The age of 90s nostalgia is upon us and, with that, comes the rise of entertainment paying tribute to the bygone era. Where most would emphasize the fashion or culture, Broadway has turned to something more unexpected. With an updated version of the dysfunctional family drama, Kimberly Akimbo embodies one of the most creatively accomplished musicals of the past five years. To describe its premise is enough to raise a few eyebrows and make one wonder if it could possibly be worth a look. After all, how could a story centered around a teenager who has rapidly aged and her infatuation with an anagram-obsessed nerd be any good?
It is true that Kimberly Akimbo wears the decade on its sleeves. While it never tilts too far into pastiche, it’s hard not to notice the flannel and plot devices that feel more at home at Sundance than Broadway. These are characters who skirt the line between likability and complete delusions as they turn a recording camera into a place not only to provide a sentimental video for a future sibling, but to slowly unravel with gossip. It’s during the camcorder songs that the show really stretches its experimental side, with the melodies stumbling with humor and self-actualizations hidden among the evading sadness. The subversiveness of the show is so bizarre that it’s a miracle any of it lands.
Credit must be given to the impeccable cast that teeter on the edge of insanity while attempting to hold the shifting melodies in order. At the center of the group is the excellent Carolee Carmello as the titular figure whose social awkwardness becomes an endearing propulsion for every decision. In lesser hands, watching an actor at least twice her co-stars’ age would be difficult to grasp, but Carmello has the bashful innocence of teenage rebellion down pat as she revels in the complicated emotions. It may be absurd, but it’s still a performance ripe with depth and meaning, which reflect the tragedy of a life that feels unlived less because of personal choices and more because teens usually aren’t worried about their mortality.
Another noteworthy performance comes in Emily Koch as the short-fused Debra. She is the screw-up aunt who lives in the school library and ends most of her lines with allusions to her criminal past (and present?). Given that the show wears its brash New Jersey heart on its sleeve, she is the pulse that carries Act II while giving a perfect foil for Kimberly. Does she give into crime and taste freedom, or continue to ruminate on her mediocre life? Add in a supporting cast of harmonizing teens, and you get a show that’s a theatrical romp. Everything is heightened and, with that, creates a perverse search for meaning and aspiration in lives that haven’t prospered so far.
The show is many things at once. Along with a songbook that shifts between catchy melodies and pattering madness, it’s a break from realism the likes of which musicals often never embrace, or at least to this degree. Listeners to the soundtrack will be surprised with how the final 20 minutes play out, especially as the shift between the deservedly emotional “Before I Go” and the powerful “Great Adventure” features more tonal whiplash than the jaunty ukulele would suggest. It’s an impressive feat, even for composer Jeanine Tessori whose previous show Fun Home was an even more searing look at the family dynamic. Thankfully, it mostly works even if its larger messaging seems as warped as the premise would suggest.
Kimberly Akimbo is an odd show not because of any shortcomings, but more the way it embraces the flaws and attempts to find a way forward in spite of them. It’s an endearing tribute to characters who are larger than life while experiencing emotions so raw and vulnerable that can’t help but find truth in the artifice. This is a show self-aware of its own gimmickry and tries to tear apart language until a truer form of communication surfaces. The results may not win everyone over, but those who find this production endearing will have their own oddball gem full of warmth and humor in a sometimes dark world. The results may seem like a misbegotten memory, but then again everyone’s family has some aspect of that. Having the distance to laugh and study it all is what makes this show a perplexing but necessary addition to the musical canon.
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