Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei will not get to play mom to the middle-aged Marlyouise Burke's Kimberly in the New York premiere of the David Lindsay Abaire comedy, Kimberly Akimbo for the Manhattan Theatre Club.
A spokesperson for MTC confirmed the busy actress will not be part of the production set to be staged in 2003. No replacement or additional casting has been announced.
In lieu of Akimbo, the actress will be the title dreamer in a new revival of the musical, Sweet Charity intended for Broadway. Produced Fran Weissler previously confirmed the casting to Playbill On-Line, and that the show was aiming for a spring 2003 Broadway opening following some out-of-town dates. Tomei replaced "Dharma and Greg" star Jenna Elfman, who was originally slated to headline the production, but backed out.
Currently starring opposite Al Pacino in the reading of Salome, Tomei's last Broadway credit was the revival of the thriller Wait Until Dark. Off Broadway work includes Waiting for Lefty, Slavs!, and Demonology. Tomei won her Oscar for her turn in "My Cousin Vinny." Her film career after that honor was erratic, but she has recently returned to form with praised performances in "The Slums of Beverly Hills," "What Women Want" and another Oscar-nominated turn "In the Bedroom."
* Burke is currently starring as Jack's Mother in the Broadway revival of Into The Woods. Her previous credits include Inherit the Wind, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and The Chairs.
Ana Gasteyer, the comic actress whose Martha Stewart and Celine Dion impersonations kept "Saturday Night Live" viewers laughing, will also star in Kimberly Akimbo, playing Kimberly's "scam-artist aunt." Gasteyer left "SNL" last spring to pursue other projects, finding work in Broadway's The Rocky Horror Show.
In the play, the teen-age title character has a rare condition that causes her body to age at an increased rate. In addition, she must also contend with her hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scamming aunt and, most terrifying of all, the possibility of first love." David Petrarca directs.
Kimberly Akimbo begins Jan. 4, 2003, with an opening of Feb 4, 2003, on MTC's Stage I.
— Ernio Hernandez
and Kenneth Jones
