13 - Some Thoughts & Questions

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 4:55pm

I saw 13 last night. I got a $25 student ticket. Great seat, Row J, right on the aisle. I was kind of excited. I didn't know much about the show as far as plot and score go. I knew the whole "idea" behind the show, but I didn't know any of the songs or anything. Well, the show was entertaining.

SCORE: I think Jason Robert Brown got some backlash from his score, but it's pretty sound. I think the orchestrations are a little weak, but then again they had to fit in with the whole "young people in the band" thing, so I guess they couldn't have more than just a guitar, drums, and piano. But after a while all the ballads sound repetitive because of the same sounding orchestrations. However, I thought the songs themselves fit perfectly with the show. They weren't complex like his other shows, yes, but they worked well for the show. My favorite was the song with the girls on the phone - towards the end. I'm still curious to know what the DDR song was, but whatever. And I'd say the best song was the last song, or the first song.

ACTORS: The actors were fine. I mean, yeah, some of they were way overacting, and some of them were perfect. They all had pretty damn good voices for their ages, and they brought a TON of energy, which meshed well with the over-excited crowd. The little white boy with the braces, and the black boy (sorry I don't know names) were by far the standouts for me. They pulled my focused in every scene, and I was cracking up watching them.

SETS: Boring. This show has got to be easy to run from day to day. There aren't many sets, and they're all on wheels. The "indiana" set was interesting, but other than that it was pretty damn boring. I wish some thought and detail had been put into the design of the show.

Questions... Was the boy playing the terminal illness kid suppose to have a weird voice? I mean, his singing voice was great (probably the best guy singer in the bunch), but his speaking voice had a weird tone to it. Was that a character choice? Also, why does the main character only have an alternate on the weekends? Would he in turn need one on Wednesdays? Do children actors on Broadway get paid more or less than the adults? Also, it was cool to know Tom Kitt was the music director for the show!

I think this show will have a life on Broadway. If the producers are smart they'll look for some new Disney kids to exploit to help the show run longer, but I can't imagine it's a costly show to run.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 4:56pm

I'm impressed with the show too. It's turning out better than I originally thought.

I believe he has an alternate because he carries the hardest load, musically.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 5:21pm

No, I understand that - but why not on a Wednesday since there are two shows as well? I might go back to check out the alternate, who looks totally un-Jewish. (sorry if that's offensive).

[FinalDestination]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 5:31pm

Cell phone song: It Can't Be True
DDR Song: Here I Come
As for the speaking voice of "Terminal Illness Kid", who's name is Aaron Simon Gross, by the way--I'm not sure I haven't heard him speak when onstage, but when he speaks in general..he has this very slow flow of words, and he sounds kind of..slow? I don't know quite how to describe what it sounds like to me. Just he has a nervous sounding tone of voice to me. I'm figuring child actors will get payed a little less than adults, because they don't have to support themselves. However, I'm not sure about the cast of 13, seeing as it is an entire cast/band made of kids and teens, I'm not positive about their pay.

[rich.hanson59]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 5:59pm

I don't think there is a wed mat. At least there wasn't during previews. And about pay, I think equity rules are equity rules, tey probably make the standard rate for their performance, but I'm not sure.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 7:54pm

They may not have a Wed mat because they have a Monday show, and I'm just guessing but I think hey may do that so the kids can go to school, I know Al Calderon goes to a regular school.

[actor2be]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 8:18pm

the white boy with braces i think you are referring to Al Calderon (Eddie)

black boy is Malik Hammon (Malcolm)

and if your interested in hearing about the DDR song, i saw the show when that song was in and i will just say that its definitely good that the song was cut....

the set for that song is like an arcade and evan is in there, back facing the audience playing a slow section of DDR during a dance break...BORING!!! i dont quite remember the rest but i think the rest of the cast comes out and does a fun little dance break which was good....

actually now that i think about it....maybe if they just fixed up some of the dancing in that song and made it a little more...fun...that number could be pulled off.....its a really nice song for Graham Phillips (Evan) and its actually really fun to listen to. and its also a nice sum up of what Evan is thinking at thsi point in the show....i say put it back in and just clean it up / re-coreograph it

but other than that the show is phenomenal

5 stars!!!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 8:54pm

Well, I was just wondering like how much the "star" made? But I guess that's personal, so we may never know.

