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'Kimberly Akimbo' Story and Characters | The Box Seat Babes Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:01
  Welcome back to another episode of the Box Seat Babes podcast.
• 0:04
  Today we are discussing the latest show to arrive on Broadway in Detroit, Kimberly Akimbo.
• 0:09
  But before we discuss what you can expect from this musical, like, follow and subscribe to Box Seat Babes on all social media platforms at Box Seat Babes.
• 0:17
  Spoiler warning, we are gonna be talking about the Tony Award winning musical, Kimberly Akimbo So if you've not seen it yet while it's on its tour, if you wanna go into it blind,
• 0:27
  please.
• 0:28
  scroll on and come back to it.
• 0:29
  And we'd love to continue this conversation later.
• 0:32
  Joining me today is somebody who is not RJ.
• 0:35
  We have our other box seat babe here, the official Ryann Ferguson.
• 0:40
  How are you doing?
• 0:41
  I'm good, how are you?
• 0:43
  I'm doing great.
• 0:44
  I just want to say thank you for going to me to see Kimberly Akimbo at the Fisher Theater last week.
• 0:48
  Of course, I was happy to do it!
• 0:51
  So right off the bat, what did you know about Kimberly Akimbo before we went and saw it at the Fisher?
• 0:57
  Absolutely nothing.
• 0:59
  I had not listened to the music.
• 1:02
  I had not read the synopsis.
• 1:03
  I went in 100 % blind.
• 1:08
  And I thought it was great.
• 1:11
  I think I almost enjoy, you know, there's the difference between going into a show and knowing everything about it and like comparing.
• 1:20
  And then there's like seeing something fresh for the first time.
• 1:24
  What's interesting about this show is that I've had a lot of people who I know who've seen it in New York.
• 1:30
  Obviously this won the Tony Award for Best Musical and they all hated it.
• 1:35
  And so I've had this preconceived notion in my head that this show is like going to be bad for whatever reason.
• 1:42
  It was just like, there was no way that this was going to be good.
• 1:44
  Everybody's talking about how bad it is.
• 1:46
  It's one of those shows that you have to really like the niche that it comes from.
• 1:50
  And so I had this, I had this preconceived notion a bit going into it.
• 1:53
  I tried to have an open mind.
• 1:57
  But yeah, I also really didn't know much about it either.
• 2:00
  And so it's an interesting story.
• 2:02
  And the fact that it feels like it's something that I grew up watching because it reminded me so much of the film Jack.
• 2:09
  Have you seen Jack?
• 2:12
  Well, Robin Williams and he plays somebody who's aging rapidly and trapped in a body, which is kind of what Kimberly is dealing with in Kimberly Akimbo.
• 2:24
  so let's start off with like just, we're going to jump into the story of this.
• 2:29
  We are in the nineties, which is really important to the storyline.
• 2:35
  which we were just wee little babies in the nineties.
• 2:41
  did it have a nostalgia factor for you kind of seeing some of these things, like, especially like they're kind of teenagers.
• 2:46
  So we were, we were younger, we were more like that kid age, but did you have any nostalgic factors from seeing the show?
• 2:53
  So at the very beginning when they're at the ice skating rink, that reminded me so much of...
• 3:01
  We didn't go to the ice skating rink, but we went to the roller rink a lot.
• 3:05
  And it reminded me so heavily of that.
• 3:07
  was actually like...
• 3:09
  There were a couple of moments where I was like, man, I need to go to the roller rink.
• 3:15
  There's one by me, yeah.
• 3:18
  Like that is such a, like that was such a passing, like a passage of like childhood of like going to the roller rink and rollerblading.
• 3:26
  My friends would have like all their birthday parties there.
• 3:29
  We'd go rollerblading and then they'd do the pizza and yeah, yeah, it was.
• 3:37
  And something about the opening scene that I think is really interesting is that you're introduced to a slew of characters and a slew of concepts in such a short amount of time.
