Kimberly Akimbo @ Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide 19/7/2025
With five Tony awards, four Helpmanns, a talented cast, and brilliant artistic and musical direction, Kimberly Akimbo’s Australian production was well set for success for its premiere season in Adelaide – it certainly lived up to expectations and is now preparing for a longer Melbourne season.
The Broadway production won a slew of awards including Best Musical at the Tonys, not surprising given the evocative book by David Lindsay-Abaire (Ripcord) and music by Jeanine Tesori (Shrek, Fun Home).
Bringing the production to Australian audiences are the artistic genius of Mitchell Butel (himself holding four Helpmann awards) and the musical prowess of Kym Purling, the duo last work together on 2024’s hit Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. In a joint venture between the State Theatre Company South Australia and Melbourne Theatre Company, Butel and Purling team up again to deliver a show full of infectious energy and witty reflection on life and time.
Queen of Australian musical theatre, Marina Prior, stars as the titular Kimberly, a sixteen-year-old girl with a rare disease causing her to age four times faster than anyone else. Playing an awkward, lonely, yet resilient and determined teen, Prior delivers a stellar performance with a surety that only years treading the boards can bestow. Every single musical number is perfectly executed by Prior – from her impeccable phrasing and dynamics to the comedic timing. I listened to the Broadway soundtrack before Saturday’s matinee and must say that I much prefer Prior’s portrayal of Kimberly. The ability to work seamlessly with the eight-piece orchestra is evident in the numbers Make a Wish and Before I Go, with musical director Kym Purling’s distinct keyboard styling shining through in Prior’s solo numbers demonstrating a true melding of talents and adding a wonderful flair to the mix.
Christie Whelan Browne and Nathan O’Keefe effortlessly play for laughs as Kimberly’s parents, equal parts narcissistic and tragically afflicted by life’s unfairness. Both Whelan Browne and O’Keefe do a brilliant job of moving the audience from dislike of their self-absorbed characters in Act I to feeling sympathy and understanding of their plight in Act II. Their portrayals are layered and provide greater depth to their characters that go beyond the superficiality and temptation to lean too heavily on similarities to the Wormwood parents in Matilda.
A notable performance comes from Casey Donovan who gives a powerful, quite scary portrayal of Aunt Debra. Casey’s voice is a powerhouse, belting out songs such as Better and How to Wash a Check with charisma, resonance, and aplomb. I feel some of the songs run away a little in tempo, with the orchestra forced to be more fluid than necessary at times. Perhaps having the orchestra under the stage and out of sight does not help with this aspect. Donovan not only has a great voice but is a fantastic actor, adding gravitas to Aunt Debra to ensure that no one can say no to her.
Darcy Wain plays the sweet, caring Seth Weetis – lover of all anagrams and Kimberly’s love interest. Wain depicts Seth beautifully, with a bittersweet yearning that represents a young man learning to live life to its fullest and enjoy the ride.
Standout performances come from four young stars who deliver excellent portrayals of characters with their own storylines but also serve as the talented and harmonious ensemble backing up the main stars’ numbers. Alix Martin (Aaron), Allycia Angeles (Delia), Alana Iannace (Teresa), and Jacob Rozario (Aaron) shine in the numbers Our Disease and Skater Planet. Three of these young performers are products of Adelaide’s very own Elder Conservatorium and their futures look very bright.
Set design is bright and very cleverly planned, choreography is perfect and includes a couple of songs on rollerblades. More salient is that it appropriately fits the time period of 1999 (although this fifty-year-old writer still pulls out some of those moves), and costumes are fun and functional.
The Adelaide season has now finished with the production heading to Melbourne from 26 July to 30 August at the Arts Centre Playhouse. I believe there is great scope for this musical to tour around Australia and that audiences around the country will fall in love with this production.
Review By Kim Burley PhD