The curtain rises, and the stage is set. Students skate across the stage, sharing their high school struggles and disdain for their small-town lives.
Skater Planet, a dingy ice skating rink in New Jersey, serves as the backdrop for the most pivotal scenes in “Kimberly Akimbo.” This tongue-in-cheek musical examines themes of life and death, young love and family struggles.
The protagonist, Kimberly Lavaco (Ann Morrison), has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age five times as fast as her peers. However, instead of being cynical, she is full of love and hope for her uncertain future. Morrison’s portrayal of Lavaco’s childlike wonder brought the character to life, deserving of the utmost praise.
Her characterization is enhanced by the impressive costume and set design. Set in the late 1990s, “Kimberly Akimbo” is a masterclass in bringing nostalgia to life with subtlety. Each character had a distinctive style with nods to the time period in which the show was set. One beautiful example of this was the inclusion of Lavaco’s vibrant clothing and always-present butterfly clips that acted as a subtle nod to the 90s.
The standout number of the production was “Skate Planet (Reprise).” While Lavaco and her classmates play Uno between periods, it illustrates how Lavaco’s classmates view high school as a stepping stone for the rest of their lives, contrasted with how Lavaco is quite literally living for high school.
The teen quartet/ensemble of Lavaco’s classmates acted as both a comedic backdrop for the production and a perfectly realistic representation of 16-year-olds in high school. The friends Delia (Gabby Beredo), Martin (Darron Hayes), Teresa (Skye Alyssa Friedman) and Aaron (Max Santopietro) exist in an awkward love square where each member of the friend group is in love with the other.
Although they are each experiencing unrequited love for essentially the first time in their lives, the production includes representation of queer love without their only character trait being that queer love. Each member of the Teen Quartet is a fully fleshed-out character, a testament to the musical’s writing.
Throughout the show, Lavaco also experiences love for the first time. Seth (Marcus Phillips) is a kind and nerdy character who empathizes with Kimberly as they both share struggles with their not-so-great home lives. He becomes Kimberly’s main friend and confidant. He shares with her his love of words and puzzles through another standout number, “Anagrams.”
Kimberly’s home life is complicated at best and tumultuous at worst. Between her narcissistic pregnant mother Pattie (Laura Woyasz), her father Buddy, who is struggling with alcoholism (Jim Hogan) and her aunt Debra (Emily Koch), who makes her money through elaborate schemes, Kimberly does not have it easy.
The music throughout the production ranged from high-energy dance and ensemble numbers to beautiful, slowed-down ballads. This mix of styles led to a multifaceted performance that had me dancing in my seat at one moment and tearing up at another.
A standout performance for me was Pattie. Woyasz’s ability to make the audience both loathe and pity her in the same breath was incredible. Her performances of both “Hello, Darling” and “Father Time” were beautifully acted and sung.
Furthermore, the comedic prowess of both Koch and Hogan had me laughing throughout their performance.
When a production utilizes a check fraud scam as the driving force for the plot, the more serious themes can easily get lost in the mix. One would think that with such an unserious main plotline, the show would be simply a comedy and not have any memorable serious moments or themes. But this was not the case for “Kimberly Akimbo.” Throughout the production, the cast mixed both heart and comedy to form a show worthy of the five Tonys it received.
“Kimberly Akimbo” is currently playing at the Marcus Center in Milwaukee through Feb. 22 as part of a national tour.
