Cast Announced For the Canadian Premiere of Kimberly Akimbo
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: John Karastamatis, Sue Toth, Erin Nantais – Mirvish Productions
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2025
JANUARY 15 – FEBRUARY 8, 2026 | CAA THEATRE
CRITIC’S PICK - “BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR. A DOSE OF PURE JOY. Profoundly funny and heartbreaking. The season’s most moving new musical.” - The New York Times
“MEET YOUR NEW FAVORITE MUSICAL. So clever, funny and touching, you might want to give everyone on stage a hug. It’s happy-sad heaven. DO NOT MISS IT.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“THE BEST NEW MUSICAL OF THE YEAR — BY FAR. A wondrous new musical, breathtakingly lovely and riotously funny — as full-hearted as any musical to be seen in recent years.” - The Wall Street Journal
“A HOWLINGLY FUNNY HEARTBREAKER OF A SHOW.” - The New Yorker
The multi-Tony award winning musical Kimberly Akimbo will make its highly anticipated Canadian Premiere beginning this November in a co-production with the Segal Centre for Performing Arts and David and Hannah Mirvish. Kimberly Akimbo will play Montreal's Segal Centre from November 23 – December 21, 2025 before transferring to Toronto’s CAA Theatre from January 15 – February 8, 2026.
Tickets for the Toronto engagement will be available at 10AM on Friday September 19 at mirvish.com or by calling 1.800.461.3333.
The legendary Louise Pitre — who originated the role of Fantine in the Canadian premiere of Les Misérables, Donna in the North American and Broadway premieres of MAMMA MIA!, and Edith Piaf in Piaf/Dietrich and performed in dozens of other productions across Canada, in the U.S. and internationally, including originating Fantine in the Paris premiere of Les Misérables — stars as the title character in this deeply moving and wildly funny musical. Louise is the winner of four Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a National Broadway Touring Award, a New York Theatre World Award, a San Francisco Theatre Critics' Award and a Betty Mitchell Award, all for best performance by a leading actress in a musical.
Tess Benger stars as Kimberly’s mom Pattie. Tess played Carole King in the Segal Centre’s production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She performed three seasons at the Shaw Festival, performing in Top Girls, Cabaret, Philadelphia Story and Sweeney Todd. She also starred in a different Sweeney Todd production for Talk is Free Theatre, for which she received a Dora nomination.
Jake Cohen plays Aaron, one of the students who hangs out with Kimberly in high school. Jake studied at theatre Dawson College and acting at the National Theatre School of Canada. He previous appeared at the Segal Centre in the Dale Wasserman Yiddish Theatre production of The Sages of Chelm.
Kyle Jonathon plays Martin, another of the students who hangs out with Kimberly in high school. A graduate of the Sheridan College’s famed Musical Theatre Program, Kyle starred in the college’s productions of Head Over Heels and Casimir and Caroline.
Cyrus Lane stars as Buddy, Kimberly’s dad. Cyrus’s stage credits include Twelve Angry Men (Soulpepper Theatre), Minotaur (YPT), RIFLES (Praxis Theatre), Passion Play (Sheep No Wool, Convergence, Outside the March); Cymbeline, Wanderlust, Titus Andronicus, Richard III, Peter Pan (Stratford Festival). He plays recurring character Roger Newsome in the popular TV series Murdoch Mysteries.
Taylor Lovelace plays Teresa, another of the students who hangs out with Kimberly in high school. Taylor’s credits include Waitress, A Year with Frog and Toad and Little Shop of Horrors (Cameco Capitol Arts Centre), Be Kind Rewind (Deirdre – Edge of the Sky Production), and Memory of Dr. Gordon P. Silver (Outside the March / Musical Stage Company).
Luca McPhee plays Delia, another of the students who hangs out with Kimberly in high school. Currently in their fourth year in Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre Program, Luca’s credits include Iris (says goodbye) (Mixtape Projects), Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Falsettos (Bowtie Productions), Alice by Heart (Thaumatrope Theatre) Levels the Play (Capitol Sound Collective) The Calling (Makeshift Theatre).
Tracy Michailidis (Kimberly Akimbo Standby) is a Dora-award winning actor whose work has taken her across Canada (in both regional theatres and at the Stratford, Shaw, and Charlottetown Festivals), the U.S. (both off and on Broadway and on U.S National Tours and in regional theatres), and internationally. Favourite roles include: Harper in Angels in America (WJT), Sarah in Guys and Dolls (Segal Centre), Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman (Eclipse Theatre, Dora nomination), Beth in Life After (Canadian Stage/Musical Stage/Yonge St. Theatricals, Dora award), Mary's Wedding (Magnus Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (Stratford Festival), The Ugly One (Thousand Islands Playhouse), Into the Woods (TIFT, Dora nomination), and Indecent (Studio 180/Mirvish).
Kristen Peace stars as Kimberly’s Aunt Debra. Kristen starred as Bonnie in the Canadian production of Come From Away, performing the show from 2018 to 2024. For Mirvish productions, she also starred in The Producers, The Boys in the Photograph, Les Misérables and Kinky Boots.
Thomas Winiker plays Seth, a fellow student who becomes Kimberly’s close friend. Thomas graduated from The Etobicoke School of the Arts and is enrolled in the BFA Musical Theatre program at Carnegie Mellon University, class of 2030. His professional credits include The Music Man (Stratford Festival), and Michael Hobbs in Elf: The Musical, Les in Disney’s Newsies and Benji in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (Drayton Entertainment).
About the show
Kimberly Akimbo is the most Tony Award-winning show of the 2022-2023 season – including Best Musical – and features a Tony Award-winning book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Shrek the Musical) and a Tony Award-winning score by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home; Caroline, or Change; Shrek, The Musical).
Kimberly is about to turn 16 and recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), she is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush…and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Robert McQueen
Choreography by Allison Plamondon
Music Direction by Chris Barillaro
Kimberly Akimbo is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). www.mtishows.com