13 the Musical, reviews, comments, concerns

13 is composer Jason Robert Brown's newest musical. It is playing in LA at the Mark Taper Forum. I enjoy his work. I really get hooked to most of it and have the cast recording on repeat, but this one will not even be near my "To Buy" list. Yet if you are 13 or under or 50 and older you will possibly have a great time. Everyone in the theatre in those age brackets were living it up, so maybe you would too.

The show is simple enough. Jewish boy moves from NY to Indiana? because of his
parents divorce. Boy is lonely wants to be popular, but has unpopular and handicapped friends. There were 13 kids playing the roles and a band of kids with the only adult being the conductor. The set was extremely useful and easily transformed into every scene imaginable for these middle school students. Costumes were fine, Nothing too impressive but the show is about modern day kids, so they were good. LIghting was great and with the many ventures, of the cast, into the audience they were able to keep up and make it flow naturally.

The main problem of the show was is redundancy. Not only were the songs similar but the overall style just felt played out. The combination of the touring RENT cast, High School Musical, and Fame would be the perfect description of this show. It was very dramatic, just as 13 year-olds are, but I found myself laughing at more than with the actors. The songs were so forgettable and tried to achieve the rock style of RENT. However a cute little blonde rocking out just didn't do it for me. The story was overplayed and typically unrealistic. If you want to know spoilers, just message me.

The point is that the show was the same as every other teenage musical. Even down to the schools mascot, Wildcats (just like High School Musical), I was bored. I found some similarities in this music and some of his other work but primarily just bland story with bland music. The one positive: my bestfriend was hating how much the 50+ patrons were LOVING IT!

Lori

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Updated On: 1/11/07 at 04:32 AM

I'm not sure I understand your comparisons - sure, some of the ballads have the same feeling (partly, I think, because of the "being a man" theme song that goes through most of Evan's), but I didn't get RENT or Fame from it at all. "Brand New You" is a little High School Musical, but mostly I think 13 has a great sense that it's actually a musical, rather than a bunch of pop songs strung together by a weak plot.

And I think that though the story is rather cliche, but since it's told in such an entertaining way (through things like "Bloodmaster" and "It Can't be True") that I could honestly care less.

I'm kind of beating a dead horse just saying that I love the show, but I really do.

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this is lindsay...not ricky ashley.

i disagree on your comment saying that its just for teenagers. i've seen it 9 times and since the age of the mark taper subscribers are 50 and over..I watched and sat next to adults who LOVED it. Everytime I saw it there wasnt a quiet audience that didn't enjoy it.
And the High School Musical comparison..It's much better than High School Musical..

They say crap and bitch a couple of times and have some vague references to smoking and the various "bases". But it's definitely appropriate for pre-teens. Unless you're amish. :)

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Yes pre-teens would love it. They'd definately be with the greater part of teh audience enjoying it. But I still stick with what I said. It's very redundant. It's like how a lot of jukebox musicals got popular. Some of them have good catches but they're all very similar. Yes JRB has some good songs and I enjoyed a few but overall it was just the same 'ol thing. All of the adults around me enjoyed it as well, like I said, but that didn't mean that my age demographic did. When I looked around the theatre only teenagers and adults enjoyed it. I recommended it to my mother who is a middle school counselor and she is bringing some co-workers. Yes people will like it, but HSM, FAME, and Footloose all have fans as well. It's a fine show, just not my cup of tea.

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20's. Most 20-30's patrons didn't seem enjoy it as much as the older and younger audience members did. My assumptions of my age range are simply from looking around the theatre and seeing the xpressions on others faces. The elder audience members seemed to light up with excitement just as the younger ones did. I must say that when the lead actor went into the audience to interact with them the man he layed down on just about lost it. He obviously was having on of the best times he'd ever had. Just not for me.

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That's not to say that everybody in that range agrees with what I said. It just seemed like the common feeling from what I saw. Who knows, I could be wrong. It just really seemed like everyone other than that age enjoyed it much more than we did. I like those tv shows too, just not to terribly impressed by 13.

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I saw it tonight and thought it was adorable. It reminded me of "Rent" not so much in terms of style or material but that the energy on stage, and some of the performances, were just wonderful and rose above the material. I'm not sure who the target audience is but the mixed crowd (tweens through seniors) I saw it with loved it, altho I don't know if people are really appreciating the show or appreciating the fact that there's a lot of talented young performers/musicians on that stage who deserve their props. I think Jason Robert Brown is gifted but he really needs to write about something not personal next time. He's becoming the Woody Allen of musicals - mining his personal angst for his art and it weirds me out. I don't see "13" having the mainstream appeal of "High School Musical" or being able to sustain an open ended run (it's a casting nightmare - you'd have to replace actors every six months, at least).That said, I had a good time and it's better than a lot of other live theater I've seen.

Here's a letter to the Editor that was printed in the LA Times yesterday:

RAILROADED INTO A KIDDIE SHOW

Thanks for your review of "Thirteen". My husband and I felt out of place with the audience who seemed to thrive. Surely those people who relished a teenager lolling about them were planted? I realized later how much of the audience must have been relatives and friends of those lively young things. One of our older friends, though, really loved it and kept saying it would get to Broadway. Heavens! I was annoyed we got hoodwinked into a kiddie show when I assumed my Taper series was for a little adult fare.

W. Bayer
Claremont.

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I resent only one sentence in that letter:

Surely those people who relished a teenager lolling about them were planted?

Just because he/she didn't enjoy it. How incredibly rude.

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"He's becoming the Woody Allen of musicals - mining his personal angst for his art and it weirds me out. "

I'm just waiting for another Parade, myself. JRB is my favorite composer, but I have to admit that I am not liking his new stuff all that much. The "13 Medley" either contained bad songs, or did not display the best moments in them. I do like "What It Means to Be a Friend" but it's hardly my favorite JRB song, ever.

I don't think I'd like the show namely because I do NOT want to relive those years, myself.

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although you may discuss that the subscribers are not enjoying it, i know for one that a lot of them are.
i have either
a. spoken to them personally
or
b. spoken to the people behind the scenes of the theater.
yes, people are entitled to not liking it, but don't knock it down for the people who do.
(this is lindsay)

still not the only one that enjoys it.
(lindsay..since ricky is MIA)
:)