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Signature Theatre Wins Big with The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical

Signature Theatre Wins Big with The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical

The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical

Signature Theatre

Jordan Wright

June 12, 2025

Eric William Morris (Hunter S. Thompson) and Giovanny Diaz De Leon (The Kid) with the cast of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical at Signature Theatre. (Photo/Christopher Mueller)

 

You might say the country was as polarized during the 1960’s as it is today and you wouldn’t be far off. When Nixon was president a powerful youth-driven counterculture began emerging. Heavily armed police squads were combatting student protests and shutting down university campuses. MLK, JFK and RFK had been assassinated leading to fear and malaise. For a nation battered by the McCarthy hearings of the ‘50’s and the never-ending Vietnam War, there was no clear direction of where the country was headed.

 

Enter journalist Hunter S. Thompson whose passion for drugs, booze and poking the bear fueled his creative juices. In The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical we meet the man, the myth, the iconoclast. Eighteen years in the making, this show has all the relevance of today’s headlines.

 

Lorinda Lisitza (Virginia) and the cast of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical. (Photo/Christopher Mueller)

 

Apart from the juicy lifestyle gems Thompson’s world provides, Joe Iconis, (Book Writer, Lyricist and Composer) and Gregory S. Moss (Book) had to wrangle that material into a musical with characters as disparate as Hunter’s long-suffering wife, Sandy; his nemesis, President Richard Nixon, leader of the Silent Majority, “I’m gonna use my writing to take down a president,” Thompson crows and his barbed writing succeeds; a gaggle of flower children fans and freaks; assorted Hell’s Angels compatriots; editors from his work at Time Magazine, Scanlon’s and the Rolling Stone; Oscar, his cohort and human rights attorney; his neglected son, Juan; and his feisty enabling mother, Virginia.

 

Virginia’s job as a librarian included stealing books for Hunter. These classic novels sparked his imagination. “You can change the world. You can write it,” she tells her wayward teen. He fell hard for Scott Fitzgerald and spent a year typing out “The Great Gatsby” to get a feel for his style of writing, using the novel as his inspiration for seeking ‘the green light’ as a metaphor for finding love and truth. Throughout his drug-addled and booze-fueled career he chased his dream, creating the ground-breaking style of writing later dubbed Gonzo journalism in which the writer is at the center of the story. The musical echoes that journey with some of the wackiest, most wonderful scenes and songs concocted for stage.

 

Eric William Morris (Hunter S. Thompson) and the cast of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical. (Photo/Christopher Mueller)

 

From the A-list actors to the production design, this musical is a stunner with a fuse-blowing wow factor beginning with the arcana-rich set design of Hunter’s oddities and collectibles to the poignant finale. A wealth of standout songs captures Thompson’s wild ride from fame to failure, all supported by candy-colored, tangerine-flake, electric Kool-Aid acid characters. Okay, I cribbed those last descriptors from Tom Wolfe, another ground-breaking writer of the period.

The musical is broken down into nine parts with a prologue, epilogue and two interludes. Standout moments for this reviewer, were Richard Nixon in the entr’acte, played in hilarious over-the-top Vaudeville style by George Abud with the song-and-dance tune, “Richard Nixon’s Big Number” in Another (Stolen) Moment with Richard Nixon (The Swine); “Jann Wenner” and “Song of the Brown Buffalo” in The Fertile Ground of San Francisco; Sandy’s song of her dreams; and Juan’s heart-breaking ballad, “Hey, Dad”.

 

George Abud (Nixon) and the cast of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical. (Photo/Daniel Rader)

Throughout this wild and beautiful musical, there is poignancy, love, fear and loathing, hope and hilarity. See it, feel it, love it!!!

Highly recommended! Five stars, if I gave them out, which I do not.

The fantastic cast stars Eric William Morris as Hunter S. Thompson; Lorinda Lisitza as Virginia; George Abud as Richard Nixon; Tatiana Wechsler as Sandy; George Salazar as Oscar/Dance Captain; Ryan Vona as Juan; Jason SweetTooth Williams as Steadman/Fight Captain; Meghan McLeod as Flower Child; Darlesia as Jann; Giovanny Diaz de Leon as The Kid; Josiah Rey Cajudoas Puppeteer.

