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 Home, Shrek, Caroline, 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.