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Ann Morrison as Kimberly Akimbo. Credit: Joan Marcus \/ c\/o David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts<\/p>\nAnn Morrison as Kimberly Akimbo. Credit: Joan Marcus \/ c\/o David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts<\/p>\n
Ann Morrison <\/a>thought her days of playing a 16-year-old girl were long past. But she never figured that a show like \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d would come her way.<\/p>\n Morrison, who\u2019s nearly 70, took over the role of teenaged Kimberly Levaco in the national tour of \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d a couple of months ago. The tour opens at Tampa\u2019s David A. Straz Center for the Performing Art<\/a>s on Tuesday, Nov. 18.<\/p>\n \u201cThe story is pretty much following a 15-year-old who\u2019s turning 16 during the play, and she has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age four to five years every year,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cSo at her age of 15-turning-16, she\u2019s actually in the body of a 70-year-old, which I am.\u201d It\u2019s Kimberly\u2019s spirit, Morrison said, not her aging\u00a0 body, that makes the show special.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a very optimistic character,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cShe\u2019s dealing with a very dysfunctional family, who are hilariously funny, an aunt who comes who could get her aunt a hell of a lot of trouble\u2014I won\u2019t give that away\u2014and then being in a new high school, looking like a 70-year-old, and trying to make friends. So she\u2019s got a lot to deal with, and at the same time she\u2019s trying desperately to maybe fix her family.\u201d<\/p>\n The show was created by two of the most significant writers in contemporary theater. David Lindsey-Abaire adapted the musical from his own non-musical play, which was already successful, with regional productions around the country. Jeanine Tesori wrote the music.<\/p>\n Lindsey-Abaire won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for \u201cRabbit Hole.\u201d Tesori had previously won a Tony for her score for \u201cFun Home.\u201d The two had collaborated once before, on\u00a0 \u201cShrek the Musical.\u201d<\/p>\n Morrison lives in Sarasota, but she has impressive New York theater credentials. Most notably, she starred in the original production of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along.\u201d That production flopped, but the show has gone on to be often produced well-regarded, and the cast recording featuring the golden voice of 20-something Ann Morrison is a prized possession among fans of the genre.<\/p>\n So far, \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d and Morrison have drawn enthusiastic audiences on this tour, and the reviews have been nothing short of raves. New York theaters, even Broadway theaters, tend to be much smaller than the performing arts centers than national tours travel to. \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d is a relatively intimate show even for Broadway, so it may not seem like a natural fit for a theater like Morsani Hall.<\/p>\n That also may be why, for all its success and awards, \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d isn\u2019t as widely known as some other recent broadway shows that are less revered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very intimate little show,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cA lot of people, at the time it opened, wanted to see the big splashy stuff. This is not a big splash musical. So if you go to New York to see a show, because New York is so damn expensive, it may not be your choice. You might want to see one of the big splashy ones. I think that\u2019s why a lot of people did not see it (on Broadway).\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s such a quirky, heartfelt and intimate show,\u201dMorrison said. \u201cI\u2019m sure the people in the balcony are missing some of our facial expressions. But when the audience stands up at the end, you know they took that great adventure with the rest of us. It\u2019s quite lovely.\u201d<\/p>\n Morrison is a well-known figure on the musical theater stages of New York, and won a Theatre World Award for her performance in \u201cMerrily We Roll Along.\u201d She\u2019s also a familiar sight on local stages. Her home is in Sarasota, and works regularly with Asolo Repertory Theatre and other local companies. In fact, she was appearing as King Herod in Asolo\u2019s production of \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d right up until she joined the cast of \u201cKimberly Akimbo.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of her work in Florida lately revolves around SaraSolo, a company she founded in 2014 with Blake Walton, whom she describes as \u201cmy partner in crime, and also my ex-husband.\u201d SaraSolo, as the name implies, develops and presents solo theatrical shows in Sarasota. They discontinued the SaraSolo Festival a few years back, but they still offer workshops to help artists create solo theater pieces. Perhaps more significantly, Sarasota has been running a program at Booker High School that introduces young people to the art and craft of solo performance.<\/p>\n Solo shows, especially musical solo shows, are kind of Morrison\u2019s specialities as a performer. Although the original 1981 production of \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d was a semi-legendary Broadway flop, Morrison had greater New York success a few years back with \u201cAnn Morrison: Merrily From Center Stage,\u201d her very personal one-woman show about her experiences in that show.<\/p>\n So she\u2019s been rolling along through theaters in New York, and the Tampa Bay Area and all over America for well over 40 years now. But she looks at \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d as a career highlight.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say, I\u2019ve never had as much fun coming to work as I am doing this show,\u201d she said. \u201cThe creative staff is full of heart. The cast, the crew, everyone involved in this show has fun being together. We adore each other. I think I\u2019m going to be very, very sad when this is over in May.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets to see \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d inside Carol Morsani Hall at Tampa\u2019s David. A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday-Sunday, Nov. 18-23 are still available and start at $62.20.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Nov. 6 \u2013 12, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
It\u2019s not just a novelty role, though. \u201cKimberly Akimbo\u201d doesn\u2019t have the name recognition of some recent mega-hits musical, but it ran for two years on Broadway and won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf, like me, you grew up with her voice on the original cast recording of \u2018Merrily We Roll Along,\u2019 you\u2019ll thrill to find her inimitable sound entirely undiminished by time,\u201d Cameron Kelsall<\/a> wrote in Broad Street Review. \u201cBut the poignancy she draws from her portrayal is the point here. Mature but unguarded, her Kimberly exists between an uncertain present and an impossible future, and it strikes you square in the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
But audiences even in cavernous halls are responding with an enthusiasm
that Morrison and the rest of the cast can sense as they\u2019re taking their bows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe created it because we had done some work in New York at the United Solo Festival,\u201d Walton said. \u201cAnd we thought maybe we ought to bring a festival to Sarasota.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n