Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Orpheum Memphis

"I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us." One of my favorite quotes from Peter Pan and it fits so well with this particular story. Kimberly Akimbo teaches a unique lesson about time and aging. 

Kimberly Akimbo centers around soon-to-be sixteen year old Kimberly Levaco (portrayed by the incredibly talented Carolee Carmello) who lives with a rare genetic condition that causes her to age four and half times faster than other people. As she tells her friends (and presents her own imminent death in a biology presentation about her condition), most people with this condition do not live to be past 16. As she celebrates her sixteenth birthday surrounded by her friends and family at the skating rink, the audience is left wondering as we enter act two what awaits our quirky heroine and how long will she defy the odds. 

The show is made up of a relatively small cast, with Kimberly's family- her mother, Pattie (Laura Woyasz), her father Buddy (Jim Hogan), and her aunt, Debra (Emily Koch) as well as her school friends, Seth (Miguel Gil), Delia (Grace Capeless), Martin (Darron Hayes), Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman), and Aaron (Pierce Wheeler). Seth and Kimberly quickly become close friends and Kimberly finds herself falling for him. At first glance, Seth is using Kimberly to get a good Bio grade, as he asks her to partner with him and they do a presentation about her disease but the audience quickly sees that Seth is genuinely a sweet if not naive presence and he even invites Kimberly's friends and family to the skating rink for a surprise birthday party. 

If you are familiar with Fun Home, another Tony-award winning musical, you might recognize the music style of Jeanine Tesori, who won the Tony for Best Score for Kimberly Akimbo. The two stories have some similarities including a quirky family, some tragedy and a lot of dark humor. 

Kimberly Akimbo opened Off-Broadway in December 2021 to high praise. The off-Broadway production won Best Musical at the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. The show moved to Broadway in November of 2022, opening at the Booth Theatre. The musical went on to win five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The production played its final performance on April 28th, 2024 after 32 previews and 612 performances. In 2023, it was announced that the show would launch a North American national tour and earlier this year, it was announced that Kimberly Akimbo will have its Canadian premiere in November. 

I am a long-time fan of Ms. Carmello, having chosen Jon and Jen as my directorial debut in college, as well as seeing her in the original Broadway cast of Finding Neverland, so my inner theatre geek was fan-girling the whole time. Carmello gives a stunning performance, making it look easy to portray a teenage girl whose body is aging quicker than she would like it to. Her age only presents itself in the long notes she holds; otherwise, it is easy to believe she is in high school. Her facial expressions help to tell the story as well. During a lovely ensemble number (Skater Planet Reprise), the group reflects on their futures and what they think they might hold. You can tell that Kimberly is visibly upset by the whole thing and the song becomes something deeper than a group of teenagers' yearnings to grow up.

Every performer has certain moments that stand out and I applaud each and every one of them. Some of my favorites were "Before I Go" (Carmello, Hogan, and Woyasz) as well as Koch's many dark humor moments. In the opening of the show, the teens are pining for another, though we see as the show goes on that unrequited love is another lesson in this show. One of Debra's best moments is when she reveals the teens' crushes on each other-- and Delia (Capeless) storms off the stage, huffing "I can't believe you though I was straight". I also loved the musical numbers of "Hello Sister" and "Great Adventure" with the use of the video camera/projections and Seth helping to make Kimberly's dreams come true with the time she has left.

Kimberly Akimbo will make you laugh, cry, then laugh again. It's an important life lesson of living our lives to the fullest and not letting challenges get in the way of our dreams.