Kimberly Akimbo dazzled Broadway in 2022, winning five Tonys the following year, including Best Musical. Now, the national tour of the quirky hit by David Lindsay-Abaire (book, lyrics, and original play) and Jeanine Tesori (music) has landed at the National Theatre, giving the Washington area’s musical fans a hilarious, heartbreaking confection to enjoy.
The play opens at a New Jersey skating rink in 1999. In a deft first number, “Skater Planet,” we meet a quartet of teens who gleefully admit, “We’re too weird in every way.” On the edge of puberty, they’re blooming with all the comical longings and uncertainties that affect youngsters racing toward adulthood. A fifth teen, however, has a special challenge.
Fifteen-year-old Kimberly Levaco (an endearing Carolee Carmello) sits pensively chewing on a candy necklace. A newcomer in town, she’s oddly different. Kim is afflicted with a rare genetic condition that ages her over four times faster than normal. Few with her condition live past the age of 16.
Kim is largely ignored by the skaters, but the desk attendant, also a high school classmate, takes a special interest in her. Seth Weetis, played with delightful goofiness by Miguel Gil, is a neglected kid with a big, unconventional brain. In “Anagram,” he shows his talent in recombining the letters of one word to form another. Kim instantly connects to him, singing, “I like the way you see the world … a little odd, a little off, a bit unorthodox.”
Seth becomes a welcome respite from Kim’s dysfunctional home life. Her dad, Buddy (Jim Hogan), is a stumbling alcoholic saddled with unrealized dreams. Laura Woyasz as Kim’s hypochondriac mom, Pattie, pays intermittent attention to her daughter. Yet she lives with a mother’s worst fears. Pregnant with what’s clearly meant as a replacement of the rapidly aging Kim, she envisions a premature death for herself as well as her elder daughter. Pattie’s funny and touching “Hello, Darling,” sung into a video camera, is an effort to provide a legacy for her unborn child.
Into the mix bounds Mom’s sister, Aunt Debra (Emily Koch), a scene-stealing grifter and ex-con whom the Levacos hoped they’d ditched. The unrepentant Debra has hatched a new scheme to reap riches. Steal a mailbox, extract checks, wash, and repeat. This time, she enlists Kim and her friends to do the dirty work. “How to Wash a Check,” sung uproariously by Debra and her new allies, spells it out.
Small in scale, Kimberly Akimbo (directed by Jessica Stone) tackles some of life’s biggest questions. Each of the characters yearns for a better life, but how and at what cost? Seth’s plaintive “Good Kid” challenges the notion that morality pays off. The quartet of teens, eager to finance new costumes for an upcoming school show, is poised to follow Debra’s risky scam. The Levacos awkwardly strive to accept Kim’s fate and begin again with a “normal” baby, whose genetic makeup, as it turns out, is also involved in a crime.
Kim simply longs for a normal family life. When the Levacos’ comical attempt to stage a single civil meal spins wildly out of control, Kim and Seth, wise beyond their years, find their own way in the short time she has left. Their duet, “Great Adventure,” speaks to the need to live in the present because “no one gets a second chance.”
A uniformly excellent cast whips Scenic Designer David Zinn’s clever sets from scene to scene, adding to the frothy pace of the production. Sarah Laux’s spot-on costumes aptly recall the 1990s, and Lucy Mackinnon’s video design transports us along Seth and Kim’s exhilarating escape route.
While you might not exit the theater humming an unforgettable tune, Tesori’s music and Lindsay-Abaire’s lyrics etch the eccentric characters beautifully and propel the unconventional plot forward at a zesty pace. Kim’s imminent mortality is turned on its head, revealing life-affirming possibilities. Big issues are treated with a lyrical touch.
When Seth adroitly transforms “Kimberly Levaco” into “Cleverly Akimbo,” he speaks not only for Kim but for the entire production. Clever it is, but the musical’s oddball quality personifies the meaning of akimbo: skewed, off-center, at angles, and in this case, lovably unique.
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
The national tour of Kimberly Akimbo plays through June 1, 2025, at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington. Tickets (starting at $55) are available online, at the box office, or by calling (202) 628-6161.
The cast and creative credits for the touring production are here.
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