9 performances I love (that are all in "Kimberly Akimbo")
Yes, that's the whole cast. What of it?
With the Tonys upon us, I’ve been looking for ways to celebrate some of the performances I loved from the 2022-2023 season that didn’t get awards attention. Then I sat down to make my list and found myself returning to Kimberly Akimbo… and realized I also wanted to write about the performances in Kimberly Akimbo that were Tony-nominated. So I scrapped my original plan and decided to just focus on one show and all the incredible actors in it—but I promise I will spread the love in a future post!
What I’m saying is that I’m Kimberly Akimbo-pilled, and it’s very serious. I’m also highly on edge ahead of the Tonys, and feel deeply invested in the awards success of this show that I love, even though awards are not the ultimate arbiter of quality, or even the deciding factor in whether or not a show will have the cultural impact to linger in the public consciousness long after it’s closed. (Obviously that deciding factor is a newsletter read by tens of people.)
Enough preamble! Nine performances that I love, all of which are in Kimberly Akimbo.
Victoria Clark (Kimberly Levaco): Kimberly Akimbo doesn’t work unless you believe Kimberly, a 16-year-old girl who looks 4.5 times older thanks to a rare genetic condition. Clark delivers a thoroughly convincing performance—not just playing a teen who looks like an older woman, but playing a teen who is wise beyond her years and also looks like an older woman. Thanks to her emotionally stunted parents and the knowledge of her mortality, Kim has had to age faster than her years, just not as fast as her body. There’s a fascinating push-and-pull at play, and Clark nails every nuance of it. There’s not an ounce of schtick as she grounds the show’s high-concept conceit.
Justin Cooley (Seth Weetis): It would be easy to underrate Cooley in Kimberly Akimbo. He was barely 18 and fresh out of high school when he started doing the show off-Broadway, so it may not seem like he has to reach as deep for his performance. But that would mean ignoring the relentless quirks and idiosyncrasies of the character, all of which Cooley finds with the perfect blend of awkwardness and seemingly accidental charm. Seth is deeply weird, maybe the oddest romantic lead (I think you can call him that) in a Broadway show that I’ve seen. But that makes him distinct, and Cooley’s work, coupled with the script, ensures you’re never not rooting for him.
Bonnie Milligan (Aunt Debra): I think Kimberly Akimbo is basically a perfect musical, so I don’t want to imply that it’s not exceptional from the jump. But something electric happens when Aunt Debra shows up and belts out “Better,” Kimberly’s most showstopping number. (The one-two punch of “Anagram” and “Better” should be studied.) Milligan is so sharp and so funny, insisting that you fall in love with a character who does very bad things. It helps that her performance is as nuanced as the writing—you never doubt that she cares about Kim, maybe above anything else. (Full disclosure: Bonnie is a friend. But if you think her inclusion on this list is favoritism, go see Kimberly Akimbo!)
Alli Mauzey (Pattie Levaco): Aunt Debra gets a lot of flack for being an exceptionally bad influence on Kimberly, but the parents in this show are a different kind of awful. The common theme here (see above and below) is that David Lindsay-Abaire’s book and lyrics, and the actors onstage, never let you write off any character. Pattie comes across as funny but largely unpleasant when you first meet her, and then Mauzey knocks you out with the astonishing “Father Time.” The emotion she’s able to pour into that song—along with a number of subtler moments throughout the show—let you see how much she does love her daughter, in her own undeniably flawed way. She’s equal parts frustrating and heartbreaking.
Steven Boyer (Buddy Levaco): Much of what I wrote about Pattie and Mauzey’s performance can be applied to what Boyer does with Buddy. In some ways, he has an even bigger hill to climb: He is drunk and disappointing, and has at least one moment of gasp-worthy cruelty. And Buddy doesn’t get a big number in the first act that captures his love for a daughter he knows he’ll outlive. But if you don’t cry at his sung invitation to “see the world”—first to his unborn child and then to Kim—I don’t know what to tell you. This is someone who got trapped by his own bad choices, and now drinks to forget that. Boyer plays him as a man who is trying to do his best, repeatedly failing, and then trying again. The pathos he finds catches you off-guard.
Olivia Elease Hardy (Delia McDaniels), Fernell Hogan II (Martin Doaty), Michael Iskander (Aaron Puckett), Nina White (Teresa Benton): I just want to be clear that every performance by every show choir member deserves its own entry. You can chalk my conflation of these four up to laziness, and judge me accordingly. These actors play their characters’ adolescent longing so realistically that it’s sometimes hard to watch—try not to be triggered by the constant moments of school hallway embarrassment. They could easily just be Kimberly Akimbo’s Greek chorus, but every line is imbued with so much humor and angst that each performer leaves a lasting impression. By the end, you feel almost as invested in the show choir’s ability to get their costumes as you are in Kim getting her road trip.
Kimberly Akimbo is at the Booth Theatre. Buy tickets here.