KIMBERLY AKIMBO Reviews- Page 9

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/26/23 at 3:35pm

And she’s worth it. Master class performance in how to act a song. This is a show I’d see a few more times. The score is good but you won’t really leaving humming songs but they peaked my interest enough to want to hear them again. 
 

Also, for what it’s worth: I checked Tuesday for the Saturday matinee and there were a tons of seats available. Then day of, I rushed around 11 and I got box seats thinking I’ll move down and it was pretty much sold out. 

[Fluffy 2]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 4:52pm

I saw the show when Clark was out, so maybe that impacted my viewing of it, but I didn't love it. Overall fairly enjoyable, with some really funny moments from Justin Cooley, but the music left a lot to be desired IMO. 

The book, rather than the music, was my favorite part which is pretty rare. Definitely think this works better as a play than a musical, as the music didn't add anything to story other than (a little) more humor and (a little) more poignancy. There didn't seem to be any reason for it to be a musical instead of a play, and the music wasn't great enough for me to forgive this.

Definitely glad I saw it since it's up for best nomination, and certainly worth seeing, but I am glad I rushed and didn't pay full price tbh. I saw Some Like It Hot that night and enjoyed myself much more despite its flaws.

[MCW1227]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 8:29pm

Going to see it for the 4th time tomorrow. It’s so unique and charming and I’m hoping it wins a Tony so people will get a chance to see it. 

[bholtzinger544]

Posted: 4/6/23 at 12:32pm

Just saw on Telecharge that tickets are now on sale through August! Glad to see it!

[dwwst12]

Posted: 4/20/23 at 9:57am

Saw this a couple nights ago, and now have gone back and read these spoiler comments.

I'm sensing a sort of Dear Evan Hansen-esque Rorschach test here.

I (and the two people I attended with) fall squarely on the side of those who say that the humor didn't counterbalance the darkness -- just temporarily distracted from it. And that the parents in particular were incredibly unsympathetic. They're characters I'm not even sure I care to listen to again on the cast recording.

My wife put it well when she said she could've handled a show where someone comes from a terrible home situation and emerges triumphant, OR a show about someone with a fatal disease who accomplishes something great, cheered on by a supportive family. But instead, it was a show where the whole family was terrible for 16 years, pretty much right up to the end, they never seem to feel all that bad about it, they are cool moving on with a new kid, and then I'm supposed to feel happy that she went to a theme park.

I still liked many aspects of it. It was funny. The cast was terrific. There was just inadequate catharsis, and it left all of us feeling sadder than it should have.

I don't want to re-litigate it too much, and I appreciated the civilized discussion by bear88 and the show's fans!

Updated On: 4/20/23 at 09:57 AM

[romain2]

Posted: 4/20/23 at 10:05pm

Loved this show! Fantastic cast, beautifully directed and staged. Many songs (e.g., Great Adventure, Father Time) I now have on heavy rotation. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/23/23 at 6:38pm

I caught this again this afternoon (second time entering the digital lottery and second time winning the digital lottery - great seat second row orchestra dead center), and I think I fell in love with the show even more than I did the first time. This is definitely the best new musical of the season. It is wildly charming and quirky with a stellar cast giving knockout performances.

If you haven't seen this yet, or want to go again, I recommend playing the digital lottery this upcoming week. I anticipate it will be harder to win after nominations and the Tony awards.

[musikman]

Posted: 4/23/23 at 7:25pm

bwayphreak234 said: "I caught this again this afternoon (second time entering the digital lottery and second time winning the digital lottery - great seat second row orchestra dead center), and I think I fell in love with the show even more than I did the first time. This is definitely the best new musical of the season. It is wildly charming and quirky with a stellar cast giving knockout performances.

If you haven't seen this yet, or want to go again, I recommend playing the digital lottery this upcoming week. I anticipate it will be harder to win after nominations and the Tony awards."

