The Broadway Play Kimberly Akimbo Comes to Overture in February: Devastatingly Hilarious
Above: Scene from Kimberly Akimbo - Skye Alyssa Friedman, Max Santopietro, Darron Hayes and Gabby Beredo in the National Tour photo by Joan Marcus Below: Darron Hayes
by Jonathan Gramling
Darron Hayes, who plays Martin in the Broadway show Kimberly Akimbo coming to the Overture Center, had the perfect makings to become a musical theater actor. He was totally out there, surrounded by the fine arts and lived in a family that nurtured his talent.
“Growing up, I was always kind of the rambunctious kid,” Darron said with a laugh. “I was the kid who did cartwheels in class. I had so much energy. I was the one doing cartwheels in math class, for example.”
His mother took action.
“My mom was like, ‘Okay, we have to do something with this kid,’” Darron said. “So she put me in all of the arts. I grew up doing theater. I played in band. I played the flute and the clarinet. And I also grew up singing in church. My family is a huge music family, so music has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up doing theater at a very young age. I was singing as I grew up in church.”
And growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina also had its advantages.
“I also pereformed during the National Black Theater Festival,” Darron observed. “It’s in my hometown every other year. I was always involved with that, watching plays, participating in them or doing a theme competition. The arts have always been a huge part of my upbringing, especially with that festival coming from my hometown every other year. I am very, very lucky. And my parents totally supported me and wanted me to do this too. I have to give all of the thanks to my parents. And I loved it.”
Darron went to the North Carolina School of the Arts for high school, which was located in his hometown and then headed to Penn State to earn his BFA. He then headed to New York City to follow his dream.
“It was definitely scary moving to New York City,” Darron said. “But I always wanted to go to New York. That was one of my biggest dreams growing up. As terrified as I was, I was equally excited and ready to jump into the industry and it was one of the blessings I had coming my way. It was definitely nerve-wracking. But I knew that it was something that I always wanted to do.”
Darron booked regional theater and then did some Off-Broadway and then his journey led him to Denver, Colorado.
“I did a play called Choir Boy at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts,” Darron said. “I met the writer, Tarell Alvin McCraney there. I had such a wonderful time doing the play and we had such a great connection as well.”
Next thing you know, Darron is headed to Australia.
“I got an email from one of the producers in Australia saying, ‘Hey, I saw that you were in the play in America,’” Darron said. “’We’re going to do the Australian premier. And we would like you to recreate your role there.’ I was like, ‘What?’ This just sort of fell in my lap. Of course I said yes and I made my Australian theater debut with such a huge, huge opportunity. It was the first time that the play was being done in Australia. I was there for 5-6 months. And I was the only American in the cast. I traveled around Australia with the show, which was such a beautiful opportunity. Working in Australia was one of the highlights of my life. I am very, very, very blessed.”
Darron came back to New York and did some Off-Broadway. And then the opportunity came to perform on Broadway.
“I got an audition tape for Kimberly Akimbo,” Darron said. “I filmed it and sent it in. And I heard back pretty quickly from casting that they were interested. They saw my tape and asked me if I could ice skate. And with the dancing ability, I let them know can ice skate, which is mostly true. I think I sent them a dance reel. And then I found out maybe 1-2 weeks later that I was going to be making my Broadway debut. It was a dream come true. I was with the Broadway cast for about a year. And then actually, the day of my Broadway debut, they asked me to join the tour as Martin Doaty. And I said yes and now here I am. I’m in Michigan somewhere, Grand Rapids, Michigan.”
Kimberly Akimbo, a musical, has a very unique story line to explore growing up in America.
“It’s about this 16-year-old girl who has a rare genetic disorder where she ages very rapidly,” Darron said. “She ages four times as fast as she should. So the actress who plays that character is usually an actress in her 60s or 70s. The story sort of explores her disorder and her highly dysfunctional family life. She has a narcissistic mother and her father is an alcoholic and struggling with having this daughter who is 60, but is really 16-years-old. And the show is about her falling in love and moving to a new city. I always like to say that our show is devastatingly hilarious because with all of those things that I just said, it’s also so funny. It’s a little bit of everything.”
Martin, Darron’s character, is a teenage boy wanting to venture out into the asult world.
“I always like to say that Martin is a teenager stuck in New Jersey doing show choir with his best friends,” Darron said. “He’s sort of stuck in a love square, I like to call it with all of his other show choir friends. So we all chase each other around throughout the play. And we’re trying to make sure show choir is the very best. All of the teens, everyone involved in this play, they all know that there is no life awaiting them outside of New Jersey. We all just want to get out of New Jersey and fulfill our dreams and live the happiest that we can be and fulfill every little thing that we want out of our lives. Martin is 16-years-old, but he has a lot of wisdom. Again, he knows that his dream life is awaiting him outside of New Jersey as soon as he graduates. He just sort of hunkers down and finishes school and does what he needs to do so that he can get to where he wants to be.”
And all of this happens with a dazzling musical score and dance routines.
“There is a little bit of gospel inspiration,” Darron said. “There is contemporary musical theater. It’s the same thing with what our show is and what it is about. It’s truly a little bit of everything. You will leave the theater crying and laughing within the same 60 seconds.”
Darron Hayes is following his dream by portraying Martin who is also following his dream, a moment where reality and theater come together as one.