KIMBERLY AKIMBO to Broadway this Fall!

Featuring Clark, Milligan, and most of the off-Broadway cast

I don't necessarily think this show needs a transfer in the first place, but given the circumstances, I think they were smart to wait until next season. Though I wonder if it would've been smarter to wait until next spring. With a fall opening date, it'll be tough for them to stay afloat until Tony-time, and that's really their only shot at financial success.

Did we know that LaChanze is a producer of the show?

https://deadline.com/2022/02/kimberly-akimbo-broadway-musical-fall-2022-victoria-clark-1234959737/

Bonnie Milligan is going back to Broadway! This will definitely be on my list for the fall!

Updated On: 2/25/22 at 10:35 AM

Victoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan will be early frontrunners for the 2023 Tonys.

I really adored this show. It's a small musical, and sure, it might be a challenge to find a big audience, but even if it's a minor cult darling, I think hitting Broadway will guarantee it life in regional theaters for years to come. And what a treat to have another chance to see Justin Cooley's overwhelmingly endearing performance and Bonnie Milligan's go-for-broke hilarity. I'll be making a return trip for sure!

Aw man, this is such great news!

Yes! So happy that this will not have to compete against Strange Loop this award season. I actually feel that Kimberly Akimbo has more commercial viability than some of you are giving it. The random wacky weird storyline makes it appeal to a broader audience imo, even tho the ending is depressing af bc we know what will inevitably happen to Kim.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "This is going to be atough sell and probably would have been better off taking the FUN HOME route of opening in the spring. I just do not see this being appealing to mass audiences without both reviews and awards attention, unless David Stone can devise a reallycanny ad campaign.

There are so mnay scenarios. It could be this year's GREAT COMET (artistically successful, makes it to the Tonys, fails financially). Could be our GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE (limps to success). Could be our SCOTTSBORO BOYS (artistically successful, long gone before the Tonys)."

Fully agree, although it seems they think they're following the Dear Evan Hansen track, but with a show that doesn't have anywhere near the audience appeal. This will be fighting for the same audience as A Strange Loop, which will be high off its Tony win, forcing this to limp until Tonys 2023. Fun Home managed to wait a calendar year to transfer and still kept the hype, I think they could've exercised more patience.

As for theater, I've heard from multiple sources that its original plan was going into a theater not yet mentioned in this thread. The Music Box theory sounds about right to me, or they would've announced the other house today.

I'm delighted by this news, as this was definitely my favorite new show I've seen this season. I hope they do a little bit of work on the book to tighten it up -- and maybe tweak a couple of the songs... but I am very excited about this transfer.

So happy this is transferring!! I mean, in a way it's kind of smart. It seems like a show that would appeal to the NYC theater goers and not tourists. And there aren't really the same amount of tourists right now, so a show centered at the nyc theater goer might be a smart sell.

RippedMan said: "I mean, in a way it's kind of smart. It seems like a show that would appeal to the NYC theater goers and not tourists. And there aren't really the same amount of tourists right now, so a show centered at the nyc theater goer might be a smart sell."



Unfortunately, this logic hasn't proven to hold up. This was exactly the same thing everyone thought going into Fall '21, but all of "aimed at locals" shows still failed, and the traditionally tourist-driven shows still did well.

The Times article with the leaked grosses touched on this topic:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/theater/broadway-hamilton-wicked-lion-king.html

Also, I would question what we think of as "aimed at locals." Kimberly Akimbo already had an NYC run, so most of the local theatre-goers already had the chance to see it. It sold well, but wasn't a crazy hot ticket, which indicates that the demand didn't reach far beyond the supply. And the supply is about to get a lot bigger.

Granted, not all local Broadway-goers pay attention to Off-Broadway, so with the right marketing they could certainly increase their reach to locals, to a certain extent. But I question whether it will be enough.

I also agree with some of the sentiments expressed about the show's emotional weight: it seems to me that the show was too light and feel-good to land an emotional punch, but was too small and quirky to tap into the "feel good" tourist audience.

But even if I didn't personally love the show, I do hope it succeeds! I'm definitely not wishing failure on it by any means.

Updated On: 2/25/22 at 03:24 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: “FUN HOME and BAND'S VISIT might have been even more accessible than this. Not on a recoupable level without the general audience/critical love, but FH appealed toLGBTQ+ folks and BV appealed to a Jewish audience...both of which have good overlaps with full-price theatergoers. This has a SIDE SHOW problem where if you explain the premise to a random person, it can easily sound morbid or unappealing.”

So your logic is that Fun Home appealed to mostly gays, TBV appealed to mostly Jews, and Kimberly Akimbo will only appeal to people with rare genetic diseases like progeria because this subject matter is too “morbid or unappealing” for the general public to digest?



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Updated On: 2/25/22 at 04:12 PM