It takes mere seconds for David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori to show their mutual admiration, manifested through good-natured ribbing about each other’s New York borough. To hear Lindsay-Abaire tell it, Tesori living in Manhattan means she is “fancy.” But Tesori reminds her longtime collaborator of a simple fact: “Nothing is as expensive as Brooklyn … I’m just sayin’.”
The initial moments of cheeky banter and light-hearted chuckles reveal how seamless it is for both to express both artistry and loyalty through their profound friendship. As Tesori puts it bluntly, if she has any say in the matter, “No one would ever (mess) with David.”
Back in 2023, that friendship led both on a magical path, when their quirky, tragicomic musical “Kimberly Akimbo” went on to broad critical acclaim, winning five Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best original score. A national touring production of the show is playing at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre through Dec. 1, presented by BroadwaySF.
“Kimberly Akimbo” tells the story of Kimberly Levaco, a New Jersey teen who’s suffering through an ailment similar to progeria, which causes one to age roughly four times faster than normal. Therefore Kimberly looks more like a grandmother than a girl who’s experiencing things like falling in love for the first time. The rapidity with which her end nears is approached with big feelings, but also lots of belly laughs through a score packed with wit and wisdom.
The collaborative trust between Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire was solidified when they landed a Tony Award for best original score in 2009 for “Shrek the Musical.” That experience prepared them for a much different type of collaboration, adapting Lindsay-Abaire’s 2001 stage comedy “Kimberly Akimbo” into a full-blown musical.
It was a process he approached with a more liberal bent, offering up cuts galore from the original. But running into the buzzsaw that is Tesori meant being held accountable by his fiercest advocate.
“Honestly, I was much more willy-nilly about it, saying we didn’t need this or let’s get rid of that,” said Lindsay-Abaire, whose play “Rabbit Hole” won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for drama. “But Jeanine was very protective of what was at the heart of the play. She said we were going to do so much changing and so much investigating, let’s not lose what makes the play work. She was really the guardian of the story.”
One aspect that helped the adaptation to thrive was the passing years since the original “Kimberly Akimbo” premiered. Lindsay-Abaire wrote the play when his voice was not as refined and mature as it is now. Tesori found that to be incredibly useful when composing the musical’s sound.
“I think it helps that it’s an early play with early impulses, which were probably the ambitions that were slightly higher than the skill level,” said Tesori, whose catalogue of musicals include such iconic hits as “Fun Home,” “Caroline, or Change” and “Thoroughly Modern Mille.” “Now we are 20 years later and David is a master storyteller, but the play is a recorded impulse of who he was 20 years ago as a younger person in a younger generation.”
What was extremely heartening to both was how well the story resonated with audiences and critics alike. Kimberly, along with her peers, spends so much time trying to figure life out. In her turbo-charged lifespan, Kimberly both teaches and learns lessons about what it means to live out loud, encouraged by the deep riches of friendship and trauma. It’s territory both Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire occupy firmly, especially when they are working together.
“For me, I feel very protective of David, and we are a team,” Tesori said. “There is a trust, and I also know if I bring something to David, he won’t lessen my impulse, but will still keep the door open to honor that impulse. He may say, ‘I would have never thought of that, and it doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know, let’s try it.’ That has allowed me to bring my whole self to work.”
Now what Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire achieved is getting its spotlight in a wide swath of the country in a national tour that kicked off last month in Los Angeles and opens at The Curran Nov. 6. Tony Awards are game changers, but does the show still hold up a few years later?
Those questions may have relevance, but at this point, Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire really just want to create the kind of art that is not only quality storytelling, but something they can see themselves in. Literally.
“At the end of the day, Jeanine and I are just writing about ourselves and our families,” Lindsay-Abaire said. “This show is so much about an outsider just wanting to be accepted and to be seen as she wants to be seen. It sounds so simple and basic, but that idea hits on so many different communities and so many different ages.”
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez.
‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’
Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori, presented by BroadwaySF
Through: Dec. 1
Where: The Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St, San Francisco
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes with an intermission
Tickets: $60-$163; broadwaysf.com