And, that's cool that a lot of the kids go to school during the day. Didn't Allison Frasier go to school while doing Lestat?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 8:55pm

They go to school during the day? Must be BRUTAL.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/15/08 at 10:42pm

I can't imagine it... get home 2:30/3:00ish, get to the theatre around 7:00/7:30ish... luckily it's only a 90 minute show. Still homework, dinner, SHOW, school next morning around 7:30... wow!

[SillySara]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 8:04am

Going to school during the day and doing a show at night would be an intense day for anyone. But someone so young, you would think that would be a lot to carry on one's shoulders. 13 did change all their weekday shows to a 7pm curtain, so at least it's still a pretty early night once the show gets out.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 11:04am

True, but it's not like its one of those shows where they're laying their heart down every night and having some huge emotional breakdown! They're just having fun! And getting paid! I mean, they have an income and they're, what?, 14? ha.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 11:09am

What does "DDR" stand for?

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 11:22am

the kids of 13 get tutored so it's not like they're constantly being shuffled to and from school and the theatre...

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 12:28pm

"What does "DDR" stand for?"

Dance Dance Revolution

[bwaybud]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 6:36pm

The kids "were" being tutored, they are in full school now, outside of the show shows tutoring.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 7:15pm

^^^
Yea, I know as a fact as I read comments from some of the performers on 13fans.com

It's not that unusual. The kids from Mary Poppins go to regular school too, but there triple casted.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 7:56pm

Yes, I believe children on Broadway are tutored throughout the rehearsal process and then go back to school when the show is open and running.

~Steven

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 8:16pm

Any idea what their pay is like? Are they making Equity minimum or over it, etc.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 9:30pm

Their payed under equity rules. They aren't chorus members, so I doubt minimum.

[Scott Briefer]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 1:27am

I saw 13 tonight and disagree with much that has been said about this show. It was just better than boring. The cast with the exception of 2 or 3 were dreadful. They can't sing. Tonight, they were constantly singing flat. In fact, the female lead rarely hit her "belt" notes. The harmonies were strained and off. The dancing energetic yet dull. The story seemed better fit for an after school tv special than a Broadway musical. It seemed to me that 13 existed only for the potential royalties for the many high school productions that is sure to follow. I'm sorry, but 13 was mediocre at best.

[SillySara]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 8:17am

Scott, you must have been at an extremely off night. The times I have seen it, the singing has been amazing (with the exception of a couple actors) and the dancing even better. As for the after school special comment, this is a show that relates to 13 year olds, who appear to get a kick out of the story line...ultimately that's really all that matters. I do agree that this show will be picked up constantly by high schools and youth theatres once the rights are released, but I would give Jason Robert Brown a little more credit than writing a show solely for royalty purposes.

[Shanana5887]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 11:37am

If you do get the chance you should definietly go back and see the alternate, Corey Snide, he is excellent!! An extremely talended person (he played Billy Elliot in the musical in both London and Sydney) and he brings a lot to the role of Evan!

[pdjennings]

Posted: 11/10/08 at 1:13pm

Happy Monday .... I got a chance to see 13 on Saturday afternoon, and whoa, I am glad I did! After reading the comments on this board for the last several weeks about how "horrible" the show was supposed to be, I was quite hesitant to go -- but I got the discount ticket email and we went on a whim (assuming that, if it's so bad, it'll be closing soon).

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOU PEOPLE SMOKING?!

13 is probably in my top 10 right now. I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Is it high-art? No -- but it's not supposed to be. It's catchy, it's FUNNY, it's true-to-life, and it's heartwarming to the core. It certainly beats the everlovin' pants off of the High-School-Musical swill. "Tell Her," "If That's What It Is," and "A Little More Homework" are just wonderful. I'm happy if a show has even ONE number so good... getting those 3 (almost together) at the end of 13 is such a total delight.

I was a bit bummed to discover that we had the "Alternate Evan" at first ... but that disappeared about 30 seconds in.... Corey Snide was EXCELLENT (as mentioned above!). Everyone was, really -- the casting was so perfect! I don't think I heard the slightest flub out of anyone.

Anyway -- I could rave all afternoon, but I'm getting back to work. I just wanted to throw my 2-cents in, lest anyone else be frightened off by all of the nay-sayers :-P

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 11/10/08 at 1:35pm

I saw the show yesterday afternoon and wasn't too sure what to expect. I'd heard a lot of mixed thoughts about it, but walked out of the theatre happy. It's not a brilliant piece of art, but I had a good time. the entire cast is very talented. We had the alternate Evan, and I thought he did very well.,