The leading women of two new musical productions are facing momentous birthdays. Bobbi, the protagonist of a gender-reversed revival of Company, is facing a dreaded 35th natal anniversary while still unattached. The title character of Kimberly Akimbo, a musical adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2000 dark comedy, is just turning 16, but the consequences of aging are much graver for her. Kimberly is suffering from a rare disease which causes her to age four times faster than normal and her approaching date could be a death sentence. How the two deal with the challenges presented make for two of the most exciting evenings in the New York theater season so far.
The musical version of Kimberly Akimbo is equally unflinching in its portrait of a dysfunctional family, split apart by disease and misfortune. Yet David Lindsay-Abaire’s book (based on his own play) and lyrics, along with Jeanine Tesori’s music, are riotously funny as well as touchingly empathic.
Kimberly (a magnificent Victoria Clark, skillfully playing a teenager in a 60-year-old body) yearns to be like any girl her age, but physically she’s an old lady, plus her family is more than a little batty. Her dad Buddy (appropriately scruffy and forlorn Steven Boyer) chugs beer to escape reality. Her mom Pattie (hilariously needy Alli Mauzey) has both arms in casts while pregnant with Kim’s sister. Aunt Debra (delightfully lowdown Bonnie Milligan) is a con artist, bent on using Kim as a pawn in a check-forging scheme. Not exactly your model family. Kim is attracted to and finds a fellow outcast in Seth, an equally lonely, puzzle-loving nerd (adorable Justin Cooley).
The show’s title comes from an anagram of Kim’s name, created by Seth as a brainy valentine. The musical improves on the play by widening Kim’s world. We see her in high school attempting to live a normal life but thwarted by her illness. To echo her anxiety, Lindsay-Abdaire and Tesori have added a quartet of student misfits, confused about their sexuality and yearning to hit it big in Show Choir (Olivia Elease Hardy, Fernell Hogan II, Nina White and Michael Iskander, all wonderfully awkward and endearing). In a wrenchingly funny and heartbreaking sequence, the kids perform a musical science class report, detailing various ailments, all very funny. That is until Kimberly (Clark is particularly heartbreaking here) vocalizes about her own ailment and exposes a galaxy of desperate emotions.
Director Jessica Stone’s intimate production balances farce with tragedy. David Zinn’s sets, Sarah Lux’s costumes and Lap Chi Chu’s lighting combine to create a seedy but recognizable New Jersey environment for this bittersweet little show. Hopefully, it will transfer to a longer run either on or Off-Broadway after its limited run at the Atlantic Theater Company.
