No one gets a second time around in life, but if you're lucky, you get a second time around with the 2023 Tony-winning best musical
Kimberly Akimbo, thanks to the Ordway bringing it back to the Twin Cities after
the tours' first stop here last summer at the Orpheum. I didn't know much about the show before seeing it last year, but fell instantly in love with it and was thrilled to revisit this charming, heart-warming, hilarious, and bittersweet musical about a 16-year-old girl living in a body that's aged 4-5 times the normal rate. There aren't that many musicals with a 60+ year old woman in the lead role, and a story that doesn't center around a romance, so that alone is reason to celebrate! This is not a big splashy huge-cast over-the-top kind of musical. It's a small intimate story that's told well, with complex, distinct, relatable characters, and music that perfectly expresses the emotions of the story. I look forward to regional productions of it when it becomes available, and I'd also love to see the original play produced locally, but in the meantime go see this funny, sweet, and touching musical filled with fun, catchy, singable songs,
playing at the Ordway in downtown St. Paul through March 1 only!
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| Kim's birthday party (photo by Joan Marcus) |
We meet Kimberly Levaco shortly after she arrives in a new town, the family having left their previous home for reasons that will soon be revealed. As if being the new girl in town isn't hard enough, Kim is also dealing with an alcoholic father, a pregnant narcissistic mother, a grifter aunt, and a disease that causes her to age at 4-5 times the normal rate. But she soon finds a friend in Seth, the sweetest tuba-playing Elvish-speaking word nerd, an anagram-lover who turns her name into "Cleverly Akimbo." The two become involved in a check fraud scheme with Kim's aunt, along with the high school show choir (the cutest love quadrangle since
A Midsummer Night's Dream). For a while, this gives Kim a sense of purpose and adventure, until thing don't go quite as planned. Unlike her classmates who are looking forward to a whole life in front of them, Kim knows she's at the end of hers, and finds a way to make her own adventure while she still can.
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Kim and Seth share a laugh (Ann Morrison and
Marcus Phillips, photo by Joan Marcus) |
The incredibly talented nine-person cast includes five returnees from last year. We have a new Kimberly this year - Ann Morrison, veteran Broadway actor who was the original Mary in
Merrily We Roll Along. She is such a gem in this role, so emotionally expressive, so believable as this very unique 16-year-old girl. If I haven't already convinced you to see this show, a chance to watch this pro perform should do it. She's joined by another newcomer to the show Marcus Phillips as her sweet friend Seth, very unassuming and charming and adorably awkward. Kim's family returns from last year: Jim Hogan and Laura Woyasz are both very funny as Kim's not very good parents, and manage to give them some humanity too, and Emily Koch is a hoot as Debra, the kind of aunt you can't help but love despite her flaws (and crimes). Two new kids join the fabulous foursome that now consists of Gabby Beredo, Darron Hayes, Skye Alyssa Friedman, and Max Santopietro as a strong chorus, providing background vocals and movement, and they also manage to create distinct characters despite not having a lot of individual moments.
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Aunt Deb (Emily Koch) with the glee club
(photo by Joan Marcus) |
With direction by Jessica Stone and choreography by Danny Mefford, the show flows very smoothly from one location to the next, and from humor to pathos. There aren't really any dance numbers per se, but the movement of the chorus adds a lot to the story, and there's a car scene with three characters smushed uncomfortably into the front seat that may be the best seated choreography I've seen.
Under the frame of a house, the set easily transitions from skating rink (where they actually skate, on skates!) to high school to family home, with set pieces that are rolled in and backdrops lowered from above. It's refreshing to see an entirely practical set with no projections, that's clever and deceptively simple. The unassuming late '90s costumes are character appropriate. (Scenic design by David Zinn, costume design by Sarah Laux).
Book writer and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire (a Pulitzer Prize winner for
Rabbit Hole) adapted his play of the same name, with music by Jeanine Tesori (
Fun Home,
Violet, etc.), and they won Tonys for the score and book. The eight-piece pit orchestra led by Music Director Ryan Edward Wise plays this wonderful score that's so clever and funny and unique, and most importantly clearly expresses the emotions of the piece and moves the story forward. I've been listening to it on repeat since seeing the show and don't see that ending any time soon.
Kimberly Akimbo is kind of an unlikely Broadway musical - small cast, based on a little known play, no tie in to a popular movie or musician. But that's what makes it so special. It succeeds because it's a unique and relatable story - we're all going to get old and die, if hopefully not as fast as Kim, and we all have issues fitting in, and families that don't live up to expectations. And it's a story that's so cleverly and smartly told through music, dialogue, and movement.