Brilliantly directed by Christopher Ashley with breathtaking Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Music Supervised by Rick Edinger; Costume Design by Toni-Leslie James; Lighting Design by Amanda Zieve; Sound Design by Justin Stasiw; Choreography & Musical Staging by John Rua; Hair & Wig Design by Matthew Armentrout; Puppet Design by Animal Cracker Conspiracy; Orchestrations by Charlie Rosen; Vocal Arrangements by Rick Edinger; Sensitivity Specialist, Anne James.

Through July 13th at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village, Arlington, VA. For tickets and information contact the box office at 703.820.9771 or visit www.SigTheatre.org

A Rollicking Brit Sendup Delivers in Spades with The Play That Goes Wrong at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

A Rollicking Brit Sendup Delivers in Spades with The Play That Goes Wrong at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

The Play That Goes Wrong

The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Jordan Wright

June 9, 2025

 Special to The Zebra

Sydné Marie Chesson (Annie), Justin Beland (Robert Grove), Jermaine Mitchel (Trevor Watson), Andy Izquierdo (Jonathan Harris), and Suzy Alden (Sandra Wilkinson) in The Play That Goes Wrong at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. (Photo/Bob Aronstam)

Take a deep breath or two, then prepare to fall down laughing. Oh, righto, dear reader, thankfully you’re already well seated. From start to rollicking finish this hilarious play-within-a-play on steroids never misses a comedic beat as this splendid twelve-member cast proves that anything that can go wrong, will… spectacularly. You’ll recall the old chestnut of Murphy’s Law, well, its tidy aphorism is cheekily born out here. Someone must have said the forbidden word, “Macbeth” backstage, because the Cornley Drama Society proceeds to offer up a shining example of the ineptest group of actors to ever tread the boards.

 

In trying to stage “The Murder at Haversham Manor”, this cockeyed amateur troupe shows that the play’s the thing – until it isn’t. Pratfalls, mishaps, blown cues and botched exits abound, dead bodies won’t stay dead and malapropisms are the order of the day, all done with a straight face and a stiff upper lip. That we, the audience, are in on the farcical nonsense, is the clever conceit.

 

Adam R. Adkins (Inspector Carter) (Photo/Bob Aronstam)

 

It is the night of the engagement party of Florence Colleymore (Suzy Alden) to Charles Haversham (Andy Izquierdo) who has been found murdered. When Inspector Carter (Adam R. Adkins) arrives at the manor to interrogate the estate’s fashionable guests, he doesn’t know whether to point the finger at Florence the seductress; her supercilious brother Thomas (Justin Beland); Charles’ cuckolding brother Cecil (Cameron McBride); Perkins the bumbling Butler (William Wheat); or Arthur the absent gardener (Cameron McBride) But it hardly matters in this whodunnit. With all the mayhem and mischief, everyone is under the microscope.

The only ones who remain relatively unscathed from accusation in this twisted mystery are Trevor Watson (Jermaine Mitchell), the Lighting and Sound Operator and Duran Duran fanboy, whose miscues and mishaps add to the cast’s confusion, and the Stage Manager (Sydné Marie Chesson) who tickles the audience when both of them wind up on stage to fill in for cast members who have been knocked unconscious by falling portraits or hidden behind secret revolving doors and the fourth wall is irretrievably open for business.

 

Cameron McBride (Cecil) and Justin Beland (Thomas) (Photo/Bob Aronstam)

 

If you’ve ever acted in or staged a production, you’ll commiserate with props that aren’t where they’re supposed to be, actors who are self-absorbed hams, sets that fall apart, and doors that won’t open. Especially funny are the ongoing, dueling divas’ scenes when Florence revives from an accident only to discover her role has been taken over by the totally inept, Stage Manager, who becomes feverishly attached to Florence’s femme fatale role.

 

Highly recommended!!! This excellent cast nails their upper crust British accents in a hugely physical comedy that gallops along at lightning speed. It’s a rollicking goofball sendup that’s guaranteed to keep you guffawing long after you’ve left your seat.

 

Andy Izquierdo (Charles Haversham), William Wheat (Perkins), and Justin Beland (Thomas) (Photo/Bob Aronstam)

 

Written by Henry LewisJonathan Sayer & Henry Shields; Directed by Frank D. Shutts II; Set Design by Dan Diesz and Dan Remmers; Lighting and Special Effects by Ken and Patti Crowley; Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley; Fight Director Ian Claar; Dialect Coach Carol Strachan; Sound Design by Alan Wray.

