Zeitoujo Finally Sees "13"

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 2:27pm

Last night, I went to go see “13” the musical which plays at the Jacobs Theater. I heard mixed reviews about the show, and so I wanted to form my own opinion about it. Honestly, I had many problems with this show that I will discuss in greater detail.

Let me start out with the talented cast of “13.” Overall, I thought that the casting of the girls was much stronger than that of the boys. I absolutely loved Elizabeth Gillies who played Lucy. She was the only one in the cast that I felt was a triple threat. Another standout was Allie Trimm as Patrice. She has, in my opinion, the best voice in the whole cast. “What it means to be a friend” was simply flawless and her voice was perfect. I can see her going on to do some pretty amazing things!

There was only one standout performer out of all the boys for me. That standout was Aaron Gross as Archie. He was great in the role! I was partial to Graham Philips as Evan. He looks the part, but that’s about it. He had trouble vocally and many of his acting scenes were just plain old awkward. I felt that especially for the boys, many had trouble with the dancing and with the singing. Eric Nelsen, who plays Brett, gave a lackluster performance. He had trouble with just about everything: acting, singing, dancing. I questioned a lot of the casting in this show, and although all the kids are talented I felt the casting could have been better.

I didn’t like the book for this show and thought it could have been better written. The sets reminded me of the current revival of “Grease” in many ways. They were cheap, unsophisticated, and tacky. My biggest problem was the music of the show. Some shows, like “What it means to be a friend” really hit home and others were forgettable. I think that there is a very fine line between cute and awful. This show crossed that line too many times and left for moments when I was like, “what?!” If the lyrics could have been smarter, I feel like I would have liked this show a lot more. The cheesy and at times ridiculously dumb lyrics were one of the biggest flaws of this show. Overall, a cute night of theater that is unmemorable.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 2:31pm

"He looks the part, but that’s about it." - You mean he looks like a 13 year old?

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 3:53pm

And Jewish. Don't forget Jewish.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:11pm

I totally agree with Zeitoujo! Except I thought that Elizabeth Gillis was BY FAR the strongest link. But maybe that's because I saw it during previews before her big number "Opportunity" was cut (a huuge mistake on part of the creative team). Not only was it one of the three great songs in the piece, but she was given a chance to truly shine in it.

And whatever it may mean about Graham Phillips looking the role, I totally agree. Physically, he was perfect for the role. Everything else about his performance was pretty lackluster. And I feel bad saying that about such a young performer, but after seeing both Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik perform the title role in "Billy Elliot", there are no excuses lol. Updated On: 10/30/08 at 07:11 PM

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:20pm

Here I Am: Thank you! I'm glad we have similar views on this show :)

[Here I Am]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:47pm

Me too :)

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 12:43am

See, I think that's the contradiction. How can a show about being "13" have sophisticated, witty lyrics? A "13" year old isn't going to say witty, smart, sophisticated things, so in that regard I thought the lyrics fit in fine. I actually think Jason Robert Brown wrote some pretty catchy tunes. The title number is great, and the song where they're all on the phone was pretty catchy as well. I enjoyed it, and I'd see it again.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/2/08 at 8:06pm

<< See, I think that's the contradiction. How can a show about being "13" have sophisticated, witty lyrics? A "13" year old isn't going to say witty, smart, sophisticated things, so in that regard I thought the lyrics fit in fine. I actually think Jason Robert Brown wrote some pretty catchy tunes. The title number is great, and the song where they're all on the phone was pretty catchy as well. I enjoyed it, and I'd see it again.
>>

Have to agree with RentBoy here... its a show, performed by teens, ABOUT teens... I dont know show sophisticated its supposed to be. Revisited today, and enjoyed it very much !

The songs are catchy, and I think the entire cast does an excellent job. (I DO agree that Aaron is the standout)- Love Allie Trimm as well.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 11/3/08 at 12:28am

Testing, being that you went today. How was Max as Simon, and Joey as Eddie? I know Al is sick.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/3/08 at 6:58am

Max was ok--- his voice is a little bit deep---

Joey was excellent !!!!

[SillySara]

Posted: 11/3/08 at 10:22am

I was there with Testing, and have to say that I enjoyed Joey La Varco in the role just as much as Al Calderone. Max couldn't sing the part. His voice was way too deep. But he looked like he was having a good time up there!

Surprised to see that they have changed student rush to only one ticket per I.D. Seeing as the show is not selling very well, you would think they would want to fill as many seats as possible. But they did have a "baseball" discount for $25 seats in the last row of the mezz.