13 (Dynamik Youth)

Jason Robert Brown is a much under recognised writer of musical theatre (particularly in the UK), sadly you won't have seen many of his pieces achieve an extended run in the West End (although a production of 'The Last 5 Years' did run at the Garrick Theatre last year) but, his teen coming of age musical '13' is increasingly popular with youth theatre groups and it isn't difficult to understand why.

Storyline revolves around Evan Goldman, twelve year old with his whole life in front of him, living in New York and a Bar Mitzvah to look forward to but, then his parents split-up and he is forced to move to Appleton, Indiana, start a new school and build a friendship group again. It feels like his world has imploded but, he probably should take comfort in two things:

- backwater Indiana has a history, it might feel like 'The Lamest Place in the World' but, remember the Jackson 5 came out of Gary, Indiana.

- more importantly there is another musical with distinct parallels and if Ren McCormack can bring dancing to Bomont in Footloose, Evan Goldman can bring his own special something to Appleton.

This is very much an ensemble piece and only works if the whole cast gels as a team on stage but, the lead characters do need to play their part in the storytelling, led in this production by Mitch Brown's assured and confident performance as Evan, always there to keep the pace and timing of the piece.

Romantic interest comes from Caitlin Banks as frustrated outsider Patrice, who when asked how she knows that everybody hates her, comes up with the classic response 'they've written we hate you all over my locker' which doesn't leave much room for doubt. There's a powerful voice developing inside this performer and I was trying to put my finger on who it reminded me of, it feels a bit Alanis Morissette, it would be great to hear a couple of choruses of 'Ironic' just to confirm that 

Miles Dolphin's performance as the school 'alpha male' Brett, oozes testosterone and is complemented by a gritty baritone vocal which probably accounts for why he can have his choice of the girls but, which of the two obvious choices does he really want to experience 'The Tongue' with or even get into a long term relationship with, would it be the beautiful but, rather aloof Kendra (a relaxed and natural performance from Ella Jones) or the 'hot and I know it', rather needy Lucy (a powerful and vocally impressive portrayal from Izzy Whichello).

You might think at this point that the story is all about teenage angst and sexual frustration and whilst there is a lot of that, there is also a considerable dose of humour at the forefront of which is a performance of individual brilliance from Billy Stait as special needs kid with the terminal illness Archie and a triumvirate of comedy genius from Evan Moss (Eddie), Marianna Samara (Ellie) and Jake Miles (Malcolm) as, how should they best be described, perhaps as Brett's backing singers and all three know how to milk the audience response.

Just a couple of final mentions, learning lines is hard in English but, it's on a whole different level in Hebrew so a big shout out not only again to Mitch Brown but, to Daisy Williams and Esme Dugdale who both played Rabbi's at various stages during the performance and some further and really stunning solo vocals from Libby Witcombe (Cassie) and Sophie Stait (Charlotte) but, as I mentioned back at the beginning of this review, this production is all about teamwork and without everybody involved it wouldn't be the success it is, so there should be massive pats on the back all round.

Let me not forget the Creative Team, Jamie Poxon, Sophie Watson, Steph Westwood, Callum Thompson and Caitlin Rice-Jones who provided direction for such a talented cast and the venue, the Cobham Theatre at Bromsgrove School is an amazing little performance space, I wonder it doesn't get more use from local societies.

So if you want to take yourself from 'Bad Bad News' via 'Opportunity' to a 'Brand New You', you better book a ticket now as there are only three performances remaining and missing this one simply won't be 'Good Enough'.

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