Like every other Jeanine Tesori musical (except Shrek? Lol), a second viewing always enhances your enjoyment and understanding of the piece   So many layers.  Each time I’ve seen this show, it gets better and better   

 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 3:39pm

I have one ticket available for tonight’s 7pm performance - Orch R, Row H Seat 6. Asking $45. 

[rachelfran]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 4:16pm

I won a lottery ticket and saw this for the first time last night ... first row, dead center.

I enjoyed it.  It was quirky and funny and I teared up a couple of times but I was told by friends I would love it and to bring tissues .. in the way that people say that when they were so overwhelmed with a show. 

I am definitely someone who cries at shows so I was disappointed to not feel it more.  I recently lost my husband and my mother so I am even more prone to cry - especially at the idea of a terminal illness, but, for some reason, I didn't totally get there.

All that said, the performances are great and the voices are so good and the songs are funny and witty.

I think I really had a hard time with the adults and just how awful they are... It feels like almost too much.  I still liked almost everything else about it.

 

Rachel

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 4:31pm

Hi Rachel,

Please accept my condolences on all the trauma you have been through recently. I am deeply sorry for your losses. I'm glad you enjoyed the songs and the performances, those actors are phenomenal in my eyes, even when their characters really suck. Ha. 

Take care,

Sutton 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 5:26pm

Dear Rachel, 

So sorry for your losses. I'm sending you a ton of virtual hugs and well wishes. Kimberly Akimbo is my absolute favorite of this season's musicals. 

It was a cathartic experience for me as well. 

I wish you all the best. 



~ Carlos-Alberto

 

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 12:12am

After all the gushing on here about this show I was expecting more, I guess. Like "Fun Home," I didn't find the music or lyrics memorable and found the book more interesting.  The cast is insanely talented, so I wanted to care and have empathy for the characters, which I did in Act One. But by the end of Act Two even the hero and heroine have lost their moral compass, and I didn't understand what perception the director, composer, lyricist, or author wanted audiences to take away from that extremely dramatic change... at all. 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Kimberly escapes her toxic household (yeah!) by going on a crime spree? (Erm... yeah?!?!????)

  And it's presented, without irony, as a happy ending. 

So Act One I enjoyed.  Act Two, frustrated me

 

Updated On: 4/30/23 at 12:12 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 9:41pm

The company is heading to Washington, D.C. on their day off to film an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 10:42am

ChorusKitty said: "After all the gushing on here about this show I was expecting more, I guess. Like "Fun Home," I didn't find the music or lyrics memorable and found the book more interesting. The cast is insanely talented, so I wanted to care and have empathy for the characters, which I did in Act One. But by the end of Act Two even the hero and heroine have lost their moral compass, and I didn't understand what perception the director, composer, lyricist, or author wanted audiences to take away from that extremely dramatic change... at all.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Kimberly escapes her toxic household (yeah!) by going on a crime spree? (Erm... yeah?!?!????)

 

 

And it's presented, without irony, as a happy ending.

So Act One I enjoyed. Act Two, frustrated me"

 

 

Well, I can understand the frustration, but I think it's more so meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek / fantastical. Basically, Kimberly took the best of a bad situation. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 12:17pm

Saw the show yesterday on rush for $40.  Victoria was out.  Her stand by Colleen went on for her.  

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 12:30pm

"Well, I can understand the frustration, but I think it's more so meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek / fantastical. Basically, Kimberly took the best of a bad situation."

I agree. I absolutely love the ending, especially when we see

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

the footage of Kim in Disneyworld. So incredibly moving, and it reminds me a lot of the ending of The Florida Project, where a child about to be taken into foster care runs away to Disney instead.

 

 

 

 

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 1:01am

RippedMan said:"
Well, I can understand the frustration, but I think it's more so meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek / fantastical. Basically, Kimberly took the best of a bad situation."

A child who grows up in a psychologically abusive household which has criminal elements and who then goes on to be a felon is... "fantastical?" 