• 3:46
  So there's these group of kids that are at the roller rink, you know, do they have names?
• 3:52
  No.
• 3:52
  You know, we have like Seth who works there and he's, he's kind of the one that serves as a love interest throughout the story.
• 4:00
  And you have, you know, Delia and you have Martin and Teresa and Aaron, and they kind of all have their own little stories throughout the show.
• 4:07
  but they're introduced in this opening scene as being this kind of this friend group, which we'll talk a little bit about their storyline in a little bit.
• 4:15
  And then we have Kimberly, who is just off by herself.
• 4:22
  And she's kind of an outsider.
• 4:24
  She's not with these other kids because she doesn't really...
• 4:27
  It's because of her disease, which you kind of find out is that she feels like she's on the outside.
• 4:35
  But what did you think of the dynamics in that scene?
• 4:37
  think it's also important to note that she's new to the area because they her family had just moved there like I think within like weeks or something they say isn't it yeah and so
• 4:51
  not only is she coming in like without you know knowing anybody but then she's also coming into a new town new school as a teenager with this disease that makes her look so
• 5:03
  different from everyone and I think that that's
• 5:06
  That's such a thing when you're that age of being like, like when you know you have a difference and it's an outward thing, not an inward thing, it's so much more isolating.
• 5:18
  Absolutely.
• 5:19
  mean, being a teenager already is difficult.
• 5:22
  Like it already sucks.
• 5:25
  And then to be a new kid, which I have to say that I was really lucky because I was never a new kid.
• 5:32
  I grew up in the same school district and went from school to school to school.
• 5:37
  But that has to be a hard experience for somebody on top of the fact that you look like you're 70 when you're only 16.
• 5:48
  I can't imagine all this kind of going through Kimberly's head as she's trying to be a kid in a city that doesn't know who she is and doesn't understand what's going on with her.
• 6:00
  Mm-hmm.
• 6:02
  And then her dad walks in.
• 6:04
  You
• 6:06
  And boy, dynamics of this family, I don't know about you, but they really irritated me as, they were just like awful parents.
• 6:16
  Actually, I think there's no adult in the show that's really redeemable here.
• 6:19
  100 % I have to say though.
• 6:21
  I did love the Aunt Debra.
• 6:24
  I did love Aunt Debra but No, I agree.
• 6:29
  I mean both of her parents are narcissists in different ways And I think that you know as a child growing up you already have differences and you both of your parents are
• 6:44
  narcissists
• 6:45
  Mm-hmm.
• 6:46
  you could tell she was being the parent to her dad more than her dad was being the parent to her.
• 6:51
  Like, it's, I got you coffee so you can sober up.
• 6:55
  What lie are we gonna tell mom tonight?
• 6:59
  I mean, he was the casebook alcoholic, like not dealing with his issues, stuck in a life that he didn't want with a situation he didn't know how to handle.
• 7:15
  And I found it really hard to almost sympathize with him, as well as the mom, the mom who is clearly a
• 7:24
  is sick, you know, she's a hypochondriac almost, you know, broken hands, she's pregnant.
• 7:30
  And again, Kimberly's the one taking care of them because they're almost two young parents that didn't know how to function.
• 7:37
  still teenagers themselves.
• 7:41
  And they have, they are awful to her.
• 7:44
  Mm-hmm
• 7:46
  Like they are absolutely awful.
• 7:50
  Like don't even know what I'd do in her shoes if I was Kimberly.
• 7:53
  Right.
• 7:55
  No, I agree.
• 7:56
  think, like, they do a really good job, I think, of showcasing, like, how isolated she is and feels.
• 8:04
  Like, and they do it, like, in the way, like, her room is off to the side and almost the only room that they show other than the living room when they're in the house.
• 8:17
  like, when she goes over there, like,
• 8:21
  There is a wall even though there's not an actual wall there and she's just like listening to her parents talk about how like she isn't and it's it feels very directed at her like
• 8:34
  it's not even that they were teenage parents that you know made a mistake and all they have a kid and now they're burning it's because she's so different that that's the cause
• 8:44
  of all of their problems
• 8:46
  Yeah, they blame her.
