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Brady Barrientos plays Seth Weetis in the musical Kimberly Akimbo and shares the character\u2019s fondness for anagrams.<\/p>\n
(Tuck closed on Broadway after 39 performances in 2015; Big the Musical was nominated for five Tonys and seven Drama Desk Awards in 1996; and in 2023, Kimberly Akimbo won five Tonys including best musical, best book and best score.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so different than anything else I\u2019d ever seen, but obviously different from everything else that was on the Tonys, for sure,\u201d says Maslowsky. \u201cThe song that they did was really in Kimberly\u2019s head. It\u2019s what she\u2019s thinking while Seth is doing an anagram of her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see that Kimberly was older than the other kids in the scene, but she was one of the kids. I didn\u2019t know what it was about, but it made me want to know,\u201d says Maslowsky, who stars as the rearranged title character in Kimberly Akimbo, this season\u2019s musical from Dry Cold Productions, the 25-year-old company with a mandate to employ local performers, designers, musicians and other theatre professionals.<\/p>\n
There was more to the show \u2014 which features music and lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, with a book by David Lindsay-Abaire \u2014 and its characters than met the eye.<\/p>\n
During moments of downtime at rehearsals, Brady Barrientos (who starred in MTYP\u2019s The Lightning Thief last season) has gotten into the habit of remixing cast- and crewmates\u2019 names in accordance with Seth Weetis\u2019s favourite pastime. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Supplied photos<\/p>\n The cast of Kimberly Akimbo, including lead Debbie Maslowsky, rehearse songs from this season\u2019s musical from Dry Cold Productions.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually have a really good one for you,\u201d Barrientos tells Maslowsky, who\u2019s performed regularly with Dry Cold Productions since its founding in 2001 by Donna Fletcher, Reid Harrison and Melanie Whyte. \u201cMy bed awoke bliss \u2014 I was pretty proud of that one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my real name,\u201d Maslowsky says.<\/p>\n While the 23-year-old Barrientos, who uses they\/them pronouns, has previously discussed with the Free Press the gradual acceptance of their youthful appearance, Maslowsky admits it\u2019s been a while since she\u2019s thought about playing a teenager.<\/p>\n \u201cI think even when I was a teenager I didn\u2019t think I could play a teenager,\u201d says Maslowsky, who played the corncob-smokin\u2019 Mammy Yokum in L\u2019il Abner in Grade 12.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s challenging, I\u2019m not gonna kid ya. (Director) Justin (Stadnyk) and I have talked about that and I always say, \u2018Tell me if it\u2019s too old, tell me if it\u2019s too old,\u2019 which he does.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Suppled<\/p>\n From left: director Justin Stadnyk and Debbie Maslowsky, who plays the Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo.<\/p>\n Maslowsky says trying to keep up physically with the younger cast members is an exciting challenge, and she doesn\u2019t have to worry about visibly looking older, because that\u2019s the part.<\/p>\n \u201cIt worked out well,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the thing that Debbie brought to it was that she wasn\u2019t trying to act young,\u201d says Donna Fletcher. \u201cBut there\u2019s just this inner light that came out. Debbie has this way of just lifting up her face and light shines out through her eyes over her whole persona. What she\u2019s been able to find is that lightness, youthfulness, naivet\u00e9, innocence and hope of a severely troubled, 16-year-old kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKimberly knows she has limited time with her family and her friends and it is her goal every day to make it count and move forward,\u201d says Maslowsky, who will appear this September as Golde in the Rainbow Stage-Winnipeg Jewish Theatre co-production of Fiddler on the Roof. <\/p>\n \u201cUntil you experience something like this, which I have from family members, it\u2019s just another reminder that you do need to live in the now.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Supplied<\/p>\n Debbie Maslowsky prepares for her role as Kimberly with Michele Shuster, Ben Krawchuk and Sophie Vermeylen (with apprentice choreographer Katelyn Mestito-Dao in the background).<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/benwaldman<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t\t\tIf you value coverage of Manitoba\u2019s arts scene, help us do more. \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Ben Waldman Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University\u2019s (now Toronto Metropolitan University\u2019s) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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