Teenagers are full of questions, like most kids, but unlike a younger kid, they tend to internalize those thoughts: What is the difference between right and wrong? What about the meaning of family or of friendship? What about having a driver’s license?
The show Kimberly Akimbo centers on some of these classic teenage questions. The musical, based on the play by David Lindsay-Abaire, follows 16-year-old Kimberly Levaco (Carolee Carmello) as her family settles into a new house in suburban New Jersey. Being the newest kid in school is never easy, and she faces an even tougher task of fitting in due to having progeria, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome. “Kim’s” body has aged four times faster than the other kids in her class due to this condition.
The show opens at an ice-skating rink, where Kimberly’s solo path is thrown off course when she makes her first true friend in Seth (Justin Cooley, who performed the original role on Broadway). The two are delightfully awkward together, the perfect balance of caution mixed with hope and curiosity about one another. They are joined in friendship by a Greek chorus of show choir kids—Delia (Grace Capeless), Martin (Darron Hayes), Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman), and Aaron (Pierce Wheeler). As teen romances bloom among the characters, the successes and blunders of the friends weave themselves into heartfelt and hilarious songs about desire, hope, and nervousness.
Kimberly’s dad Buddy (Jim Hogan) and mom Pattie (Laura Woyasz) are navigating changes of their own. Pattie recently had surgery, and is expecting another baby, their views on parenthood and family life come face-to-face with the realities of Kimberly’s disease.
The troublesome but lovable Aunt Debra (Emily Koch) pushes the boundaries of Kimberly and her friends, coaxing them to reveal just how far they will go to get what they want.
Dialogue and song are presented throughout as simultaneously serious and comedic. The scenery and costuming are iconically middle class 1990s, complete with candy necklaces and overalls, school bulletin boards in “neon” colors and pre-mobile-phone waiting for parents—this musical ultimately asks the characters and the audience what they are waiting for. What time is there but the present?
Kimberly Akimbo is playing now through Feb. 16 at Orpheum Theater. Tickets range from $35 to $105 and can be bought at ticketomaha.com or by calling 402-345-0606.
