‘Carpe diem’ is the message of Kimberly Akimbo, at the Knight Theater from April 15 - 27

Kimberly Levaco has the same issues that plague most teenagers. She doesn’t feel like she fits in. Her parents sometimes embarrass her. And her family has just moved to a new town – under suspicious circumstances.

But she’s struggling with one issue the friends at her new school don’t have – a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age four times faster than normal. She’s about to turn 16 – but, to all the world, she looks 72.     

If this sounds like a downer, it’s not, insists Laura Woyasz – who joined the touring company of Kimberly Akimbo in January as Kimberly’s mother, Pattie. Woyasz loves hearing the audience’s laughter night after night.

That’s not to say she doesn’t see tears, too. The 2023 Tony Award-winning Best Musical is “heartfelt; sad, but hopeful; moving and uplifting,” Woyasz said. (See for yourself when the tour stops in Charlotte for a two-week run beginning April 15.)

David Lindsay-Abaire reunited with his Shrek the Musical lyricist, Tony winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Fun Home) to turn his 2000 play, Kimberly Akimbo, into a musical.  Lindsay-Abaire (who wrote Rabbit Hole, which won 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) wrote the book and lyrics. Tony nominee Jessica Stone (Water for Elephants) directed.

Despite everything our rapidly aging heroine (played by three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello, who’s been in 1776, Sister Act, Mamma Mia!, Parade and more) is up against – family dysfunction, her first crush, possible felony charges – she’s an eternal optimist. She wants what we all want: Happiness and – maybe – to go on a great adventure.  

(Carolee Carmello in the National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO, photo by Joan Marcus)

From Good Witch to suburban mom

Woyasz, who made her Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked, calls Pattie “a dream role.”

Really?! After playing the epitome of “Popular”?

Yes. While Woyasz loved that role, she said, “Glinda lives in a world that doesn’t exist. She’s literally in a bubble! But Pattie’s an average mom trying the best she can. There’s so much humanity to her. She’s very relatable; she’s not polished or polite.”

The actress admits her character “does some pretty awful things,” but concludes, “I can understand her. If I had a child with a limited life expectancy – a child I knew I’d outlive – I might behave outrageously.”

(Laura Woyasz in the National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO, photo by Patrick Gray, KabikPhotoGroup.com)

Woyasz doesn't excuse those awful things Pattie does, but she understands why she might do them. “She may be prickly, but she’s trying to protect herself from pain,” Woyasz said. “I view her through an empathetic lens.”

And that’s a good thing since the actress described Pattie as “attention-seeking and selfish” and “maybe a bit of a narcissist who makes everything about her.”

Pattie is pregnant, and visibly so. Yet, “there’s still an ‘un-awareness’ about her,” Woyasz said. “She’ll say, ‘I want my next baby to be perfect’ … in front of Kimberly!”

Kimberly ends up taking care of her mom since she’s more responsible than either of her parents. (Buddy, her father, is battling his own demons – alcohol and regret.)  

We only go around once

While Kimberly appears decades older than her high school peers, the truth is that none of them feel they really fit in. Everyone’s got something that makes them feel like an outcast. You don’t have to be 15-going-on-72 to feel out of place.  

“We’re all more alike than we are different” is one of the messages of Kimberly Akimbo.

(Laura Woyasz, Emily Koch, Carolee Carmello and Jim Hogan in the National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO, photo by Patrick Gray, KabikPhotoGroup.com)

Kimberly’s story is universal. We’re not all aging at the rate Kimberly is, but no matter how old we get, we never outgrow the kids we once were.

Tesori explained to Broadway.com that the “story of a young girl trapped in the body of a much older woman … felt emotionally true. When my grandmother was in her late eighties, she would look at the mirror and … say, ‘God, I’m so surprised I’m not 12.’”

Kimberly, at 15, looks in the mirror and sees a septuagenarian. But many septuagenarians are, apparently, looking in the mirror and seeing themselves as teenagers – with all the same fears and foibles they had decades ago. That’s why Woyasz said the musical’s most resounding message – “No one gets a second time around” – is so poignant. “Take the trip!” she advises. “Do the thing you most want to do!”

CONTENT ADVISORY

Kimberly Akimbo contains strong language, crude humor, references to alcohol use and authentic New Jersey vernacular. Recommended for ages 10+.