Kimberly Akimbo has come to St. Louis, playing at the Fabulous Fox Theatre from March 25th through April 6, 2025. Kimberly Akimbo is the winner of 5 Tony Awards including BEST MUSICAL. It features Tony Award-winning book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Shrek), a Tony Award-winning score by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), choreography by Danny Mefford (Dear Evan Hansen) and direction by Tony-nominated director Jessica Stone. Check out the details in my parents guide review.
Kimberly Akimbo Parents Guide Musical Review
Kimberly is about to turn 16 and recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), Kim is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush … and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
Kimberly Akimbo Parents Guide Age Rating
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know in this parent’s guide and the age rating of the musical before letting their younger children watch Kimberly Akimbo.
Language: Kimberly Akimbol contains strong and explicit language used throughout the performance. Lookout words include: sh*t, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks&cker, and more.
Mature Content: Beyond its central premise—a teenage girl with a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age four to five times faster than normal, living under the shadow of her own mortality—Kimberly Akimbo explores a number of mature themes. The show includes candid discussions of sex and crime, with one character openly referencing sexual experiences and another depicted as having sex outside of marriage. There’s also a subplot involving a character who is on the run from the law and recruits a group of teenagers to engage in check fraud, adding a layer of comedic yet criminal mischief to the story.
Kimberly Akimbo Runtime: 2 and 25 minutes with an intermission.
Overall Thoughts
Kimberly Akimbo is a fun, laugh-out-loud, and wonderfully quirky musical that doesn’t shy away from life’s hardest questions—namely, how do you live when you don’t have much time left?
Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s play (he also penned the book and lyrics) and paired with Jeanine Tesori’s brilliant score (Fun Home, Caroline, or Change), the show centers on Kimberly, a 16-year-old girl with a rare genetic aging disorder that makes her look like she’s in her 60s. Carolee Carmello delivers a luminous performance, capturing both the vulnerability of a teenager and the physical reality of a much older woman with breathtaking sincerity.
Set in suburban New Jersey, Kimberly Akimbo introduces us to Kimberly’s chaotic and eccentric world—complete with a hypochondriac mother, an alcoholic father, and a scheming aunt who ropes Kimberly and her classmates into a hilariously absurd check-fraud operation. It’s a coming-of-age story wrapped in a coming-to-terms journey, balancing the comedy of teenage awkwardness with the heartbreak of limited time.
The musical masterfully juggles its shifting tones—hilarious and heartfelt, strange and sincere—without ever feeling heavy-handed. It invites laughter and reflection in equal measure, leaving the audience with a message that lingers: what does it really mean to fully live?