 

Through June 28th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information call the box office at 703.683.0496 or visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com.

 

Humor, Drama and Pathos Combine in Andy Warhol in Iran at Mosaic Theater

Humor, Drama and Pathos Combine in Andy Warhol in Iran at Mosaic Theater

Andy Warhol in Iran

Mosaic Theater

Jordan Wright

June 2, 2025

Nathan Mohebbi (Farhad) and Alex Mills (Andy Warhol) in Mosaic Theater’s Andy Warhol in Iran. (Photo/Iwan Bagus)

 

In our digital age, an artist with a Polaroid camera and a penchant for telephone chitchat, seems rather quaint, but that’s exactly how Warhol started before achieving his massive empire. An awkward Polish kid from Pittsburgh brings his artistic interests to New York City and whammo! Within a few years he’s moved into his film and recording studio, The Factory, managed the band Velvet Underground, and is hanging out with artists, celebrities, socialites, wealthy patrons and odd ducks.

I’d often see Andy in Max’s Kansas City, where artists from the Lower East Side would congregate. He was always with an entourage. Ghostlike he would swan in while his colorful followers would captivate the room flitting from table to table. Though his shock of white hair and sunglasses would make him instantly recognizable, he would shrink into a back booth to watch the effect. Andy was a voyeur, an archivist, an artist, and social catalyst.

Andy Warhol in Iran opens with a few small familiarizing scenes that touch on his early life and his penchant for the telephone. “I just love talking on the phone,” he coyly confesses. Video projections reveal the Pop Art pieces that brought him fame – the Campbell’s soup can and later, silk screen portraits of Elizabeth Taylor, the dress designer Diane Von Furstenburg, Chairman Mao, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, a politically insulting one of Richard Nixon that got him in trouble, and Jackie Kennedy, to name a few of his iconic silkscreen images. Fairly quickly, Warhol realized that these could be reproduced, and along with the business savvy of friend and confidant, Fred Hughes, the money and social influence rolled in.

 

Alex Mills (Andy Warhol). (Photo/Chris Banks)

 

This one-act play imagines a moment in time when Warhol was summoned to Iran to do a photo shoot with Empress Farah Pahlavi who was married to the Shah of Iran. The royal couple were the darlings of American high society. although the Shah had built one of the most repressive police states in history – responsible for propping up British and American oil interests in Iran through the torture, arrest and murder of its citizens. All this is cleverly examined in the play and sets the stage for the planned kidnapping of Warhol from his Teheran hotel by a small radical group seeking international publicity for their cause.

The action really begins to ramp up when room service arrives to Andy’s hotel room. After cordial exchanges, the waiter points a gun at Warhol and tells him he is being kidnapped for political reasons. Warhol protests that he is apolitical, “I find politics really abstract,” he insists. But Farhad is wild-eyed and desperate and over the course of the play they fight about art, politics and humanity. I won’t go any further into the plot which expands and deepens their relationship in ways increasingly electrifying and suspenseful. And although the kidnapping or threat of it never happened, the story reveals the precariousness of human and political relationships

 

Nathan Mohebbi as (Farhad) and Alex Mills (Andy Warhol). (Photo/Chris Banks)

 

Veteran actor Alex Mills inhabits the spirit of Warhol, segueing effortlessly from light-hearted, self-absorbed humor to a portrait of an artist with a tragic backstory and fierce sense of survival. He is evenly matched by Nathan Mohebbi’s dark and dangerous portrayal Farhad, a university student and Iranian revolutionary. When the two men eventually bond over their respective tragedies, emotions shift.

This is a fascinating play filled with drama, humor and pathos. Kudos to Playwright Brent Askari and Director Serge Seiden for bringing it to life.

Scenic Design by Andrew Cohen, Lighting Design by Alberto Segarra, Costume Design by Jeannette Christensen, Wig & Makeup Design by Larry Peterson, Sound Design by David Lamont Wilson, Projections Design by Mona Kasra, Assistant Director and Stage Manager Anahita Sepehri and Intimacy and Violence Director Sierra Young.

