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Kimberly Akimbo Review - Disorder, Anticipation, Humor, and Love - Great Stuff!
By Amanda Cortez
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Kimberly Akimbo -
(L) Lisa Glass (Debra)- (R)Sandra Kinder (Kimberly)
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Kimberly Akimbo is about a potty mouth mom and dad who have a deep dark secret and a 16 year old daughter who is suffering from an extraordinary disease, causing her body to age 4 times faster than normal.
When
Kimberly and her family flee Secaucus under dubious circumstances, she is forced to reevaluate her short life while contending with a hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scam-artist aunt, and the possibility of first love with her socially-challenged classmate Jeff whose favorite pastimes are writing anagrams and playing
Dungeons and Dragons. Contending with a family that gives new meaning to the word “dysfunctional,”
Kimberly must find a way to give meaning to her life and live it to the fullest no matter what the consequences.
I thought the show was full of humor, love, disorder, and anticipation – I enjoyed it completely!
The production featured:
Sandra Kinder (Kimberly), Sandra was truly the right choice as Kimberly. She played the perfectly sweet 16 year old, naïve young girl dealing with a deadly disease. At times I felt like she really did have the disease and my heart went out to her. Likewise, There were many comical moments that uplifted the show, especially when she was trying to parent her immature parents.
Sandra has been seen on stage in
Bird Germs and
The House On Lake Desolation with
Vox Humana,
The Strip at the Evidence Room,
Happy Xmas at
Third Stage,
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? at Greenway Court, and
The Cocktail Hour at The Colony. Film credits include
Twin Peaks,
Fire Walk With Me, Playing God, Dream Lover, Straight Right, The New Women and
The Zeros. TV appearances include:
The Seventies, ER, Ellen and Sabrina The Teenaged Witch.
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Kimberly Akimbo -
(L) Christian Campbell (Buddy)- (R) Sandra Kinder (Kimberly)
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Katharine Phillips Moser (Pattie) caught my ear as the hypochondriac mother of
Kimberly. Although a little annoying, she gave something real to the production with her high pitched, siren voice. Obsessed with her pregnancy, I felt like she was a real-life pregnant pain-in-the-ass wife as she penguin walked through her kitchen as a neglectful mother to
Kimberly and a nagging wife to
Buddy. But after awhile, her piercing voice sort of grew on me.
Katharine was last seen in
Vox Humana’s productions of
Picasso Does My Maps, Arcadia, a staged reading of
The Memory of Water and three
One Act Festivals.
Lisa Glass (Debra) was
Katherine’s sister-in-law who was trying to live a good life but, somehow, was an up-to-no-good thug. She portrayed her thuggish character to the “T" always checking behind her back to see who was watching her. At the same time, she displayed such sweet, genuine affection and emotion as auntie to Kimberly--I loved her! Throughout the show, Debra lifted the audience with laughter at the right moments. In particularly, when she appeared in her brother’s kitchen lugging in a street-corner mail box - the audience was in hysterics. Lisa is making her
Vox Humana debut. She was one of three actors chosen from
Los Angeles for the
Steppenwolf Theater Ensemble Project: an intensive residency program at
Chicago’s renowned
Steppenwolf Theater.
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Kimberly Akimbo -
(L)Sandra Kinder (Kimberly) (C)
Daniel M. Burrows (Jeff)(R) Christian Campbell (Buddy)
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Favorite theater includes, most recently,
Lady Macbeth in
Macbeth and the
West Coast Premiere of
Neil LaBute’s Autobahn, for the
Open Fist Theater; The Friedman Family Fortune, opposite
Edward Asner and
JD Cullum, and
Yahrzeit with
Len Lesser, both for the
Celebrity Staged Play Reading Series; the
World Premiere of Aram Saroyan’s At The Beach House, with Orson Bean, directed by
Marcia Rodd at the Lost Studio Backstage Garland Award Honorable Mention for Best Performance. Film/TV includes:
The Young and The Restless, Days of Our Lives, 10-8.
