Kimberly Akimbo to Launch National Tour in 2024

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 2:14pm

Exciting! I am so happy more people will get to see this amazing musical!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/KIMBERLY-AKIMBO-to-Launch-National-Tour-in-September-2024-20230410

Updated On: 4/10/23 at 02:14 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 2:21pm

No surprise whatsoever — but this makes me very happy!

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 2:31pm

I love this news. Everyone should get to see this beautiful work of art. ❤️

[binau]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 3:27pm

Am I too cynical or is this part of a campaign to win Best Musical? 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 3:44pm

binau said: "Am I too cynical or is this part of a campaign to win Best Musical?"

Yes, I believe it is — and I have no doubt audiences all over the country will fall in love with the show after it takes home all the marbles. You're not being cynical. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 3:46pm

Does Judy Kuhn tour?

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 4:08pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Does Judy Kuhn tour?"

Oh, I would love to see her play Kimberly! I don't know if Bonnie would do the tour, but who else could be Debra? I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 5:48pm

The only issue I have is that this is going to be really hurt playing in those 2,500 - 3,000 seat theatres that are so common to the road.  It will not be the same show.  I saw The Band’s Visit a second time in a barn.  I had pretty good seats for a barn, but the feeling of intimacy was lost.  That will be doubly-true of KA.  Too bad that the road does not have any 1,000 seat theatres on their subscription series.  

When I was in Boston years ago, they used multiple theatres in their (I think it was) Show of the Month Club, so smaller shows were usually in appropriate venues, but Boston was a big theatre town and could accommodate variety.  Not so much today.  The Opera House is a gorgeous theatre, but it is still a barn (and still not as big a barn as a lot of the subscription theatres across the country).  The Colonial, perhaps my favorite theatre anywhere is more similar in size to the Shibert; even there, I fear that KA would get lost.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/10/23 at 6:54pm

binau said: "Am I too cynical or is this part of a campaign to win Best Musical?"

It would be more surprising if the producers didn't announce a U.S. tour. Other recent "smaller" but acclaimed musicals have announced tours too, and Kimberly Akimbo is a likely Best Musical winner. Fun Home announced a tour in May 2015 (at the same time as Something Rotten!), The Band's Visit did in May 2018). 

A Strange Loop has been the exception.

The producers of Kimberly Akimbo may have announced the tour, and extended ticket sales into early August, to remind voters that despite the tepid box office, the show isn't going away and will almost certainly be a little more marketable moving forward.

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 12:21am

Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…

 

[binau]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 3:12am

DrMonicaDeMoneco said: "Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…

"

What do you mean/what are you talking about? Trust me this announcement does not mean imminent closing. 

Updated On: 4/11/23 at 03:12 AM

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 12:33pm

Hope not… but….

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 12:41pm

Lots of shows "announce" a tour this time of year.  Its a way to keep the show's name "out there" - for Tony consideration.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 1:42pm

DrMonicaDeMoneco said: "Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…"

That's not the cast AT ALL... As dramamama just said, it is a common move by MANY shows to announce a national tour leading up to the Tonys. I expect we will be seeing even more of these announcements in the coming days/weeks from other shows.

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 1:48pm

DrMonicaDeMoneco said: "Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…
 

What an "ill informed" comment.  Was it the "kiss of death" for Hamilton, Lion King, Moulin Rouge, Dear Evan Hansen, Aladdin, Beautiful, Hadestown, Six, Wicked, and on and on...

 

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 1:53pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "Does Judy Kuhn tour?"

Oh, I would love to see her play Kimberly! I don't know if Bonnie would do the tour, but who else could be Debra? I can't think of anyone off the top of my head."

Alysha Umphress would be a great Debra. 

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 6:01pm

JSquared2 said: "DrMonicaDeMoneco said: "Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…


What an "ill informed" comment. Was it the "kiss of death" forHamilton, Lion King, Moulin Rouge, Dear Evan Hansen, Aladdin, Beautiful, Hadestown, Six, Wicked,and on and on...

"

Of course but, but those shows were hugely successful and made lots and lots of $$$ and Kimberly isn’t 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 6:07pm

bwayphreak234 said: "DrMonicaDeMoneco said: "Well it looks likes its curtains for Kimberley on Broadway. It’s the kiss of death when they announce a tour…"

That's not the cast AT ALL... As dramamama just said, it is a common move by MANY shows to announce a national tour leading up to the Tonys. I expect we will be seeing even more of these announcements in the coming days/weeks from other shows.

