"13" Review-9/21/08

[BenKaye]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 6:23pm

Let me start by saying that I'm a very big JRB fan. I really like his music, in particular, "Parade," which is such a beautiful score.
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Now, back to the show at hand. "13." which was......

....well, it was bad.

I really liked the opening number. I thought it was well performed, and was the only part of the show where I LIKED the choreography. I am implying that yes, I did not like the choreography.

Like many people on this site, I am also baffled as to how Patrice falls in love with Evan so early on in the show. It's just weird. But Allie Trimm, who plays Patrice has an amazing voice!

Eric M. Nelsen, who plays Bret, the "cool" kid, was pretty funny, as were his two "henchmen," Eddie and Malcolm, who got many laughs from the audience.

Everything's going fine, "Dear Kendra" is amusing, Evan gives out bar-mitzvah invitations at school...

Then Archie walks in.

Now, Aaron SImon Gross, who plays Archie, did a really good job with the material he was given with.

But then there's the material he was given with.

Could they make you feel ANY more awkward in this situation?? Making many, many, many jokes about Archie's physical disposition. It's just wrong.

"What it Means to be a Friend." Totally useless in the show. NO reason for this song.

There's this line in the show where Evan says something along the line of..

EVAN: Hey Archie! Guess what I'm gonna do!

ARCHIE: Make a musical out of "Shrek"?

Umm.......no??

I don't know, the book has soo many bad lines like that. Well, not like THAT, but there are many bad lines.

And of course, the Act 1 Finale.
Five words.
What.
The.
Hell.
Was.
That.
I dunno what to say. But they have to change it in some way.

All of Act Two was just, well, boring in my opinion. The songs were are generically similar. It's like JRB-Lite.

Well, after the Dairy Queen scene, I got a little annoyed, because they were sort of making Kendra, Bret, Eddie, and Malcolm, into these sympathetic characters, but now, all we see is that they leave as these people we are supposed to think of as jerks. I need some closure in a musical. Or at least some sensical character arcs.

All in all, I was disappointed. It's possible some younger children would appreciate this more, but for me, not so much.

[defyinggravity42694]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 6:32pm

Evan doesn't say "guess what I'm gonna do?" he just says
"guess what?"
Archie responds "there making a musical out or Shrek?!?"
Evan says "No, well yes, but no."

Also, many people, who don't like the show, like "what it means to be a friend", even if thats the only part they like. It makes sense because Evan just did what all the other kids did to Patrice, he totally back stabbed her an embarrassed her. The song makes perfect sense because Archie tells Patrice to give Evan another chance and Patrice says "no, he embarrassed me in front of everyone who hates me, thats not what a friend is...(song starts)"


I personally liked the show, I know other people (over 16, getting that out now) enjoyed it as well.
"It's possible some younger children would appreciate this more, but for me, not so much." Ok, you didn't like it but a lot of people who are not "younger" who did like it. This is one horrible and inaccurate stereo-type that has already been associated with "13".


My one thing that I really came to this thread for was to ask...
How was Corey Snide as Evan?

Updated On: 9/21/08 at 06:32 PM

[broadwayfan3]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 7:39pm

I also saw 13 on Saturday (evening)-but I didn't want to add to the endless count of 13 threads- anyway, I thought it was absolutely terrible.

I understand that these children are young and it was their first 2 show day, but their voices sounded tired and the show its self was bad too! There were many jokes that many children wouldn't understand, I was with a family member who is 14 and she said that nobody she knows or knows of would ever say half the things they say in the show. The show had a lot of jokes that were very off color and very controversial. There were a lot of jokes making fun of Catholics, Jews, republicans and other groups of people. The one "joke" that really upset me was during "Terminal Illness" when Evan says something along the lines of "It works out for all of us, except you because you’re dying". For some reason that got tremendous laughs, and quite honestly, for a lot of people, that was just rude and not appropriate.

The music was good, but not Jason Robert Brown's best work. I liked "What it Means to be a Friend"-but I didn't love it. The song I really loved was "A Brand New You" which is the curtain call-even though it was far too long with all the dancing. Speaking of dancing, it was horrible. The kids looked like they didn't know what they were doing and it was really sloppy.

The plot was thin, and at times didn't make much sense. If Kendra says "even my priest thinks he's hot" and then later says that her parents are Quakers. It was sweet how Evan kept talking about how he was becoming a man (actually repeating the same lyric to the same tune over and over "I'm becoming a man") but that's unrealistic because most teenage Jews don't think about "becoming a man or a woman" they just think about the party.