Through July 6th at Mosaic Theater at the Atlas, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.399.7993 or visit www.MosaicTheater.org.

Dark Shadows Loom Largely in a Reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

Dark Shadows Loom Largely in a Reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

Frankenstein

Shakespeare Theatre Company

Jordan Wright

May 31, 2025

Rebecca S’manga Frank (Elizabeth), Anna Takayo (Justine), and Nick Westrate (Victor) in Frankenstein at Shakespeare Theatre Company. (Photo/DJ Corey Photography)

 

“The truth is I have never felt the safety of unconditional love,” is a curious statement projected in surtitles from a disembodied voice. It seems to reflect the curious sentiments of Victor, a young scientist from a prestigious Swiss family and future fiancé of Elizabeth, his adopted sister – a complicated relationship at best.

 

In short order we learn a child is missing – Victor’s little brother, William. The maid, Christine, has found him murdered in his room by who knows who. If you’ve seen the movie or read the book, you already do. But in this household, there is great speculation, and the finger of suspicion is pointed directly at the maid, Justine, who found the boy and soon confesses under duress. When Victor tells Elizabeth he will claim he and Justine had an affair and that she has lied to protect his reputation, Elizabeth’s Spidey-sense tells him, “You’re hiding something.” And we’re off to the races. He claims he’ll tell her everything soon, but this play is a series of his fabrications and falsehoods as he gaslights Elizabeth at every turn. You, too, may weary of all the gaslighting, especially since Elizabeth is no slouch. She’s equally sarcastic and parries his lies with snappy comebacks. And, although his fiancée constantly challenges his lofty excuses, she caves to his conniving explanations. It’s puzzling since she’s read him from the get-go.

 

His confounding explanation as to why, after they had announced their engagement, he disappeared for six years with little word, was he had a “fever” while at university. In truth, he was building his creature, though he tells her it was just a guy he met who needed food and a place to stay, and that he was merely being charitable, but now “the guy’s” entire extended family is seeking revenge, and Victor insists they need to run for their lives. There is dark humor in this reimagining of the classic. You just never know when it will appear.

 

Nick Westrate (Victor) and Rebecca S’manga Frank (Elizabeth). (Photos/DJ Corey Photography)

 

Surtitles explain that Victor feels unloved and insecure. Or is it the creature talking? Hmmm… could it be one and the same? “I’ve lost faith in you,” she tells him before a passionate kiss – an unusual response after calling him out on the carpet. Throughout the play, Victor provides endless bizarre excuses for his madness and unconscionable behavior to his future wife. He is the consummate narcissist. At this point we can readily predict Elizabeth’s capitulating responses whenever he questions her love. But, hey, that’s our co-dependent whip-smart Elizabeth who just can’t seem to leave his devious clutches. To add to the confusion, the script is written in modern vernacular and current slang words. It’s confusing, as the set design is decidedly Victorian and they are dressed in Victorian era clothing.

 

The lighting is suggestively moody and storms presage the unexplained disappearances of humans, but it’s not until Act II that we finally meet the Creature, handsome and swarthy and sporting a mink coat. “You have made me your fallen angel,” he accuses Victor. At this point we’ve given up listening to Victor’s countless explanations for his psychosis or the Creature’s insistence on the mad scientist’s culpability. “He built me!” he announces. But we already knew that.

 

No complaints about this terrific cast’s ability to navigate the script. If you’re a fan of the 1960’s TV series Gothic soap opera or its 1990’s remake, “Dark Shadows”, this is one is right up your alley.

 

Rebecca S’manga Frank (Elizabeth) and Nick Westrate (Victor). (Photo/DJ Corey Photography)

 

Nick Westrate as Victor; Rebecca S’manga Frank as Elizabeth; Anna Takayo as Justine/Esther/Voice of Caroline and Young Victor; Lucas Iverson as Creature.

Written and Directed by Emily Burns based on the novel by Mary Shelley; Scenic Design by Andrew Boyce; Costume Design by Kaye Voyce; Lighting Design by Neil Austin; Sound Design/Composition by André Pluess; Projection Design by Elizabeth Barrett; Dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg; Wig & Hair Design by Satellite Wigs, Inc.; Intimacy Consultant Sierra Young.

 

Through June 29th at the Michael R. Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.