• 8:48
  They blame her blatantly for it.
• 8:51
  Yeah, like there is a scene with the, I think it's the dad and he basically says that like he didn't ask for a daughter like that.
• 8:58
  Mm-hmm, but even the mom makes a comment too where she's like I hope that this one Like referring to the baby she's pregnant with like is normal or something like that like
• 9:09
  Like things that are clearly abusive and.
• 9:13
  at the end, when they're talking about the baby and the big twist and reveal of the fact that the dad isn't the dad to the new baby, her mom purposefully went out and found
• 9:29
  somebody else just so that this baby wouldn't have the same disease.
• 9:34
  Yes.
• 9:35
  And that was the reason why they moved.
• 9:37
  earlier in the show, they made it sound like it was because of Aunt Debra.
• 9:40
  Like, Aunt Debra's a troublemaker.
• 9:43
  People know her.
• 9:43
  We have to leave.
• 9:44
  But it was truly that the mom didn't want a child who was, I think she used the word broken, and I could be wrong.
• 9:52
  But like something that's clearly like makes Kimberly feel like she is not wanted.
• 9:58
  Because she isn't wanted.
• 10:00
  Yeah.
• 10:02
  And so that's really an interesting, like that's kind of like the carrying dynamic through the show is the family and the family unit, which is also kind of plays into the narrative
• 10:14
  because Aunt Debra does end up showing up.
• 10:16
  And like you said, Aunt Debra is kind of fun.
• 10:19
  She's the fun part of this show, but she's also the troublemaker.
• 10:24
  She's also the one that's there to stir the shit up, you know, a little bit.
• 10:30
  What did you think of?
• 10:31
  kind of her story through this.
• 10:35
  Yes.
• 10:37
  I thought it was really interesting that like especially the way she's first introduced in the library Where you just right off the bat get the vibes that this woman is crazy Like
• 10:48
  she's a crazy good time, but she's just straight up crazy and I really liked the like throughput line of hers like being like, you know, nothing has been handed to me Nothing
• 11:00
  in my life has been easy.
• 11:01
  I have had to go out and take everything that I get
• 11:04
  And she's kind of twisted it to be this thing of like, this Robin Hood type thing almost.
• 11:10
  Yes.
• 11:11
  Like, if you don't do it for yourself, nobody else is.
• 11:15
  Mm-hmm, but I also kind of feel like she's the only one that really sees Kimberly Like past past her, you know her physical type stuff
• 11:26
  In fact, I almost want to argue, and maybe there's some out there that would disagree, I think she's the only one that loves Kimberly.
• 11:34
  Because I know there's some people who would say that her parents do love her.
• 11:38
  I struggle to see where.
• 11:42
  But like her aunt like truly was kind of the kind of the one just being like, Kimberly's amazing and she can do anything and she's sick.
• 11:52
  And like we're
• 11:54
  we're talking about baby the other baby but we're not talking about the fact that Kimberly's afraid.
• 12:02
  And so I did go ahead.
• 12:04
  no, but even like her birthday.
• 12:06
  Like when you get to the part of the play when it's her birthday and Debra's the one that's like, BTWs, it's Kimberly's birthday.
• 12:14
  Yes.
• 12:16
  And I think it shows too just how much her, why her family hates her so much.
• 12:21
  why, cause Debra and Kimberly's mom are the ones that are related, but there's a lot of hatred for Debra because I think she reflects their lack of sympathy and empathy and love
• 12:36
  for their own daughter, which should be almost inherent.
• 12:39
  would think.
• 12:40
  A lot of people would argue that it is inherent when you're a parent that you love your daughter so much you would do anything for her and Debra is the only one looking out for
• 12:48
  her.
• 12:50
  But even she's not looking out for her fully.
• 12:53
  Right.