Now on to the cast. Here's what I think, if this show is on Broadway, it needs to be treated like every other show-so I'm not going easy on these actors because they are between 13 and 16.

Graham Phillips: His voice was nice and his acting was a little cheesy, but over all he was one of the best in the show.

Allie Trimm: She had a sweet voice, her acting wasn’t very strong and she was a little awkward on stage. I liked when she sang “What it Means to be a Friend” but she sounded a little sharp at many points in the song.

Aaron Gross: A great voice and great acting skills. I didn’t love his character, but I think that he worked with the material well.

Eric Nelsen: He was actually one of my least favorites-he basically can’t sing or act very well but he has the look and is a great dancer. He was very cheesy and seemed very fake.
Al Claderon: Was the best in the show! He was very funny and was perfect as a sidekick. He stole a lot of the scenes.

Malik Hammond: he was good, but he did not compare to Al. He was a stronger dancer and singer, but didn’t have perfect comedic timing like Al did

Elizabeth Gilles: Has a great voice, but I was upset because it kept sounding like she was going to belt a terrific note, but never did. He acting was great as well, but I couldn’t see her dancing too much because of either my angle or she was towards the back.

Delaney Moro: She was fine. Nothing special-she cracked on a lot of notes during her song with Bret (Eric) and her dancing was not good-which was ok because she was mostly in the back

Brynn Williams: She had a very good voice and was a pretty good dancer, but she didn’t have much time in the spotlight for me to remember her that much

Caitlin Gann: Great dancer-best one in the show. She had a good voice, but once again, it was only really heard during “A Brand New You”

Ariana Grande: What a voice!! She really blew me away during “A Brand New You” and during some of her solos in the show. I didn’t see her dancing and she didn’t have many lines so I can’t make an opinion on dancing or acting

Joey La Varco: ….let’s just say that I didn’t even realize he was in the show….

Eamon Foley: Triple threat-great voice, great dancer, great actor-I really enjoyed his performance

Over all the show needs a lot of work, but I don’t think that it’s good enough to be on Broadway. I really wanted this show to be good so that everyone could see what young children could do, but this was a really upsetting evening at this show. The DDR number was really bad, but I think that it’s going to be cut, and some songs were very bland and the voices needed work, but ultimately, I would not recommend this to anyone I know-I might see it again just to see what they change-but for me, it was torturous to sit through.

...Sorry for the long lenth...

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:05pm

"My one thing that I really came to this thread for was to ask...
How was Corey Snide as Evan?"

Actually, you came into this thread to be an obnoxious Schiller. Must you continue to defend a show that the majority of OLDER posters, on here, really disliked?

And yes -- I came into this thread to respond to you. And to reinforce that I agree with BenKaye's sentiments exactly. The book and direction is just so awkward and extremely bland music doesn't help.

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:09pm

How was Corey Snide as Evan? Can't wait to hear!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:10pm

You don't have to apologize for commenting negatively because of the ages of the kids involved -- if management is going to charge Broadway prices, it's Broadway and everyone should get their money's worth. I haven't seen 13 -- nor do I intend to -- it sounds God-awful and people I know who've been offered tickets for free have had a "thanks, but no thanks" attitude.

[defyinggravity42694]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:29pm

Since when is giving an opinion obnoxious? You are obnoxious, not me. I don't go around picking arguments.




Older posters? You joined after me, unless you are saying age wise, which I will state again, you don't know my age! For a teacher you sure seem to miss things while reading.
Majority, fine I accept that, but I did come here to ask how Corey was when I saw the date but once I read(I happen to be a very good reader, PM if you want some tips) the review I just felt like stating a few things, I only gave my opinion in one sentence...

Updated On: 9/21/08 at 08:29 PM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:47pm

I've seen the show in L.A. and didn't like it. The ending was downright cop out. But I heard it has been revised substantially, so I can't comment on the current production on Broadway.

However, I have a question to defyinggravity42694 (or anybody who saw the free dress rehearsal and liked the show), would you pay the full price to see the show again? This production to be successful and enjoy a healthy long run, they need people who will pay the full price, unless they will modify the schedule to have lots of weekday matinees and book lots of groups from schools.

[defyinggravity42694]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:50pm

Yes I would.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 8:57pm

lite2shine - the ending is almost the exact opposite to how it was in LA. Still 'happy,' but not glossed-over and "a cop out" as you say. SO good.

