but the play has had additional major productions. The extreme hypochondria of Kimberlys mother (Alli Mauzey) allows for a can-you-top-this arc as she acquires additional ailments: funny until you clock that with both arms in casts, she cant eat. Kim boldly decides to live every day like its her last. Shop with confidence thanks to the Vivid Seats 100% Buyer Guarantee. This Week, Including a Solo Show About Polka. Cleverly akimbo. But Kimberly finds a friend in a nerdy fellow sophomore student who loves word games, especially anagrams, and has a unique way of looking at life and at her. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Unlike adaptations that do little more than nail vocal Sheetrock onto bare studs of borrowed story, and have approximately the same elegance, this one with music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by Lindsay-Abaire remakes the original on new terms, with songs that beautifully tell us new things. In the first, as Seth struggles to make an anagram of Kimberly Levaco, his strange stabs at solutions (My blacker olive! At the time, an audition seemed out of the question, given that shed returned to her native Ohio to tend to her father Bill, who had recently been diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. By making it a musical, we had a way into the characters that the play did not have. Too often, though, Kimberly seems merely a peripheral figure in the overly farcical proceedings, which are admittedly very funny at times (theres a priceless sight gag involving Mulligan and a mailbox) but too often reduce the show to a sitcom level. Theater Review: 'Kimberly Akimbo,' starring Victoria Clark, opens on Broadway at the Booth Theatre in NYC. Pure enjoyability. I wasnt convinced by them Off Broadway. The songs in the Kimberly Akimbo musical are by David Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote the lyrics, and Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the music. It's.bent. (The bookworm. Kimberly the musical and the character have a strong underdog appeal and a warmth that keeps the audience firmly on its side. Bonnie Milligan, a beloved fixture of New Yorks cabaret circuit for years, is finally getting a chance to establish herself as a full-on theatrical powerhouse by way of Broadways Kimberly Akimbo, this seasons most unconventional new musical. The craziness doesnt stop in the classroom. Pattie is convinced shes going to die soon, and is here breaking the news to her sister, Debra. Kookiest of all is Kimberlys aunt Debra (Bonnie Milligan), a bulldozer who has just gotten out of prison, spends 10 days squatting in the school library and later steals a blue US mailbox. Let us be thriving, let us be attractive, let us be fully formed people because we are in the world.. 8 p.m., Sun. Most of the numbers are choreographed by Danny Mefford with quirky unison gestures that make frequent use of the bopping students. The show tells the story of a lonely teenage girl, Kimberly Levaco, who suffers from a condition similar to progeria that causes her to age rapidly, thereby giving her the appearance of an elderly woman, and how, according to . If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. The actor, singer and and body diversity advocate is giving a star-making performance in "Kimberly Akimbo," an unconventional new musical. Still, as this allows them to provide backup for Milligans barn-burning numbers, I wont complain. She brings Kimberly to life so believably and gorgeously. The oldest and first dedicated online New York Theater Guide Read news on over 150 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. Parker Posey heads the cast of Thomas Bradshaw's cheaply vulgar modern-day adaptation of Chekhov's classic. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. And that enables so much in terms of imagination and promise. Those four kids in the show choir were not in the play. The character of Seth was named Jeff in the. Bonnie Milligan, center, as Kimberlys scheming aunt, with, from left: Olivia Elease Hardy (foreground), Michael Iskander, Clark, Cooley and Nina White. Father Buddy (Steven Boyer) struggles to control his drink and his temper; moony mother Pattie . Directed by Jessica Stone. LINDSAY-ABAIRE During Shrek, I said to Jeanine, I would love to write a musical the way that I write a play, where it would just be us figuring it out for as long as we needed to figure it out. And then Jeanine said, Well, how about one of your plays? Thats upbeat Kimberly, as usual trying to make the best of lifes bad situation. And seldom does that happen with a musical.. And I like how funny it is.. In the opening moment of Kimberly Akimbo, a misfit New Jersey teenager waiting for a ride home stretches her candy choker into her mouth and chomps down on it. Kimberly Akimbo is an odd-duck dramedy with off-center charm and poignant underpinnings. We were just so used to it? In its quieter moments, Kimberly Akimbo displays a poignancy and tenderness that will seep into your heart. Kim is a bright and funny Jersey teen, who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady, and yet, her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Kimberly Akimbo Review: Whats an Anagram for Wonderful? To these five characters, all in the play, the musical adds four others, high school classmates of