Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at National Theatre

DC theatre audiences are blessed because besides there being a huge wealth of local theatres, there are also places like the historic National Theatre that bring us national tours direct from Broadway. It’s current attraction is one of the best tours I’ve seen in a very long time.

The Tony Award winning musical Kimberly Akimbo started out at NY’s Atlantic Theater Company before transferring to Broadway’s Booth Theatre where it won a bunch of Tony Awards including Best Musical.

The show takes place somewhere in Bergen County, NJ. It is here that we meet our lead character Kimberly Levaco (Carolee Carmello) who has a very rare condition. Her age is 15 at the beginning of the play but because of her disease, she looks four or five times older. The condition’s side effects include heart and other medical issues.

Kimberly’s high school classmates include the feminine Martin (Darron Hayes), the driven to win it all at show choir competition Delia (Grace Capeless), the friendly sophomore Aaron (Pierce Wheeler), and the quieter Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman). The quartet’s show choir number for the big competition is a medley from Dreamgirls and they need to raise the money for their costumes so they can beat arch rival West Orange.

There is also Seth (Miguel Gil) who works at the roller rink, plays the tuba, and ultimately takes a very big liking to Kimberly.

Kimberly’s family life is complicated to put it mildly. Her mother and father Pattie and Buddy (Laura Woyasz and Jim Hogan) had to leave their home in Lodi because of something involving a pig mask worn by Pattie’s sister Debra (Emily Koch). The incident got Debra thrown in jail.

When Debra reconnects with the family, she offers to help Kimberly’s friends get the money for their costumes and for Kimberly’s family to take the road trip they’ve been wanting to take for years. Did I mention that Pattie has no use of her hands because of a double carpel tunnel operation and is nine months pregnant? I told you it was complicated.

Kimberly Akimbo rises and falls on the actress playing its title character. Victoria Clark won the Best Actress Tony for her performance and anyone who saw her play the show probably was asking how her performance could be matched.

There is no question that Carolee Carmello matches Clark’s performance. In fact, she brings a new level of shyness and vulnerability to the role, making her Kimberly even more gut wrenching than the character already was. Her “Before I Go” might be one of the most emotional things I’ve ever seen. Carmello has raised the bar for many Broadway shows meaning she has saved many a lower quality musical with her incredible talents. It’s great to see her in a show that has really good material for a change.

I said at the top that Kimberly Akimbo is one of the best national tours I’ve seen and it’s not only because of Carmello’s performance. The whole cast is superb.

Miguel Gil’s Seth is warm and funny, and his “Good Kid” feature is definitely a vocal highlight.

The quartet of Capeless, Friedman, Hayes, and Wheeler work flawlessly together as one unit. And yes, Danny Mefford’s choreography does have a few moves reminiscent of Dreamgirls.

Jim Hogan’s alcoholic but good hearted Buddy is shown off in full with his vocal feature “Happy for Her.”

Laura Woyasz as Pattie is the epitome of a mom to be as she records musical “Hello Darling” messages to her unborn daughter.

Emily Koch’s take on Debra is a little more subtle than Bonnie Milligan’s original but no less wonderful to watch. If you don’t know “How to Wash a Check” after her performance, you are not paying attention.

Director Jessica Stone has taken David Lindsey-Abaire’s touching book and lyrics and Jeanine Tesori’s killer music and brought them to full life again for this tour.

A few other things about this tour that makes it stand out from some of the others.

First, David Zinn’s scenery went through having almost no changes. The exception to this is putting the orchestra in the pit as opposed to onstage. I understand that because the show has to load in and out of venues at a faster pace than if the show was sitting in one place.

Keeping with the orchestra, most tours cut the number of players from Broadway for any number of reasons. Kimberly Akimbo is using the FULL compliment meaning that John Clancy (Orchestrations) and Macy Schmidt’s (Additional Orchestrations) superb work for eight musicians is being heard across the country as it was meant to be.

Musical Director Leigh Delano conducts the other seven musicians with a pixie like energy. She really is enjoying herself conducting and playing Tesori’s music.

Her ensemble is made up of five (including Delano) touring musicians and three local players. The ensemble sounds so tight that they need to be mentioned. They are Leigh Delano (Conductor/Keyboard 1), Ryan Edward Wise (Associate Musical Director/Keyboard 2), Ben Bokor and Kelsey Mire (Reeds), Erin Snedecor (Cello), Frank Zambrano (Drums), Dominic Lamorte (Bass), and Azana Hightower (Guitars and Mandolin).

Kimberly Akimbo is a show that needs to be seen by everyone. The score is one of the best to hit Broadway in the last 20 years. The book is moving and funny. The cast headed by Carolee Carmello is off the skates. See what I did there?

Grab your tickets before this show leaves town on June first because Kimberly Akimbo is definitely one “Great Adventure!”

Running Time: Two Hours and 30 minutes including one intermission.

Kimberly Akimbo runs through June 1st, 2025, at The National Theatre which is located at 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington DC.

Lead photo: The company of the National Tour of Kimberly Akimbo.