When “13” premiered on Broadway, it boasted a cast of 13-year-olds. No adults. Even the band was populated by teenagers.
Now, as an offering on Netflix, it’s augmented by adults and, frankly, they don’t add to the charm. The musical works because it has a smart score by Jason Robert Brown and a cast of kids who don’t disappoint.
Like “Footloose,” it hinges on a big-city kid moving to a small Indiana town.
Evan (Eli Golden) thinks the move (caused when his parents divorce) will mean he won’t get a bangin’ bar mitzvah. Since there isn’t a temple in town, he’s even unsure about a location.
Luckily, a family friend, Patrice (Gabriella Uhl), is around to show him the ropes – from the Dairy Queen to the Walmart.
At William Henry Harrison Junior High, she also points out the “cool” kids and that’s right where Evan is headed. He wants a large crowd at the big affair and doesn’t want to alienate anyone. Patrice, however, feels the burn and, soon, there’s a rift. Evan curries favor with Brett (JD McCrary) and Lucy (Frankie McNellis), the popular kids, and gets everyone in trouble when he arranges an outing to an R-rated horror film.
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The film’s crimes are pretty petty, but the songs soar, particularly when sung by a very talented cast.
Those clever rhymes bounce out of their mouths and inspire plenty of production numbers. Director Tamra Davis might have cooled some of the “High School Musical” parallels and could have spiced some of the conversations, particularly since middle schoolers are savvier in the age of cellphones.
Davis uses technology as a form of communication (that’s how Josh Peck weighs in as the rabbi and Peter Hermann appears as Evan’s father) but could have created her own version of “Bye Bye Birdie’s” “The Telephone Hour” and pushed this up a rung.
She also should have kept the adults out of sight. Debra Messing (as Evan’s mom) mopes too much for her own good (and wears a wig that makes her look like Dakota Johnson); Rhea Perlman (as grandma) is simply a plot device. Keeping this focused on the teens could have given greater insight into a world adults don’t understand.
Certainly, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” knows how to make high schoolers stand out. This could have done it for middle schoolers.
Indiana, which gets a bad rap initially, doesn’t reign as the “lamest place in the world.” Its school is quite diverse; its largest church is just right for a bar mitzvah.
In the process of adapting the musical, someone didn’t quite survey the territory and discovery just how enlightened 13-year-olds are.
Still, Golden (who looks like he’s a Broadway veteran) and Uhl (who gets the killer solos in the group numbers) shine. McNellis, too, is a dandy actress who can pivot like no one else in the film.
“13: The Musical” may have arrived too late for maximum impact (“Mean Girls” and “The Prom” were better looks at teendom) but it does make junior high seem more innocent than anyone imagined.
“13: The Musical” airs on Netflix beginning Aug. 12.
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