Theatre Review: ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ walks a tightrope of humor and tragedy

The National Touring Company of Kimberly Akimbo Photo by Joan Marcus On paper Kimberly Akimbo is the type of thing that shouldn t really work The Tony-award winning musical which features music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire follows a girl named Kimberly Levaco who suffers from a condition that causes her to age at a far more rapid pace than usual giving her the appearance of an elderly woman at the ripe old age of There s also a show choir full of horny teens terrible parents and a criminal aunt who spends her time scamming old ladies with dementia out of their money Kimberly Akimbo has a fine line to walk navigating a tricky balance of humor and tragedy The show which is playing at the Fox Theatre through Oct doesn t invariably nail that balance But this particular production features excellent performances that smooth out greater part of those kinks proving that when the show falls into the right hands it can move past the page We first meet Kimberly Ann Morrison as the new kid in Bergen County New Jersey Despite her condition she deals with things that every teenager does namely a crush on the awkwardly adorable tuba-playing Seth Weetis a lovable Miguel Gil But she also has problems outside of the scope of normal teenagedom Her dad Buddy Jim Hogan is an alcoholic Her mother Pattie Laura Woyasz is pregnant and a narcissist openly talking about how she hopes this child will be normal And the average life expectancy for someone with Kimberly s condition is which at the start of the musical is only a scant days away The particular stresses of Kimberly s home life become more clear throughout the unit of the show dolled out in catchy musical numbers It s not Tesori s best work but the entire cast are knockouts vocally and there are times when Tesori shows off her ability to make a musical moment soar One example of this is the song Father Time sung by Pattie as she contemplates the inevitable death of one daughter and the birth of another the complexities of those feelings wrapped up in the music and Woyasz s performance The the greater part showstopping number however is Better a jazzy gospel-esque song sung by Debra Emily Koch Kimberly s crime-loving aunt as she tries to convince Kimberly and her friends that they should do whatever they can no matter how immoral to make their lives better When Debra shows up Kimberly Akimbo really snaps into place tonally Koch has marvelous vocal chops and impeccable comic timing Bulk importantly she s able to balance the amorality and cynicism of the character with that humor and the show follows her lead particularly in the first act The second act of Kimberly Akimbo mostly maintains that highwire balancing act but it does feel a little rushed which gives Kimberly s parents the toughest characters in the musical less time to breathe than they possibly need In the first act the way Kimberly s parents conduct themselves is appalling But there are moments in Father Time and again in Buddy s solo number Happy For Her where even if you don t agree with Pattie or Buddy s actions you can at least feel the toll that watching their daughter live this way has taken on them But in the second act the story rushes through a monumental terrible choice on their part all but erasing that complexity they had in the first act But despite these minimal creaky moments Kimberly Akimbo is able to maintain an impossible sort of sweetness throughout mainly due to the optimism of the character and the general sensitivity with which the story treats teenagers There are no popular kids or bullies in Kimberly Akimbo just show choir nerds a band geek and a girl with a terrible infection all trying to deal with their way through life While Kimberly is obviously going through a little more than the average teenager the show doesn t belittle those average teenage problems whether they be embarrassing yourself in front of your crush or wearing suspenders to school At one point Kimberly describes one of Aunt Debra s hairbrained schemes as scary fun and really stupid To be clear she s talking about washing checks but this is also a pretty great encapsulation of life itself and all its peculiarities For all its small faults Kimberly Akimbo will have you leaving the theater levitating on the truth of that announcement and itching to live life to the fullest stupid moments and all The post Theatre Review Kimberly Akimbo walks a tightrope of humor and tragedy appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta