Middle-aged character actress Marylouise Burke tackles the tension of Kimberly's interior and exterior realities in the New York premiere, which began previews Jan. 14.

In addition to her disease, which ages her at four times the normal rate, Kimberly must also contend with her pregnant, hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scamming aunt and the possibility of first love.

David Petrarca directs Jodie Markell (Sankebit), who plays Kimberly's mom, Pattie; Jake Weber as Buddy, Kimberly's father; Ana Gasteyer ("Saturday Night Live," The Rocky Horror Show) as Debra, Kimberly's scam-artist aunt; and John Gallagher Jr. as Jeff, Kimberly's 16- year-old classmate and potential love interest. The play is set in Bogota, NJ.

The new work by Lindsay-Abaire (Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World) had its world premiere at South Coast Rep in California (with Burke). MTC previously staged Lindsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers and Wonder of the World, which both featured Burke.

Designers are Robert Brill (sets), Martin Pakledinaz (costumes), Brian MacDevitt (lighting) and Bruce Ellman (sound). Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last 5 Years) wrote original music for the production. The set is so complicated that one preview was canceled in order to deal with technical issues.