[BroadwayProducer2]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 9:35pm

Hehe.
So not only I think that this show is not good enough for Broadway. ))
BenKaye and Broadwayfan3 I agree with many of your points. Especially not good enough book, choreography (except first and last songs, lol), and this show is really not for adults.
Some people ask why do I think that this show is not for adults, and why do I think that it’s ok for people under 16. Well, first of all I just assume that, I am not sure. I just said that you will PROBABLY like it if you are below 15 years old.
No it is not a gap in generations. But I think more mature people just will be bored to see another story with really kids-related problems. Like for example the boy wants to make cool party and because of this he starts to hang out with popular kids in school and tears the invitation of the unpopular girl. Or he still wants to be popular among new friends and because of it manages to get tickets for R-rated film. And so on… [Attention!!! spoiler!!!!!!!! Do not read this part if you don’t want to know the end of the story!!!!] Oh, yeah, and of course in the end he understands that those popular kids were assholes, party is done and he is happy. [!!end of the spoiler!!!].
Well if you think that this is the plot which can be interesting for adults… Yes, actually it can be interesting if it presented in the right way. But the presentation was on another kids show on TV level. I mean, it was simple, primitive and actually quite boring by the beginning of the second act. Absolutely nothing serious, no any kind of catharsis during the show and in the end.

YouTube: 13 Broadway Review or Bad Bad News!

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 9:49pm

I went to the free dress and I wouldn't pay full price for this show, but there are very few shows I would pay full price for. However I would pay to see this show again. It was just a bit of entertaining fluff, and it made for an enjoyable night.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 11:43pm

I was at the matinee this afternoon...

Good lord, it was awful. Quite frankly, I found much of it offensive and crass.

The central conceit of the show, that there is no life outside of NYC, is incredibly arrogant. Don't even get me started on the character with a terminal illness. It was tasteless.

There is some real talent in the cast, but the material they're given is so awful they don't have much to work with.

Unfortunately, we had Corey Snide as the lead this afternoon. His voice was cracking like crazy and his acting was terrible. Sorry to say, also, he was way too effeminate. When the leading player is that bad, it just drags everyone down. I did enjoy the girl who played Lucy and the kid who played Brett, however.

The score isn't great, but it's better than the HORRENDOUS book, which needs to be entirely re-written.

The choreography was atrocious, the act 1 finale made no sense (DDR? what? why?), and the curtain call was way too long and drawn out. Speaking of the curtain call, is it healthy for children (particularly the girls) to be singing like that at that age? I'm wondering if they could be doing serious damage to their voices trying to sing like that.

The band was the highlight of the show.

The only people standing were the mothers of the children in the cast.
Updated On: 9/22/08 at 11:43 PM

[defyinggravity42694]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 11:54pm

adamgreer, Corey* Snide.

Updated On: 9/22/08 at 11:54 PM

[mkfl]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 1:07pm

this show is mean-spirited.

it promotes the worst stereotypes that exist in america today and undermines the youth of this country and the real difficulties that exist for kids in junior high.
the jokes were incredibly off-color and downright tasteless, and worst of all, there was no "voice of reason" character on the stage to point out the fact that these statements could be incredibly hurtful.

bottom line, we've seen this story before, many times, beginning in the fifties. new kid comes to school, tries to get in with the cool kids by dissing his less cool friends, and learns his lesson in the end by realizing that the cool kids are mean and he really doesn't want to be friends with them anyway. but the popular kids, who could really do with a lesson, don't learn anything. nobody changes, none of the characters have a journey. they maybe have a conflict with another character, but it doesn't CHANGE them in any way.

and i'm sorry, but terminal illnesses are never funny.

yes, being 13 is hard. america's culture today makes it difficult for kids of that age to embrace any kind of childhood, everyone wants to be an adult. but if "13" is an accurate representation of today's youth, i am so frightened for what those kids will grow up to be. and it wasn't so very long ago that i was 13.

i was disappointed. by the generic story, the meanness of these kids, and most of all the audience, who laughed uproariously at the misfortunes of the lives of others. adults should know better. i know better, and i'm not really even an adult.

if you want to reflect america's youth on stage, why not reflect what it COULD be, instead of making it look cool to make fun of a kid with muscular dystrophy, or popularizing the use of the term "gay" for things that are uncool?

i expect much more from jason robert brown, from the musical theater industry, and from the audience.

i have never been sadder leaving a theater.
Updated On: 9/22/08 at 01:07 PM

[taximom]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 1:14pm

I agree that if you are going to put teens on Broadway, they must be held to the same standards as any actor. If I am going to spend the big bucks to see a Broadway show, I want to see performers who can sing, act, and dance. There are so many talented kids out there - I know them - I've seen them perform. They are amazing singers, actors and dancers. There is no excuse for casting kids who can't do all three. Especially leads...come on...I've seen this show...a couple of the leads are good. The rest...not so much.