"

I hear Sweeney Todd, Parade, & Juliet, and Some Like It Hot will follow, but we shall see.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/11/23 at 6:29pm

So smart to announce this BEFORE Tony voting.

I would guess this is going to be a hard sell in non subscription houses on the road. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 4/12/23 at 3:06am

60 city tour?

very bizarre, even with a best musical win this is not a show that is going to do well on the road in houses that are 1500-2500 seats

[James885]

Posted: 4/12/23 at 2:10pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "60 city tour?

very bizarre, even with a best musical win this is not a show that is going to do well on the road in houses that are 1500-2500 seats"

I'm inclined to agree. Even with a Best Musical Tony win, I think this show is going to be a tough sell on the road. I imagine it'll be dwarfed in places the size of LA's Pantages or SF's Curran.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 4/12/23 at 2:27pm

Winning Best Musical does mean something. For touring in Toronto, we don't get every national tour for whatever reason. However, in one form or another, one thing that can usually be expected is the show that won "Best Musical" to appear at some point.

It should be noted that I saw "The Band's Visit" from mid-mezzanine in the larger touring house in Toronto, and I felt like it was extremly intimate despite being in a larger house.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/12/23 at 2:55pm

While I have wondered how much a Best Musical win will help Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway, I think it will definitely give it a boost on the road. The show will be part of every theater’s subscription package, and it will not be the first ‘smaller’ show to play in a barn. A lot of the humor and performances are pretty broad. Unlike Oklahoma, you won’t have a bunch of angry subscribers who are upset about changes in a musical they know.

If the plan is for a 60-city, 75-week tour, most of the stops will be for a week - long enough for people who want to see a Best Musical winner, which is usually a decent number of people. It sounds like a grueling tour, though.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/12/23 at 3:07pm

This same discussion surfaces every time a "smaller" show announces a tour. Will some of the intimacy be lost? Probably. Will it be a harder sell than the blockbusters? Most likely. However, I think it's important that a variety of shows hit the road (even the more quaint ones) and that subscribers in markets across the country get a variety of shows ranging from classics, blockbusters, and the smaller shows.

Updated On: 4/12/23 at 03:07 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 4/15/23 at 5:17am

James885 said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "60 city tour?

very bizarre, even with a best musical win this is not a show that is going to do well on the road in houses that are 1500-2500 seats"

I'm inclined to agree. Even with a Best Musical Tony win, I think this show is going to be a tough sell on the road. I imagine it'll be dwarfed in places the size of LA's Pantages or SF's Curran."

The Pantages, with 2,700 seats, is a pretty large theater. But the Curran, with 1,667 seats, is the smallest of the San Francisco touring houses (yes, that’s still twice as many seats as the Booth) but feels more intimate. That’s definitely where it should go.

The fate of smaller shows on the road is no easier to predict than the outlook for shows on Broadway. Smaller, more intimate musicals like Fun Home, Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away have done fine on the road. The Band’s Visit did well in San Francisco. There would be things lost in large barns, but most audiences for touring productions haven’t seen the Broadway show anyway.

I also question the idea that much of Kimberly Akimbo won’t translate. Yes, it will be more difficult for the actress playing Kimberly, but a lot of the humor in the show is very broad. I have an unusual but not unprecedented thesis here: I am bearish on the show’s future on Broadway even with its expected Best Musical win. That will help for a little while, but there’s not much evidence to argue that it will suddenly become a big hit. The same thing happened to Fun Home, but that didn’t stop it from making money on the road with its Best Musical title. I happen to think Fun Home was a more marketable show, despite its dark subject matter, but that doesn’t mean Kimberly Akimbo is doomed.

Full disclosure: I didn’t like Kimberly Akimbo, but that’s just my personal bias. There is no reason to think the show wouldn’t continue to get glowing reviews on the road and perform as well as the other acclaimed small musicals that had short Broadway runs despite Tony Awards (assuming I am right about that, which I might not be).

Moreover, of the new musicals that have or will open on Broadway this season, what is a lock to tour well or be the centerpiece of a touring house’s season, the way MJ is in 2023-24? & Juliet seems like the safest bet, and Back to the Future already has a tour lined up even though it hasn’t opened on Broadway yet. But what else? I’m not seeing much. Of the revivals, Sweeney Todd has been doing great business thus far, but can it thrive on the road without its Broadway star power? Maybe, but that looks like the only possibility.

Updated On: 4/15/23 at 05:17 AM