The best new Eccles musical, ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ is a ‘howlingly funny heartbreaker’
There is no better new musical in the current Broadway at the Eccles season than KIMBERLY AKIMBO.
There are three popular, always-selling-out musicals in the season: LES MISERABLES, THE BOOK OF MORMON, and WICKED. But remember, I wrote NEW musicals. These three shows have toured Salt Lake City previously.
Proving my point, “KIMBERLY AKIMBO is the best new Broadway musical to tour [here] in years,” raves the San Francisco Chronicle. (I saw the show on Broadway, and it is wonderfully equal parts humorous and heart-tugging, with a tremendous score.)
And, KIMBERLY AKIMBO has a remarkable pedigree, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and, to complete the trifecta, two other coveted Tony Awards for book and lyrics (by David Lindsay-Abaire, SHREK) and for score (Jeanine Tesori, FUN HOME). Tesori made history as the first woman composer to win two Best Score Tony Awards.
Further advancing why you should see this musical is the lead actor, the celebrated Carolee Carmello. Assuredly, she has more on-Broadway credits than actors in any other touring show, which includes Tony nominations for creating roles in PARADE, LESTAT, and FINDING NEVERLAND, three of the most-talked-about classics.
“Carmello is dynamic as Kimberly,” according to one website review. “She captures both the character’s mental youth and physical deterioration swiftly but without overemphasizing. Her voice is as powerful as ever.”
Describing her role, Carmello says: “Kimberly is a 16-year-old girl with the appearance of an older woman because of a rare genetic condition.
“She also happens to have a pretty dysfunctional family, and she’s trying to make friends in a new town…so she has a lot on her plate!”
Kimberly, the titular character, moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), she is also forced to navigate her first crush…and possible felony charges. As Carmello explained, there’s also family dysfunction and her rare genetic condition. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
“I saw the show and loved it! I auditioned last December and many months later got a call about going on tour,” Carmello says. That’s one year from her audition to taking the show on the road.
“I hope audiences will have some great laughs, but also feel touched and moved…it’s a very special story,” she anticipates. “When I saw the original Off-Broadway production, I felt very uplifted and hopeful.”
Along with shows she received Tony nominations for, she has played Broadway leading roles in CITY OF ANGELS, CHESS, FALSETTOS, 1776, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, URINETOWN, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and KISS ME, KATE. Carmello also lists plum roles she re-created on tour, like BIG RIVER, LES MISERABLES, FALSETTOS, CHESS, and HELLO, DOLLY!, among others.
“Creating an original role is exciting because you really get to put your stamp on something,” she says. “It’s much more stressful, though, because everything is so risky with a new show; there’s so much at stake.
“Replacing can be less glamorous, but it’s easier in a way because you know that the show works and you know what’s expected of you. I’ve done both, and each has its advantages. I’m just glad to work on good material, which KIMBERLY AKIMBO definitely is!”
The Broadway role she played most often was in MAMMA MIA! “I did the show for four years on Broadway. That’s a lot of repetitions of “Dancing Queen”!
►Eccles Theatre, Dec. 10–15
