{"id":108620,"date":"2026-01-02T18:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/108620\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T18:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:26:19","slug":"on-his-national-tour-debut-max-santopietro-finds-a-sweet-soul-in-broadway-dallas-kimberly-akimbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/108620\/","title":{"rendered":"On his national tour debut, Max Santopietro finds a sweet soul in Broadway Dallas’ \u2018Kimberly Akimbo\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com<\/a><\/p>\n

At 23, Max Santopietro (he\/him) is navigating his first national tour, currently on the road with the Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo. In the musical, he takes on the slight challenge of playing 16-year-old high school student Aaron. Ironically, he says, he was unfamiliar with the show before accepting the role. But now, in living with the story, he\u2019s uncovered a depth that is both funny and messy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had not really known too much about it. I had heard a couple of the songs, and I knew it won all these awards. But that\u2019s it,\u201d he shared. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to read on paper because it is about so much. But when I first joined the cast \u2014 Oh, I get it!\u201d<\/p>\n

The show centers on Kimberly, a teen dealing with a rare premature aging condition, which forces her to confront her mortality while also navigating a dysfunctional family and a new school environment. Broadway Dallas presents Kimberly Akimbo at the Winspear Opera House from Jan. 6-18.<\/p>\n

Santopietro\u2019s character, Aaron, is a key part of the \u201cteen quartet\u201d that acts as a kind of Greek chorus in Kimberly\u2019s life. They are also caught up in what Santopietro calls a \u201ctumultuous love square.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAaron is a silly guy, and, I\u2019d say, the sweetest of the group. But we\u2019re all the comedic relief,\u201d he said. \u201cWe aren\u2019t the popular kids, but more a group of friends by default who found each other through doing art.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, they aren\u2019t Kimberly\u2019s mean girls.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s been fun for Santopietro has been the ability to go back to high school. Yet, his first time around in high school isn\u2019t that far removed from him right now. That has helped him find a unique advantage in taking on the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have perspective on those years \u2014 it helps. Having some years on that, I feel like I have the perspective needed to approach Aaron, especially with all this romance, this unrequited love storyline. I totally remember those feelings.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While his character isn\u2019t queer, and Santopietro is, he does find parallels with some of his own Connecticut high school experience to the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a strong Gender\/Sexuality Alliance, so that and the theater program there helped me find my safe space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now his safe space is in the on-the-road family he\u2019s made that helps him adjust to life on tour.<\/p>\n

Talk about a crash course in professional theater!<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has definitely been a lot to learn. It was like jumping onto a moving train. But they have been so sweet and supportive of me, and despite being this big musical, we\u2019re a pretty small cast and crew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Life on the road requires establishing a sense of normalcy, a secret Santopietro learned from a castmate. His routine involves setting up a \u201chome base\u201d in each city, complete with small comforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my candles to know what \u2018home\u2019 smells like. I have my stuffed animals, and, also, there\u2019s the importance of not overextending myself. We are here for work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another parallel for Santopietro between the timing of his big gig and the show itself: Kimberly\u2019s time is finite while she\u2019s also going through the usual teenage travails. This isn\u2019t lost on the actor. He believes that tells a powerful message.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can\u2019t wait around to do the things she wants to. Her clock is ticking, so she has to live in the moment. I think this is really a lesson for life, especially now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

For tickets, visit BroadwayDallas.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RICH LOPEZ | Staff writerRich@DallasVoice.com At 23, Max Santopietro (he\/him) is navigating his first national tour, currently on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11432,102,104,103,41122,48795,48826,6523,2039,6529,2040,48827],"class_list":["post-108620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-broadway-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-gay","tag-kimberly-akimbo","tag-max-santopietro","tag-musical","tag-rich-lopez","tag-stage","tag-stage-notes","tag-tony-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}