It only takes just a few seconds for David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori to precise their mutual admiration, expressed in good-natured remarks about one another's New York neighborhoods. Lindsay-Abaire says Tesori living in Manhattan means she's “chic.” But Tesori reminds her longtime collaborator of 1 easy fact: “Nothing is as expensive as Brooklyn…that's all I'm saying.”
The first moments of cheeky banter and light-hearted laughter exhibit how seamless it’s for each of them to precise each artistry and loyalty through their deep friendship. As Tesori bluntly puts it, “No one would ever mess with David if she had any say in the matter.”
In 2023, this friendship led each of them down a magical path as theirs bizarre, tragicomic musical “Kimberly Akimbo” The film received critical acclaim and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score. A national touring production of the show runs through December 1 on the Curran Theater in San Francisco, presented by BroadwaySF.
“Kimberly Akimbo” tells the story of Kimberly Levaco, a New Jersey teenager who suffers from a progeria-like disease that causes her to age about 4 times faster than normal. Therefore, Kimberly is more like a grandmother than a lady who experiences things like falling in love for the primary time. The speed with which the top is approaching is met with great emotions, but additionally numerous hearty laughter through a rating filled with wit and wisdom.
Confidence within the collaboration between Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire was solidified after they received a Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2009 for “Shrek the Musical.” That experience prepared them for a really different type of collaboration, adapting Lindsay-Abaire's 2001 stage comedy “Kimberly Akimbo” right into a full-fledged musical.
It was a process that he approached with a more liberal attitude and that included quite a few cuts from the unique. But when he encountered the circular saw Tesori, he needed to be held accountable by his fiercest advocate.
“Honestly, I was more willing to say we don’t need this or let’s get rid of it,” said Lindsay-Abaire, whose play “Rabbit Hole” won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “But Jeanine was very protective of the core of the piece. She said we would change so much and do so much research so we wouldn't lose what makes the piece work. She was truly the keeper of history.”
One aspect that helped the variation thrive was the years which have passed for the reason that original Kimberly Akimbo premiered. Lindsay-Abaire wrote the piece when his voice was not as refined and mature because it is today. Tesori found this incredibly useful when composing the musical's sound.
“I think it helps that it's an early piece with early impulses that were probably ambitions that were a little above the skill level,” said Tesori, whose catalog of musicals includes such iconic hits as “Fun Home.” , “Caroline” or “Caroline” include Change” and “Thoroughly Modern Mille”. “Now we're 20 years later and David is a masterful storyteller, but the piece is a recorded pulse of who he was 20 years ago as a younger person in a younger generation.”
What was each extremely encouraging was how well the story resonated with each audiences and critics. Kimberly, along along with her peers, spends a lot time trying to grasp life. In her tumultuous life, Kimberly teaches and learns what it means to live out loud, encouraged by the deep richness of friendship and trauma. This is territory that each Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire firmly occupy, especially after they work together.
“I feel like I’m very protective of David and we’re a team,” Tesori said. “There is trust, and I also know that if I bring something to David, he won't weaken my impulse, but he will still keep the door open to honor that impulse. He might say, ‘I never thought of that, and it doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know, let’s try it.’ That’s what allowed me to bring my whole self to the work.”
What Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire have completed now could be put her within the highlight across a large swath of the country as a part of a national tour that began in Denver in September and opens Nov. 6 at The Curran. The Tony Awards are groundbreaking, but does the show still get up just a few years later?
These questions could also be relevant, but at this point Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire really just need to create the type of art that just isn’t just quality storytelling, but something they’ll see themselves in. In the truest sense of the word.
“At the end of the day, Jeanine and I just write about ourselves and our families,” Lindsay-Abaire said. “This show is so much about an outsider who just wants to be accepted and seen the way she wants to be seen. It sounds so simple and basic, but this idea hits so many different communities and so many different age groups.”
“KIMBERLY AKIMBO”
Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori, presented by BroadwaySF
Through: Dec 1st
Where: The Curran Theater, 445 Geary St, San Francisco
Duration: 2 hours, 25 minutes with a break
Tickets: $60-$163; broadwaysf.com
Originally published:
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