• 12:54
  It's a very self-centered, like, I'm looking at me first, but then what's benefiting me could benefit you.
• 13:02
  Mm-hmm.
• 13:03
  You know, so one of the main threads of this play for those who haven't seen it and want to know is the fact that Kimberly wants a family vacation and Debra sees an opportunity to
• 13:19
  do some some mail fraud some check fraud and bring in all these young kids from the high school who all have different reasons for needing money and using them to her advantage
• 13:30
  and they all
• 13:32
  Like kids do, they all go along with it.
• 13:34
  Like they all are just very much like the, this sounds like a great idea.
• 13:37
  We get what we want and there's no repercussions.
• 13:41
  Because Debra definitely paints that in her entry song.
• 13:44
  Like you said, you know, the line is like, when life gives you lemons, throw them away and steal the apples.
• 13:50
  Cause who the fuck wants lemons?
• 13:52
  like, so she's very much the, she's had a hard life and she's really fought really hard to have that life.
• 13:57
  Mm-hmm.
• 13:59
  And she's kind of teaching that to Kimberly about like, can't just settle for whatever somebody else is going to give you.
• 14:07
  But it gets her into a lot of trouble in a way of that.
• 14:10
  Like we don't see the trouble, but like the trouble is assumed that something bad could possibly happen because they're committing fraud.
• 14:18
  What did you think of that story kind of weaved in between the family drama and the friend drama and the boyfriend drama?
• 14:25
  Did you like that?
• 14:26
  it came out of left field a little bit, but also like I feel like as a musical, it's very like, know, things come out of left field, they come out of right field, and they somehow
• 14:39
  cohesively like come together.
• 14:43
  Yeah, I did not know where they were going at first with this.
• 14:46
  And I was like, how are you connecting this storyline of when Debra pulls the mailbox through the living room to the basement?
• 14:53
  I was like, how is this going to connect?
• 14:56
  There's no way.
• 14:58
  I really didn't I and even I was trying to think at the time like because you know She's bringing it in for some kind of a crime.
• 15:04
  I was like what could she possibly be doing with that USPS mailbox?
• 15:10
  Truly like I like when she was saying about a mailbox I was thinking like like a personal mailbox and then when she pulled that in there said no she's doing the big fraud like
• 15:22
  Which is just such a like you said it's such an out-of-the-left field thing and you're like how is this all gonna connect And it connects through trauma which really is kind of
• 15:31
  that cohesive piece that really takes Kimberly akimbo from start to finish is
• 15:37
  the trauma of like dealing with sickness, dealing with illness, kind of the theme of like life is too short.
• 15:46
  And I think that Kimberly definitely feels that.
• 15:48
  And that's where the emotional aspect came for me for the show is that the story is of Kimberly's facing her death.
• 15:54
  Like her disease only really, most people only live to be 16 and she's having her 16th birthday.
• 16:01
  And so like, what a way to kind of have more reality just kind of shoved in your face.
• 16:05
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:07
  What was your emotional connection to that?
• 16:10
  I don't know that I specifically had one to like the mortality of it, but I think centered around it like the the way She's pushing so hard for like if I'm gonna die soon What I
• 16:24
  want most in this world is for my family to like be who I want them to be and Like there was a bit of the the I think it's in the second act after her birthday where
• 16:39
  Like, her dad stops drinking and her mom's like, I'm gonna be a good mom.
• 16:43
  And she's getting everything she ever wanted.
• 16:46
  And I think that is so relatable to so many kids of being like, I want, like this is what I want for my family.
• 16:54
  This is who I want my family to be.
• 16:56
  And what can I as the child like do to make my parents wanna do this?
• 17:03
  For me, that was the emotional part of it where I was just like, I'm watching her try to like fight for her.
• 17:09
  this thing because she's just like, if I'm going to die like just once, I want my family to put me first.
• 17:14
  And like there is a manipulative, the manipulativeness of that from her parents, because they use those as birthday presents of like, we're going to go on a trip, we're going to
• 17:23
  be happy, I'm going to stop drinking.