In the end, Kimberly and Seth are no better than the rest of her family.  I'm not sure how that isn't obvious to audiences or the creatives involved.  Yes, her wish comes true... via ill gotten gains.  Is that, honestly, something celebratory?  Has anyone here had something stolen from them and found that laudable?

So, sorry....  I guess I hoped for better from characters I wasted two hours of time having empathy for.  I understand other people's perspective, who celebrate the fact that Kimberly gets her moments of joy in the end.  But, for me, the actions taken to reach the happy ending made it tainted. 

 

 

 

 

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 1:19am

ChorusKitty said: "RippedMan said:"
Well, I can understand the frustration, but I think it's more so meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek / fantastical. Basically, Kimberly took the best of a bad situation."

A child who grows up in a psychologically abusive household which has criminal elements and who then goes on to be a felon is... "fantastical?"

In the end, Kimberly and Seth are no better than the rest of her family. I'm not sure how that isn't obvious to audiences or the creatives involved. Yes, her wish comes true... via ill gotten gains. Is that, honestly, something celebratory? Has anyone here had something stolen from them and found that laudable?

So, sorry.... I guess I hoped for better from characters I wasted two hours of time having empathy for. I understand other people's perspective, who celebrate the fact that Kimberly gets her moments of joy in the end. But, for me, the actions taken to reach the happy ending made it tainted.

 

Just my opinion, but I feel you took everything too literally and mised the whole point of the story. (And a lot of it has do do with why she went through with the plan)  There is more to it than what happened surrounding the money.







"

 

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 8:02am

I completely understood the show's central simplistic theme of "living life to your fullest while you can/experience everything life has to offer," thanks.  

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 8:19am

I genuinely can’t imagine seeing this show and thinking “That would have been a touching story, but all the CRIME. Distasteful.”

It’s fiction. It’s also mildly absurd. Get a grip.

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 8:30am

ColorTheHours048 said: "I genuinely can’t imagine seeing this show and thinking “That would have been a touching story, but all the CRIME. Distasteful.”

It’s fiction. It’s also mildly absurd. Get a grip."

Yeah, I understand the criticisms of the parents, but not really the mail fraud plot. High schoolers doing crime (and it being used for comedy) is a pretty common and classic trope. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 12:30pm

ChorusKitty said: "Yes, her wish comes true... via ill gotten gains. Is that, honestly, something celebratory?"

Personally, I don't think it's any harder to swallow than the goings-on in other crime-centered musicals like Oliver! or Guys and Dolls. Like the former, the kids are being manipulated by an adult, and like the latter, the action seems to take place in a slightly stylized universe.

I'd also point out that Kimberly insists that reparations be made to the victims. Given that we see Debra in a Costco uniform and the kids in their chorus garb in the final montage - rather than prison clothes - I assume that this eventually happens. 

No, I'm not saying that these actions would be acceptable in the real world. Neither would people breaking out in song as I'm trying to ice skate. 

Updated On: 5/2/23 at 12:30 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 1:08pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "I genuinely can’t imagine seeing this show and thinking “That would have been a touching story, but all the CRIME. Distasteful.”

It’s fiction. It’s also mildly absurd. Get a grip."

100%

 

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 9:58pm

No, I don't need to "get a grip;" like everyone else on this platform, I can give my view on the show and how I perceived its strengths and weaknesses.  I truly enjoyed the first act, I was disappointed in the second act. C'est la vie. I don't begrudge anyone for feeling it's their favorite musical of the season.  I realize many people love it, and it's the front runner for Best Musical. That doesn't change *my* disappointment in the character arc of the second act. 

I'm very happy for the cast who received Tony nominations today.  They were all great.

The revival of "Sweeney Todd" remains my favorite crime musical of the season though: better score, better crimes. Distasteful BUT...  touching in the end.  How sad Dame Edna passed, she would have been the ultimate Mrs. Lovett and given the absurdity of the plot the gravitas it deserved. Lol