Kimberly Akimbo review – hilarious musical about a sexagenarian teen is one for the ages

Hampstead theatre, London Maria Friedman plays a 15-year-old with a rare ageing condition in a heartfelt and funny show that manages to sustain its sweetness It’s a bizarre concept for a musical: a girl with a rare condition that causes her to age four times faster than her peers, in a family so dysfunctional that she’s the normal one.

Meanwhile, the musical highlights are songs about cheque fraud and scurvy.

And yet, somehow, through all this artifice and elaborate setup comes a show so sincerely heartfelt, one that is genuine, hilarious and utterly endearing.

Kimberly Akimbo started out as a play, in 2001, by Pulitzer prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire, adapted into a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori (Shrek, Fun Home, Caroline, or Change) in 2021.

It was lauded on Broadway, where audiences fell for its feels and kooky charm and it won five Tony awards. Continue reading...