 

A Brilliant Cast Dazzles in Gershwin’s American Classic Porgy and Bess at the Kennedy Center

A Brilliant Cast Dazzles in Gershwin’s American Classic Porgy and Bess at the Kennedy Center

Porgy and Bess

Washington National Opera

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Jordan Wright

May 24, 2025

Michael Sumuel (Porgy) and Brittany Renee (Bess) in Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess at the Kennedy Center (Photo/Cory Weaver)

As one of the most celebrated American operas, Porgy and Bess maintains its broad appeal. With music by George Gershwin and libretto by his brother Ira Gerswhin, hallowed names in the pantheon of composers, alongside the team of Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, it premiered in Boston in 1935 enduring decades of controversy and change. Countless directors have sought to broaden or temper its appeal depending on the political winds of the day, yet it endures as a powerful love story, that like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, doesn’t rely on a happy ending to emphasize its appeal. It’s a story about people, in this case Southern Blacks, who share the same emotional struggles, fears and human connections that people experience all over the world. The difference is that this is the 1930’s South, and despite the legal gains of racial justice after the Civil War, much of the country remained/remains a society based on race and class. Porgy and Bess is still very much a period piece of a time and place with echoes of bygone days, but so are many of our most enduring stories and greatest operas whose central themes focus on the universality of the human enigma.

In the expert hands of Director Francesca Zambello, who brought it to the Kennedy Center stage twenty years before, this quintessential American opera retains its broad appeal with an extraordinary cast filled with glorious African American voices and led by an amazing new Black conductor, Kwamé Ryan in his WNO debut.

My enduring love affair with the opera began decades ago when it was made into a Broadway show and later a film with Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge in the lead roles. Though neither one of these mega stars could sing and professional singers were dubbed in on the recording, these songs became huge hits, and I can recall countless hours listening to it on a record player. Songs like “Summertime”, “A Woman is a Sometime Thing”, “Nightime, Daytime”, “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”, “Bess, You is My Woman Now”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, “I Loves You, Porgy”, “I’m On My Way” and other iconic Gershwin tunes forever cemented in Broadway musical theater anthology brought a bright fusion of opera, jazz and musicals. But I digress with chatter about memories.

Cast of Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess (Photo/Cory Weaver)

The story is set in Charleston, South Carolina in the 1950’s in Catfish Row, a community of poor Blacks who plied the coastal waters as fisherman as the women toiled in White households. It centers around Porgy, a large, crippled, big-hearted man; Bess, his beloved; Crown, her abusive, sometime boyfriend; Sportin’ Life, a slick and slithery drug pusher; Maria, the matriarch of the town; Clara, a new mother and her husband Jake, a fisherman; Serena, one of the ladies, and a large community of their neighbors who, though these women exist in a restrictive bubble, have both agency and resilience.

It does little good to write up the story of their interactions, when it is far easier to google it up as it’s well known to opera buffs and those who saw the movie, even though every production has its own singular approach to its telling.

I want to point out that Eric Sean Fogel’s choreography is of central importance – both in the gambling scenes, the praising God church scenes and the big dance numbers – of special note is Sportin’ Life’s cool dance moves and the crackling electricity of all the other dancers. Mark McCullough’s lighting design adds to the general ambiance – flooding the stage in honey tones for the daybreak scenes where the hustle and bustle of daily life begins, to the dramatic hurricane scenes, which, if you’re not prepared, will startle you out of your seat from the cacophony of lightning and thunder.

Chauncey Packer (Sportin’ Life) and cast of Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess (Photo/Cory Weaver)

Highly recommended!!! I can still feel it straight down inside my bones! Do yourself a favor and snag tickets to this phenomenal staging and enjoy a superb cast in the Gershwin classic. You will witness opera history at its finest.

With Michael Sumuel or Reginald Smith, Jr. as Porgy; Brittany Renee or Alyson Cambridge as Bess; Viviana Goodwin as Clara; Amber R. Monroe as Serena; Denyce Graves as Maria; Chauncey Packer as Sportin’ Life; Kenneth Kellogg or Norman Garrett as Crown; Benjamin Taylor as Jake; Marquita Raley-Cooper as Strawberry Woman; Alexandria Crichlow as Lily; Brittani McNeill as Annie; Jonathan Pierce Rhodes as Mingo; Daniel Sampson as Robbins; Keith Craig as Peter the Honeyman; Ernest Jackson as Nelson; Anthony P. Ballard as Crabman; Nicolas LaGesse as Jim; Jarrod Lee as Undertaker; Scott Ward Abernathy as Detective; and James Whalen as Coroner. With the Washington National Opera Orchestra, the Washington National Opera Chorus and the Washington National Opera Corps of Dancers.

