Just catching up on this thread, but the comp to SPRING AWAKENING is truly insane. They couldn't be more different shows, and AKIMBO skews much more to the "traditional" side than AWAKENING ever did. While I liked it plenty, KIMBERLY AKIMBO doesn't reinvent any wheels and is mostly in the vein of VIOLET and SHREK (if you like that Tesori, you'll like this). It isn't selling because it's not as earth-shatteringly good as people on this site seem to think it (everyone is entitled to their own opinions!) and because, to the OP point, it isn't being marketed well at all. I agree that a focus on the youthful ensemble would be the right track, instead of centering it around "an old lady" -- despite Clark's incredible performance.
But also, it's odd to not be able to sell the musical on the story. Yes, you can say "it's about a little girl with this rare disease" (hardly a selling point) - but - to go into the plot machinations would be a complete waste of time. As I've said previously about the show, the story literally makes no sense. Oh, were you not sold on the little girl illness thing? Well just WAIT until I tell you about ... mail fraud! |