• 17:25
  And as a psychologist, I see this all the time where kids just, when their life isn't the ideal situation that they have painted in their head, they will do anything to achieve
• 17:35
  that.
• 17:35
  And anything, any breadcrumb that a parent gives them is the biggest specialist breadcrumb they've ever seen.
• 17:44
  And so then to watch her be disappointed once again, that hurts.
• 17:49
  I teared up a little, I'm not gonna lie.
• 17:52
  I don't blame you because like, how could you not tear up when you see somebody's heartbreaking?
• 18:00
  Because at end of the day, she's a teenager and she's still, she's still a kid at that, you know, like, cause people don't think about that.
• 18:06
  Like regardless of her, how she looked, regardless of what you think of 16 year old is a 16 year old is still a kid who just wants happiness, just wants to be happy and to not see
• 18:19
  your parents give you that to you.
• 18:22
  Again, goes back to just how kind of awful they were.
• 18:28
  but tied through all of these things, we have the lesbian straight gay straight square.
• 18:36
  And then we also have, Seth, who is also a school friend, but kind of the love interest.
• 18:43
  And this story, I have to be honest, this is the part of the show where I just, I did struggle a little bit because I didn't see how the friends added to the show.
• 18:54
  Yes.
• 18:56
  What was their story?
• 18:58
  Do you see anything where Kimberly Akimbo benefited from having that love quadrilateral?
• 19:05
  the laughs, like what I noticed was like the audience laughed because you literally had all four of them were in love with a different person and nobody was in love with each
• 19:17
  other, you know type of thing.
• 19:19
  And those awkward moments were where the people were laughing.
• 19:26
  But as far as like the connectedness to the story, no.
• 19:31
  Like...
• 19:32
  It's almost like a separate thing that's happening.
• 19:35
  Yes.
• 19:36
  Yes.
• 19:37
  It felt.
• 19:37
  tie in until the mail fraud.
• 19:41
  And then they're out just as quickly as they're in.
• 19:44
  I can only think of one or two scenes where they actually interact with Kimberly and that they're there with Kimberly because it mostly was a family drama.
• 19:53
  It felt a little bit like we need to fill up some space, how we fill up some space.
• 19:57
  Let's throw in some classmates.
• 20:03
  But that being said, I love Seth.
• 20:04
  I think Seth is my favorite character out of all of them.
• 20:08
  And this is mad props to
• 20:10
  Justin Cooley, think his name is, who played Seth on Broadway.
• 20:16
  Yeah, Justin Cooley.
• 20:19
  You and I, feel like we had a really deep connection with Seth, like just how awkward he was.
• 20:23
  What was it for you about Seth?
• 20:27
  I really liked the way that he would like stumble over his words because that was so me at 16 like You know he's trying so hard to be like relatable and cool and chill but then he
• 20:41
  gets like really passionate about something that he's into and he starts kind of like jumping down this rabbit hole of like oh let me tell you all about this thing that I'm so
• 20:50
  excited about right now and she's just standing there like uh-huh
• 20:55
  Yeah, I feel like I still do that.
• 20:58
  And sometimes when I'm editing these podcasts, I'm like, oh, Brian, you're you're tripping over yourself because you're so excited.
• 21:03
  And I'm actually slowing myself down tonight a lot.
• 21:05
  I'm really working on it because there is like the ADHD energy of being like, I want to share this all with you.
• 21:13
  I just want this to be the coolest thing ever.
• 21:15
  I love it.
• 21:16
  I want you to love it.
• 21:17
  And so I felt like Seth a little bit.
• 21:20
  I was like, oh, I'm still like that at 30 years old.
• 21:22
  I'm still that little that little boy.
• 21:25
  high school who just wants to be seen and just wants to have a friend.
• 21:35
  so mad props to him.