With Set Design by Peter J. Davison and Costume Design by Paul Tazewell.

Through May 31st at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.467.4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.

Kimberly Akimbo, A Sweet, Quirky, Edgy Love Story with a Jeanine Tesori Score – Now at The National Theatre

Kimberly Akimbo, A Sweet, Quirky, Edgy Love Story with a Jeanine Tesori Score – Now at The National Theatre

Kimberly Akimbo

Broadway at the National

National Theatre

Jordan Wright

May 21, 2025

Carolee Carmello (Kim) and Miguel Gil (Seth) in the National Tour of Kimberly Akimbo at the National Theatre (Photo/Joan Marcus)

Social life for this close group of teens in suburban New Jersey centers around the school choir and a local ice-skating rink. It’s 1999 and an awkwardly nerdy yet adorable Seth runs Skater Planet’s activities. He likes to solve puzzles, make anagrams out of names (Kimberly Locaro becomes Cleverly Akimbo), play the tuba and speak in Elvish from The Lord of the Rings. He’s had a tough life with the death of his mother, an absent father and a brother in rehab. He’s determined to be the “good son”.

Soon Seth falls for Kimberly who has her own dismal home life. Kim suffers from the rare and debilitating genetic disease that speed-ages her. She’s 15, looks 60, and is already post-menopausal. Her life clock is ticking down. For science class the teens are assigned to write a paper on a disease. Seth partners up with Kim, choosing her disease so he can understand her better. With her life expectancy a mere 16 years, she wants to make the most of the time she has left. Seth fills the bill and becomes her ride-or-die partner in the sweetest, most unusual, and solidly quirky love story.

Laura Woyasz (Pattie), Emily Koch (Debra), Carolee Carmello (Kim), and Jim Hogan (Buddy) (Photo/Patrick Gray)

Kim’s mother Pattie, currently pregnant and a narcissistic hypochondriac, is married to Buddy, a beer-swilling drunk and gas station attendant who’s going nowhere fast. The wear and tear of their issues cripples the family’s interactions. Pattie and Buddy have secrets… deep dark secrets, and family secrets have a way of coming out at the most inopportune time. Amirite? Can you spell highly dysfunctional? But wait! Let’s throw Debra, Kim’s aunt, into this potboiler of a sitcom.

Aunt Debra balances out this unique love story with hellfire crazy. She’s a no-nonsense, trash-talking ex-felon, thief and serial scammer who co-opts the kids into a check washing scheme so Kim can pay for a family trip and the teens can get flashy outfits for their statewide singing competition. What could possibly go wrong?

Cast of the National Touring Company of Kimberly Akimbo (Photo/Joan Marcus)

This national touring company shows it’s up to the challenge in this funny, fast-paced, edgy musical with a terrific score. Did I mention it stars heavy hitter and B’way alum, Carolee Carmello as Kim? In 2023 the musical won five Tony Awards in 2023 for “Best New Musical” plus four other Tonys for “Best Original Score”, “Best Book of a Musical”, “Best Actress in a Leading Role”, and “Best Featured Actress in a Leading Role”. Am I surprised? Not when Jeanine Tesori is the composer known for such Broadway mega-hits as Fun HomeShrekCaroline, or Change, plus the new opera Blue (reviewed here) and the new opera Grounded (reviewed here recently) seen at the Kennedy Center before heading off to the Metropolitan Opera.

With Miguel Gil as Seth; Laura Woyasz as Pattie; Jim Hogan as Buddy; Emily Koch as Debra; Grace Capeless as Delia; Darron Hayes as Martin; Skye Alyssa Friedman as Teresa; Pierce Wheeler as Aaron.

Books & Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire based on his play; Scenic Design by David Zinn; Directed by Jessica Stone; Choreographed by Danny Mefford; Costume Design by Sarah Laux; Lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; Video Design by Lucy MacKinnon.

Through June 1st at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.628.6161 or visit www.TicketMaster.com.