Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Broadway smash ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ fuses the familiar angst of coming of age stories with atypical elements that don’t so much turn the genre on its head as better align it with our lived experiences.

The setup is familiar – new girl in town with a dysfunctional family, some unspoken secrets, optimistic spirit, quirky aunt meets local boy with his own uniquely unhappy family (see Tolstoy.) It isn’t so much a meet cute as an awkward collision where the characters cling together.

Backing them up is the school show choir functioning as a Greek chorus, backup dancers, comedic group of four students with their own unique stories and longings that we glimpse here and there guised as a romantic quadrangle.

Carolee Carmello stars as Kim with Justin Cooley holding his own as Seth. Kim’s parents Buddy (Jim Hogan) and Pattie (Lauraa Woyasz) are strong characters. Emily Koch as Aunt Debra made a big impression with a big voice and a nice twist or two.

The 90’s setting was a bitter reminder of casual cruelty, especially Kim’s parents comments to their daughter. Their palpable incompetence as parents is played for a lot of laughs, but I suspect their very common human frailties – alcohol abuse, denial, hypochondria – resonate more painfully with the audience than Kim’s unspecified rare genetic disorder. Her parents aren’t evil, but stunted in a late adolescent maturity that did not keep up with their life circumstances.

Kim’s unique capacity is to transcend her body’s limitations in pursuit of her dreams, bit and small. She keeps bouncing back, her resiliency forged in spite of a callous world and limited supports.

Growing older is killing Kim, freeing the other students, but simply reinforcing the status quo of her parents. At intermission, I was curious how these many threads would wrap up and, to my utter delight, I was pleasantly surprised and caught off guard. And satisfied.

Of course, this was a musical, but several of us noted a difficulty understanding the lyrics in this performance. Nothing came home in my ear except for a few bits of dialogue. The singing was strong, the teens earnest look to their futures against the robust, but hardened adults longing for their younger days. I felt that in the music, but honestly did not hear it.

Personally, I’d like super titles streaming over the stage as is often done in opera performances. It isn’t my hearing – just had it tested – but I also know the Benedum has fantastic acoustics so I’ve been puzzling. I did have a general impression of the “hello muddah, hello fuddah” from Allan Sherman. Was that deliberate? It makes no sense.

The set was managed efficiently to take us from home to school to skating rink and elsewhere. And the costumes were interesting 90’s throwback choices especially Kim’s “teenager dressed in older adult clothing” outfits. The mix of plaid and corduroy was not uncommon in that era, a very ‘My So Called Life’ aesthetic.

Would Kimberly Akimbo work as a stageplay? Maybe. The character development in the final scenes might make more sense with spoken dialogue and a few more acts. It is a story that needed many more conversations that I cannot spell out here without spoilers.

The show was nominated for eight Tony awards in 2023, winning five.

The man in front of me recognized me from my blog; his companion is also a reviewer/blogger. Then yet another writer/reviewer from the LGBTQ community stopped by as we all waved to another member of our community we all knew.

I was discussing theater reviews with my associates. All of us were well past 40 and most signficantly so. We were adults during the 90’s setting. While that doesn’t mean we cannot appreciate the musical, I wonder if a row filled with Gen Z and Alpha Gen content creators would do it more justice? And more successfully invite younger generations to engage musical theater?

When talking with these men, they asked me about writing reviews. I was very clear that I have no training as a theater critic and simply share my sincere feedback. The arts are incredibly important and musicals in particular forge a unique bond with fans. In my experience, the minute I talk about seeing a play – people go right to musicals. And that’s a testament to their power.

I have decided to always say this in any review – please, go experience live theater. Take your kids. Teach them to feel comfortable. Community plays, school plays, the big Downtown venues, but also local productions.

Kimberly Akimbo on stage at The Benedum as part of the Broadway Series, now through March 9, 2025.