13

“13” is an original musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from a book by Dan Ellish and Robert Horn. It is the only known Broadway musical with a cast and band entirely made up of teenagers.

Directed by Scarlett Gorman this production of “13” from “Chorley Youth Theatre” was a fast paced dynamic musical, with excellent choreography from Lucy McManus, which was executed with ease by the enthusiastic cast who appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely. The story follows Evan Goldman a Jewish boy who moves with his mother from New York to Appleton a small-town in Indiana after his parents separate. Evan tries to come to terms with his parents' divorce, while getting ready for his impending Bar Mitzvah, he also has the added stress of trying to fit in at a new school which has a completely different social structure than what he is used to. He is desperate to be accepted by the popular kids in the school who include sports star Brett, cheerleader Kendra (who Brett is eager to date) and scheming Lucy who is Kendra’s best friend and secretly wants to date Brett. Evan hopes they will attend his Bar Mitzvah party, but unfortunately he is struggling to fit in and is also a religious misfit as he appears to be the only Jewish boy in the school.  In his eagerness to be accepted, Evan finds himself trying to sort out his classmates’ romances for them, even though as a result it means betraying his true friends, the trustworthy but unpopular Patrice and the witty outsider Archie, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder and walks with crutches.

The cast included Jack Titherley who gave a good performance in the demanding central role of Evan, he produced some good acting with an excellent American accent. He was well complimented by Holly Petts who gave a very good performance as the trustworthy dependable Patrice and Lucas Burns was brilliantly comedic with a sense of underlying pathos in the role of Archie, he used his crutches excellently which was very important because they have a major role in understanding Archie’s character. There were good performances from Declan Cowell as the school sports star Brett and Lucy Aspinall as Kendra the popular girl in the school, while Eleanor Anderton gave an excellent performance as Kendra's envious scheming friend Lucy. We were also treated to two promising comedic performances from Callan Grimshaw Brown as Malcolm and Luke Eburne as Eddie,Brett's two sidekicks who were firm favourites with the audience. Other entertaining performances came from Owen Pope as the Rabbi, Abby Sallery as Simon, Hannah Palmer as Richie, Amelia Bowles as Charlotte, Alayna Collinson as Molly and Naomi Cook as Cassie.
The chorus and cheerleaders all performed with loads of energy, producing different characters and supporting the principle cast very well.

 I would just like to mention some constructive advice as there were a few tuning issues from some members of the cast, probably due to enthusiasm. When singing on stage it is important to listen to the music and the notes being played by the musicians or the backing tracks, and watch the Musical Director, this will help you to sing on key and also keep in time with the music.

The band conducted by Musical Director Paul Carr played excellently at just the right level, it was great to hear live music as many youth productions appear to be using backing tracks these days and I personally feel there is nothing so enjoyable as a good live band.

Scenery was minimalistic there was only one set used excellently to good effect and along with very good sound, lighting and spot-on colourful costumes contributed to the success of this production.

Although"13" is a feel good musical it does have some life lessons as it deals with, bigotry, ignorance, acceptance, what and who makes a good dependable friend and what is important a good friend or being popular. It reminded me very much of a Disney Channel Musical.

Congratulations to Director Scarlett Gorman, Producer Charli Bradbury and everyone involved with this very enjoyable dynamic production, which the audience enjoyed immensely, thank you for inviting us we had a lovely enjoyable evening.

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