We chose a local town to perfectly describe a Broadway Musical that’s coming to Walton Arts Center this season. Get to know your NWA neighbors and learn about these shows - then make plans to experience both!
Fayetteville would be Kimberly Akimbo - A little funky, a little fun, a little sentimental - and you’ll ultimately fall in love with it. Fayetteville and the Broadway musical Kimberly Akimbo share a lot of heart and humor beneath the surface.
Both are full of quirky charm. Fayetteville with its creative college-town energy and Kimberly Akimbo with its offbeat characters trying to make sense of life’s chaos.
Each celebrates the beauty of imperfection: in Fayetteville, that means funky art installations, indie coffee shops and a community that thrives on individuality. In Kimberly Akimbo, it’s a teenage girl navigating life with a rare condition and a whole lot of hope.
Both remind you that being “normal” is overrated — that what really matters is finding joy, kindness and connection in the middle of the mess.
Whether you’re walking down Dickson Street or watching Kimberly dream of her Great Adventure, you can feel the same small-town warmth and big-hearted optimism shining through.
Kimberly Akimbo is the Tony Award-winning best Musical about growing up and growing old - in no particular order.
Kimberly Akimbo Character Guide
“A MUSICAL TRIUMPH.
Funny, clever, quirky, very off-center and emotionally engaging”
Kimberly Levaco
A whip-smart, deeply empathetic sixteen-year-old girl with a rare genetic condition that causes her to age four and a half times faster than normal. Despite her circumstances, Kimberly is sharp-witted and resilient, navigating adolescence with humor and insight. Filled with a desire to experience life fully, she dreams of escaping her dysfunctional home life and finding a sense of belonging and adventure.
Seth Weetis
A quirky, socially awkward high school boy who plays the tuba and works at Skater Planet. Seth has a fascination with puzzles and anagrams, which he uses to connect with Kimberly. Underneath his shy demeanor, he is kind-hearted and able to look beyond Kimberly's physical appearance to appreciate her intelligence and humor, forming a genuine bond as her biology partner and eventual partner in adventure.
Buddy Levaco
Kim's loving but severely flawed - and often inebriated - father. Buddy clearly loves his family and cares deeply for his daughter, even though he often falls short. While unreliable, irresponsible and rarely keeps his promises, he has poignant moments of earnestness and wants so badly to be a better husband and father.
Pattie Levaco
Kim's overbearing and self-absorbed mother - and the second adult to whom Kimberly parents. Pregnant with her second child, Pattie is a bundle of fear and frustration, often venting her anxieties through sharp words and neglecting Kim due to her own preoccupations. Despite her many shortcomings, she loves Kim and struggles to reconcile her daughter’s reality with her own dreams.
Aunt Debra
Kim’s loud, brash and eccentric aunt who always seems to find trouble, dragging others along with her. Unapologetically manipulative, Debra is a schemer with a wild sense of humor and a penchant for illegal get-rich-quick plans. Despite her questionable morality, she shares an unexpected camaraderie with Kim and is able to truly "see" her in a way that neither of her parents can.
Friends
As the new girl in school, Kimberly is quickly embraced by those on the lower end of the social ladder: the show choir kids. Martin Doaty, Delia McDaniels, Teresa Benton and Aaron Puckett provide some hilarious moments throughout the musical. This quartet is locked in a terrible pileup of wrong-way crushes: the soprano loves the tenor, who loves the bass, who loves the alto, who loves the soprano.
“Kimberly Akimbo is a TRIUMPH. A STUNNER with one showstopper after another. Humorous, heartbreaking and life-changing for all concerned.”
Her Medical Condition
Kimberly has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age four and a half times as fast as normal, thus trapping her inside the physical body of an elderly woman.
While Kimberly's condition is completely fictional it mimics progeria, where the average life expectancy is only 16 years. David Lindsay-Abaire got the initial idea for Kimberly Akimbo after a friend said how his newborn was like “this little old woman trapped in a baby’s body.”
Kimberly Akimbo is here for just one week. Don’t miss your chance to see this funny, funky and upligting new musical!
Dec. 9-14
Tuesday-Thursday 7 pm
Thursday 1:30 pm
Friday-Saturday 8 pm
Saturday-Sunday 2 pm