The Tony Award-winning musical “Kimberly Akimbo” tells the story of a teenager with a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age four times faster than normal.

Now playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, the musical is based on a play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay Abaire, who teamed up with Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori.

Abaire explained how “Kimberly Akimbo” came about in the early 2000s and how it evolved into the show it is today. 

“‘Kimberly Akimbo’ was a play before it was a musical,” he said. “It was one of my very first plays. It was commissioned by South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa. The very first production was done in 2001. It was my third absurdist comedy, but I really felt like I was starting to lean into a more emotional, more personal place than my previous plays.”

Abaire and Tesori first met while working on “Shrek the Musical.” They then began to adapt “Kimberly Akimbo” into a musical, with Abaire writing the lyrics. 

“It was David’s idea to work privately, to find something and work by ourselves for a while,” Tesori said. “And I suggested one of his plays because there was already something there for him to work with. And I thought of Kimberly. I just love this place so much. I’m always looking, in musicals, to put someone on stage I haven’t seen before. And I’ve never seen anyone like this. Someone who clearly has the silhouette and identity of the older woman. And it’s great to put that in the musical theater canon because there are not a ton of them.”

Abaire and Tesori talked about the inspiration for the songs in the show, with Tesori demonstrating her process on the piano.

Abaire spoke about the importance of bringing shows like “Kimberly Akimbo” off of Broadway and to stages across the U.S. 

“When I was growing up, I didn’t see Broadway shows,” Abaire said. “I didn’t live in New York City. I lived in Boston. And the shows that I saw were all of the Colonial Theater in Boston. I would see tours come through. It was because of the tours that I became a playwright. Honestly, there’s nothing more gratifying to know that, there’s going to be kids seeing my show as well. But maybe there’s a playwright out there sitting in the theater that goes on and 20 years later be saying, ‘I saw this show when I was a kid. It was called ‘Kimberly Akimbo.’”

“Kimberly Akimbo” is now playing at the Pantages Theatre through Nov. 3.

Go to BroadwayInHollywood.com to buy tickets. The show will be in Costa Mesa at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts starting Jan. 21, 2025.

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