[lite2shine]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 3:34pm

shesamarshmallow I have a question.

In the L.A. production, the actor who played Archie was just delightful. I'd even say he saved the show for me (I still didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it). He was manipulative but in a funny way and things surrounding his disability did not come across too offensive. I know the actor who plays Archie is different in the Broadway production and if the same L.A. actor played the role, do you think people's reaction would be somewhat different? I'm not saying the negative reactions are due to Broadway Archie's fault, but this is one of the most important roles in 13, the ability to pull this role off is critical, IMO.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 5:29pm

It could possibly be, as in reading reactions (which I have to STOP doing, because it's so damn heartbreaking) whether or not the person is a fan of Aaron Simon Gross in the show correlates with whether they like the show. It is a hard role to pull off, but his journey (especially in the second act) is entirely different from what it was in LA - possibly in a way that makes him less sympathetic (all of the Kendra things leading to the poignant "My Name is Archie" are gone).

For the record, though I think Aaron comes off a little belligerent in his first scene, he does a great job balancing the self-deprecating humor and pathos. Tyler Mann was really special, though. He really had Archie down perfectly.

I also thing the omission of the purple pimp suit is detrimental to Archie's character development and should be put back in the show immediately!

[mkfl]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 10:17pm

funnily enough, aaron's portrayal of archie wasn't the thing that bothered me most about the show. it was more the way the other characters treated him. and that was in the book, not even necessarily in the performances of the other actors.
i think aaron simon gross has an interesting voice and a good deal of stage presence.

[QualityTheater75]

Posted: 9/23/08 at 12:29pm

May I say that as much as I might agree that 13 needs some serious work, I think that it has major potential. The people in it are great and although some actors are lacking broadway talent (cough cough Eric Nelsen and Delany Moro cough) the rest of the cast is absolutely great. In my opinion the show just needs some tweaking but it isn't "horrible". I saw the show twice, once for free and once where I paid for my ticket and although the first time I saw it I felt it was lacking, the second time I saw it I was very impressed with the improvement so I just would like to say that before we all go judging this show for what it is NOW, we should wait and see what it will become once previews are over. My comments on the cast are that Brett and Kendra should be replaced because they both can't sing for SH*T and their acting is horrendous but once they are replaced, I think this show could become something really great. Somebody let me know when they take them out, I heard the understudies are 2000 times better then some of the actual cast members.

[xhopex]

Posted: 9/23/08 at 3:08pm

Im quite shocked by how some of you are reviewing the cast of 13. After all, they are all still so young, and to carry off a broadway show, shows the talent these kids have just in inself. Give them a break, although i cannot comment on the show, im sure all the cast gave it there best and were well worthy of their spot of broadway. Im most annoyed by the way Corey Snide isn't being fairly compared in the role of Evan. I don't believe his singing is bad and he brought the cast down. He held a show together for 1 1/2 years on the west end and sydney as " billy elliot" in billy elliot and was superb, amazing singing, stunning, emotional acting and a fab dancer. He he certainly worthy his show as Evan. I was lucky to enough to see his portrayal of Billy 3 times, the third time sitting a few seats down from the " 13" casting director. Sorry that my first post is a negative one, i just wanted to share my views as a poster for across the pond.

Hope
Updated On: 9/29/08 at 03:08 PM

[jess20882]

Posted: 9/23/08 at 3:11pm

quality - apparently delaney is not performing tonight so if you're really that much against her, go to the show tonight and see how her understudy does...

[cactusb]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 12:28pm

Can anyone tell me the running time of 13? I'm seeing it Saturday night and want to know how much of my life I am never going to get back :)

[Sneezy]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 1:09pm

90 minutes almost exactly, as of last night. And don't let these miserable bitches put you off the show, I LOVED it.

[boonanas]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 1:12pm

Miserable bitches? I know I wouldn't want to see 13 year olds on stage dancing and singing about middle school problems. We're adults here, that's the equivalent of watching the Disney Channel.