Christian Campbell (Buddy) was a compelling grouchy drunk and an unreliable father who made promises he couldn’t keep to
Kimberly, however so, he had endearing moments with his daughter Kimberly as they danced late at night.
Christian has recently returned to the stage after a successful career as an executive in TV operations at
Paramount Pictures. Most recently he starred in the one-act play
Rex at the Edgemar Center. Prior to
Paramount, he performed in several regional productions around the country, toured in
The Music Man in the title role of
Harold Hill, and was a member of the famed troupe
The Young Americans. He has also directed or stage managed
Stevie Wonder, Placido Domingo, Sidney Potier, Smokey Robinson and
Merv Griffin in tribute concerts.
Daniel M. Burrows (Jeff) was outstanding as the nerdy new beau of
Kimberly. He was the perfect nerd with his sudden, nervous giggle. I loved his affection for
Kimberly – it was heartfelt, tender, and genuine. I don’t know how old this actor is, but he was a convincing teen-age bookworm on stage.
Daniel is proud to be in his first show with his new company.
Daniel’s professional classical background includes
Twelfth Night, Julius Ceasar, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Knight of the Burning Pestle, and
Tartuffle, to name a few. He has a BFA in musical theatre from
Syracuse University. He has recently filmed a hilarious movie called
Whiffleball, and is looking for his next role as a foul mouthed chain smoking children’s clown.
About the writer:
David Lindsay-Abaire
David Lindsay-Abaire is a
Pulitzer Prize winning American playwright, best known for
Fuddy Meers and for the 2007
Pulitzer
Prize Winner in Drama
Rabbit Hole.
About the director:
Heidi Yudis
Heidi has been a member of
Vox Humana since 2003, and had performed in many of their productions over the years including: The Memorandum, The
Comedy of Errors,
Lion In the Streets, and
Bird Germs.
Heidi has worked as an activity coordinator for the company and has produced and/or directed several staged readings with
Vox including
Win/Lose/Draw, The Herbal Bed, and the first incarnation of
Kimberly Akimbo with the company two years ago. In Los Angeles,
Heidi has also directed several productions including
A
Christmas Carol, and
Beautiful Bodies. She is a designated
Linklater Voice teacher and is the head of the
Voice and Speech Department at
Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Hollywood.
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Kimberly Akimbo - (L)Sandra Kinder (Kimberly)
(R)Daniel M. Burrows (Jeff)
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About the producer:
Lisa Guzman
Lisa is a founding member of
Vox Humana and has been involved in every production since its inception. She is thrilled that
Vox has just celebrated its seventh birthday!
About the producer:
Paul Lauden
Paul’s play
The Hot Dog completed a sold out and critically acclaimed run at the
Bindlestiff Studio
Insane
Francisco and was selected by the
Prague Ensemble Theaterin The Czech Republic. He has also written
Happy Birthday!
Silence is Golden
and It’s a Grind. His ongoing show
Channel Surfing will have its 19th performance this September and was the headline of the
Prague Fringe Festival.
Paul has produced two feature films, an independent pilot, and the hidden-camera show
Public Prank which he hosts. He has been cast in two feature films for 2008 and is represented by
Synergy Talent.
Kimberly Akimbo is wonderful dark comedy. I laughed and I cried. I was impressed with the great talent of the cast, and I didn’t get bored one bit. The actors should be recognized for their authentic talent. Likewise, the producers and director should be congratulated for putting on such an entertaining production.
The only disappointment about the production is that it came to an end. I have to admit, I got caught in the family chaos -- I didn’t want it to stop. There was so much excitement going. What was going to happen to the family: Was dubious
Debra going to get away with stealing those checks? Were
Kimberly and
Jeff going to fall in love? Then what was life going to be like for
Buddy,
Pattie and the newborn baby? And how would
Kimberly deal with her deadly disease?
For more information about
Vox Humana please click on:
www.voxhumanaproductions.org
Press Contact:
Jenna Pinkham at 714-813-6979 or jenna.pinkham@gmail.com
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on Amanda Cortez
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