Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Kauffman Center

“Kimberly Akimbo” is a tiny, idiosyncratic musical with a cast of only nine actors that somehow manages to share the full Broadway experience with its opening night audience at Kansas City’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. 

“Kimberly” is one of those unusual shows that manages to share warmth, heart, and gentle humor while setting a difficult premise for consideration. It was the multiple Tony Award Winner in 2023 for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical, along with nominations for Best Direction, Best Featured Actor, and Best Orchestrations.

This first national tour of Kimberly Akimbo proves that a small, quality show can travel well—and still land with emotional force. This odd, off-center coming-of-age story arrives with Broadway flash, but with something far rarer: sincerity.

“Kimberly Akimbo” is actually an anagram for the lead character’s full name.  The show tells the tale of the Levaco family.  They are Kimberly, aged sixteen, her Dad Buddy, her Mom Pattie, and Pattie’s problem sister Debra.

Kimberly is the product of Buddy and Pattie’s high school romance. Pattie is currently pregnant with her second child.  Kimberly was unfortunately born with a genetic defect that makes her appear to age at a rate that is four and a half times what might be expected.  Although she is only sixteen, Kimberly appears to be in her mid-sixties.  Most people who suffer from her condition succumb to a cardio-vascular event before their seventeenth birthday.  There is a twenty-five percent chance that the new baby may have the same genetic disorder as her older sister.

The years have not been economically kind to the Levacos.  Pattie’s sister Debra is one of those people who exist on the far side of the law.  She has proven to be a problem for the family.  The Levacos have moved from Lodi, NJ to Bergen County NJ. Hopefully, they have left Aunt Debra behind.

Kimberly is a high schooler.  As the new kid, she is considered an outsider.   As anyone who has ever been the “new kid” knows, it is always uncomfortable.  Imagine if you looked like you were in your sixties, rather than in your mid-teens.  

Kimberly falls in with a group that also considers itself outsiders.  They have met in high school science classroom settings.  The hangout is a local ice rink. Four of the group are members of the high school “show choir” getting ready for a state-wide competition. 

The Four Singers buddy up as lab partners to fulfill an assignment that will describe a disease. That leaves Kimberly as the odd-girt-out.  She is approached by another, shy classmate who works part-time at the skating rink.  He is Seth.  Seth hesitantly invites Kimberly to be his lab partner.  Seth suggests that they use Kimberly’s affliction as their lab project.    

It is a premise that could easily tip into sentimentality. Instead, the touring production leans into dry humor, emotional restraint, and an affecting sense of humanity.

The touring cast carries the show confidently.

Ann Morrison as Kimberly brings warmth, vulnerability, and an understated poignancy that anchors the evening. Her performance never asks for sympathy; it earns it quietly. Ann brings with her a Broadway resume that includes Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Love Musik,” and “Children and Art” plus several shows on London’s West End.

Marcus Phillips as Seth, the endearingly awkward classmate, the production offers a genuine comic presence and one of the show’s most winning vocal performances, particularly in the crowd-pleasing “Good Kid.” Marcus is a member of his third national tour company

Jim Hogan as Buddy transfers directly over from the Broadway Cast.  Laura Woyasz as Pattie comes to “Kimberly Akimbo” from the Broadway cast of “Wicked.” Emily Koch as Debra comes from multiple tours including a stint as Elphaba in “Wicked.”

David Lindsay-Abaire’s book remains sharply observed and often very funny, especially in its depiction of Kimberly’s dysfunctional parents—figures who are both absurd and painfully recognizable. Jeanine Tesori’s score, gentle and unconventional by Broadway standards, fits the story perfectly. Rather than stopping the action, the songs feel like extensions of thought and feeling, making the musical’s emotional beats land organically.

Visually, the tour is clever yet modest. The set design seems pared down, and some moments feel scaled for efficiency rather than spectacle. But Kimberly Akimbo is not a show that relies on technical dazzle. Its strength lies in character and connection, and those elements remain intact.  If I have a complaint, it is that sometimes the immense size of the Kauffman Opera House causes you to lose the age difference between Kimberly and the rest of the actors.

Audience response has been enthusiastic. Some theatergoers may find the show’s tone too quiet or its humor too offbeat. But for those willing to meet it on its own terms, Kimberly Akimbo offers something deeply affecting: a reminder that growing up, even under the strangest circumstances, is about finding joy where you can and holding on to it fiercely.

In a touring landscape dominated by spectacle, Kimberly Akimbo stands out for its intimacy. It doesn’t shout. It speaks softly—and lingers long after the curtain comes down. “Kimberly” comes with a full orchestra performing its score like a Broadway Musical. 

I am reminded of several other small shows that remain as warm spots in audience memory.   Think of “The Fantasticks,” “Dames At Sea,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and “I Do, I Do.”  Think of super books, fine music, and shows that will remain in continuous production because of their underlying quality.

“Kimberly Akimbo” continues at the Kauffman Center through Sunday, January 25, 2026.   Tickets are available through the American Theatre Guild or through Ticketmaster or by telephone at 816.421.7500.