Kimberly and Seth who in the Atlantic production sometimes seemed to be borrowed from Glee. They are so desperate to finance their show choir costumes that they agree to be Debras accomplices. Here are all the songs youll hear in Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway. It's good enough, in fact, that you wish it had been just a little bit better. Faced with the reality that shes not likely to live much beyond her 16th birthday, Kimberly is eager to check off the milestones of the teenage experience a first kiss, a Disney World road trip before its too late. Nothing should stop the How of the play KIMBERLY AKIMBO ACT ONE Scene 1 A bs of eld wind, unde of winter wind hurling, maybe Lights come upon a bench ouside. Intermissions are usually either 15 or 20 minutes long. The average life expectancy for a child with progeria is about 13 years. Project description: "This funny and heartwarming play is about a teenager with a rare condition that causes her body to age faster than it should." Roles Collapse All Roles Actors & Performers. Kimberly Akimbo is a play written in 2000 by David Lindsay-Abaire. Delia, Martin, Aaron, and Teresa: Kims fellow students, who get drawn into Debras moneymaking grift. I kept forgetting she was dead. Below are the characters of the Kimberly Akimbo musical. The 16-year-old title character in the fascinating new Broadway musical "Kimberly Akimbo" is forced to deal with juvenile parents, a crazy aunt a body aging four times as fast as normal kids. Kimberly Akimbo Faux Candy Logo Necklace. [8] It was critically acclaimed, and won Best Musical prizes at the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Stone, Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire gathered to discuss their process on the first day of previews. [1][2] Its title character is a lonely teenage girl suffering from a disease similar to progeria, that causes her to age four and a half times as fast as normal, thus trapping her inside the frail physical body of an elderly woman. Lindsay-Abaire is an award-winning writer whose work includes plays and musicals and subject matters both serious and comic. Each of these subjects produces a wonderfully unexpected song that forwards the plot while deepening the characterizations. That Tesori can write any kind of music is old news. Kimberly writes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation sweetly asking for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz and a chartered yacht vacation for 50 friends who dont exist, when all she really wants is for her deadbeat parents to make dinner for once and be nice to her. Adapted by writer David Lindsay-Abaire and composer Jeanine Tesori from the 2001 play of the same name, Kimberly Akimbo follows a lonely 15-year-old named Kimberly Levaco (played by Victoria Clark) who has grown up with a premature aging condition similar to progeria, thus making her appear to be well into her 70s. Do you imagine this as the kind of show that parents can take their teens to? Photo credit: Kimberly Akimbo (Photos by Joan Marcus). While never rapturous, Akimbo is always enjoyable and ultimately touching. The new musical, with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, will start previews on Oct. 12, ahead of a Nov. 10 opening. STONE My kids, 13 and 15, were here, and they loved it. Victoria Clark and Justin Cooley in 'Kimberly Akimbo.' (Photo: Ahron R. Foster) "Kimberly Akimbo" will transfer to Broadway this fall. Frank Scheck has been covering film, theater and music for more than 30 years. [My sons] think its hilarious. www.ovationtix.com. Kimberlys aging disorder is unnamed but is like progeria, an extremely rare, progressive genetic disorder. The musical . Far from it: Though an underground river of sorrow gives Kimberly Akimbo its keenness, the surface is shiny comedy. General Manager: 321 Theatrical Management; Company Manager: Tyler Siems; Associate Gen. Mgr: Rachel Kaufman; Assistant Co. Mgr: Anna Wheeler Production Manager: Juniper Street Productions; Production Stage Manager: Arabella Powell; Stage Manager: Mario-Mars Wolfe; Assistant Stage Mgr: Kate Wellhofer Her father, Buddy (Steven Boyer), is floridly irresponsible, reneging on promises and drinking himself into stupors. The theatre most often houses plays. Good Kid is in fact the name of one of Seths numbers, which Cooley, in a flawless Broadway debut, delivers with charm that does not obscure their ruminative, perseverative nature. The cast also included John Gallagher, Jr. and Ana Gasteyer. "Kimberly Akimbo" is directed by SMCT regular cast member Lynda Mondragon. It's good. Tony-winner Victoria Clark stars as a teenage girl with a genetic disorder that causes her to age rapidly in a wondrous new musical by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori. You can win free tickets from Vivid Seats. Her aunt Debra (Bonnie Milligan) is a cheerful, amoral tornado of bad ideas who squats in the Levaco basement to further a check-forging scheme. The cast of the Broadway premiere of the Kimberly Akimbo musical includes the same actors who were in the Off-Broadway presentation. Are the major productions not have like progeria, an extremely rare, progressive genetic disorder 20 long. Numbers, I wont complain Read news on over 150 Broadway and shows! 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