• 21:38
  the funniest scenes for me was in the beginning when he forgets his, what is it, his tuba or something like that at the ice skating rink he comes back and Kimberly's sitting on the
• 21:49
  bench with her dad and her dad's making comments about him and he's like, I can hear you.
• 21:55
  I I'm gonna go inside if you wanna keep talking about me.
• 22:00
  I thought that was perfect.
• 22:04
  It reminds me of just like somebody who doesn't like, like who's super blunt to the fact of like social cues being like the, for a lot of us in the Midwest, we would be like, you
• 22:13
  just go and you kind of keep your mouth shut.
• 22:15
  And he's very much like the, you can talk about me, but I'm still here and I'm going to be leaving.
• 22:22
  Which was an interesting, I don't know, he was a very cool character for me.
• 22:29
  And I'm glad that him and Kimberly found happiness together.
• 22:32
  And I know there's a lot of people that didn't like their storyline, especially because they're perceiving Kimberly as an older woman, which I think is, they missed the point of
• 22:40
  the show.
• 22:43
  But like Seth is the one that really does bring her happiness throughout all of this.
• 22:47
  For once.
• 22:49
  Yeah.
• 22:51
  Is there any other characters that would stand out to you?
• 22:53
  of course, we talked about Aunt Debra.
• 22:55
  We can always bring her back up.
• 22:56
  show stealer for me.
• 22:59
  there was… okay, she reminds me of somebody from SNL.
• 23:04
  Amy Bryant?
• 23:05
  that her name?
• 23:06
  I think, yeah, I think so.
• 23:09
  She had that energy that was just like, first off, Emily, Koch, I think is her name.
• 23:16
  C O C H.
• 23:18
  K O C H.
• 23:19
  Sorry.
• 23:19
  I can spell.
• 23:22
  she can belt that song.
• 23:24
  Like, my gosh, that was crazy.
• 23:29
  but she was hilarious.
• 23:31
  Yeah, well, and I think in a show where so many of the characters are timid in a way, to have one person that comes in and immediately is not timid in any way is like, here I am,
• 23:45
  and I'm gonna belt this song out, and is just like, steals the scene just because, you know, the mom is off.
• 23:54
  anxious and nervous in one way the dad's muttering in another way Kimberly's kind of just like standing there you know even the high school kids are all kind of running around and
• 24:02
  she's just like no here I am this is who I am you're gonna like me or you're gonna like
• 24:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 24:10
  I do want to just correct myself.
• 24:12
  Her name is Emily Koch So I feel like that's important to correct myself on.
• 24:17
  But yeah, she's the most confident.
• 24:19
  And you saw the confidence in Kimberly when she was around.
• 24:23
  She became more sure of herself because Aunt Debra was so sure of herself.
• 24:31
  And there's a beauty to that.
• 24:33
  think it even rubs off on the classmates as well.
• 24:37
  Like you see them kind of progress a little bit as well, like when they start being around her.
• 24:45
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:46
  mean, it's almost intoxicating.
• 24:48
  It's intoxicating to see a strong, like a strong character, but specifically a strong woman.
• 24:54
  And there's, there's not in this show, it's a small cast and the only other adult woman is very meek, also very like bossy to her, like what she wants and that emotionally receptive
• 25:08
  to her daughter and what her daughter needs.
• 25:11
  And so there's all of these different pieces that just
• 25:16
  adds to such a that makes Debra the most likable.
• 25:20
  And I think that like, there's some people that could find her easily the most hateable character, but she's just so genuine.
• 25:26
  You can't be you can't help but be like, yeah, you're great.
• 25:29
  Mm-hmm.
• 25:32
  But with that, we're actually running out of time from our episode one.
• 25:36
  So be on the lookout for part two of our Kimberly Akimbo discussion where we will break down the music, the technical aspects of the show and giving our final verdict.
• 25:43
  Thank you again for joining us here in our box seats and thank you again, Ryann, for being here with me.
• 25:47
  I greatly appreciate it.
• 25:51
  Until next curtain call.