Editor’s Note: Minor spoilers ahead
What happens when a teenager who ages four times faster than normal, a dysfunctional family, and a choir committing check fraud together inhabit a stage?
A bad bar joke? No. Captivating chaos? Absolutely.
Critically acclaimed “Kimberly Akimbo” at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre is a young take on the old philosophical idea of living every day as if it is the last.
“It’s hilarious. It’s heartfelt. It is a very simple story about grabbing life by the reins and taking every moment that you can, really, it’s just about living your life to the fullest,” said prolific Broadway actor Jim Hogan, who plays Buddy, Kimberly’s father.
Kimberly, played by 70-year-old actor Ann Morrison, has a fictional disease where she physically ages four times faster than other children. Because of this disease, her life expectancy is only 16 years.
The tale tangos with themes of dreams, battles with bucket lists, and ruffles the feathers of family trauma.
Due to the major tonal shifts, Hogan said he can stretch all his theatrical tendons.
“It doesn’t get any better, because you get to flex every muscle that you feel like you’ve been working at,” Hogan said. “It’s just like all-encompassing, and that’s really part of the magic in the show.”
The themes were captured most magically by the setlist of spectacular songs. The audience’s attention was immediately grabbed by the opening song, “Skater Planet.”
Former University of Maryland, Baltimore County theater professor Alan Kreizenbeck said that while he did not have a specific favorite song, the music kept him in his seat.
“I thought the songwriting quality was pretty high,” Kreizenbeck said. “The songs were catchy, they had good hooks, they were pretty witty, and they were all just interesting to listen to.”
Hogan explained that one of his favorite songs to perform is “Happy for Her,” a song near the end of Act I.
“It is a very funny, quippy, little dark comedy that I really get to lean into,” Hogan said.
Colleen Geisen, a Hippodrome season ticket holder, remarked that “Great Adventure,” the closing number to the show, was the most emotionally impactful piece.
Every vocal performance played a pivotal role in moving the plot forward. No song felt forced. And no song overstayed its welcome.
Despite the fact that almost every seat was on April 30. was filled, the atmosphere among the audience felt overwhelmingly intimate.
Hogan said that this intimacy is largely due to the number of people on stage as well as the simplistic set design.
“And that’s why I feel super lucky to get to tell this story,” Hogan said. “There are only nine of us on stage. There are no tap numbers, there is no big crazy spectacle sets, we’re just telling a really specific, smart, well-written, well-crafted, story.”
That story is communicated to the crowd through the relational dynamics of Kimberly’s family, her love interest, and her classmates.
Not one person knows how much time they have left. The show is a shining (not somber) reminder of that fact.
“It made me feel like I need to get up, get moving and get some things done, and not put things off. It hit me a little differently because I’m middle aged,” Geisen said. “And it doesn’t matter what your age is, it was a good reminder to don’t put things off.”
With minimal flashing lights and maximum catchy tunes, “Kimberly Akimbo” holds audiences’ attention until the curtain falls.
“I think what I can learn from the show and from Kimberly as a person specifically, is that she has found her own way to pursue her own dreams,” Hogan said. “She is such a brave soul at the end of the day and that is something I am hoping to carry with me after this thing.”
