Circle Players Mounts Nashville Premiere of Jason Robert Brown's 13, 4/22-5/8

Circle Players' upcoming production of Jason Robert Brown's new musical 13 presents quite the challenge for everyone involved in bringing the show to the stage of the Larry Keeton Theatre for its upcoming Nashville run April 22-May 8.

It is a new musical that has never been performed in Nashville. What's more, there are no adults in this show. Every performer is between the ages of 11 and 17. It is a story about teens, but a story that promises to get laughs (and a few tears) out of all audience members, no matter what age.

13 tells the story of a Jewish teenager named Evan Goldman, for whom life just couldn't get any worse - or so it seems: When his parents get divorced, Evan is forced to move from New York to a small town in Indiana. He just wants to make friends and survive the school year - but that's much easier said than done, while Evan deals with a star quarterback who's threatening to ruin his life; Patrice, his only friend, won't speak to him; and the school bully sees an opportunity for blackmail. Meanwhile, someone is spreading the nastiest rumors.

With a score from the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricistBrown, 13 is described as "a hilarious, high-energy musical for all ages about discovering that cool is where you find it, and sometimes where you least expect it." The show opened on Broadway in 2008 and received a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Lyrics.

"Everyone can relate to this show," says director Jamie London. "We can identify with all of the characters, because they are so believable."

"We all have a Lucy in us, who is the manipulative type. We all have an Evan in us, who makes some really stupid choices. And we all have our dumb moments just like Brett. It's all about being human."

"I've done shows where you read the script and you can tell it's a script, it just doesn't sound right or feel right, but not with this one.," says Circle's Evan, Christian Albright-Redden.

When auditioning for the show, Christian, a home-schooled junior from Cumberland Furnace, was hoping to get the role of Evan. Not because the other characters aren't rich, but because he loves the songs that Evan sings. His favorite is "Being a Geek," a song about not fitting in.

But everyone agrees that 13's not an easy show to do. For London, the hardest part may have been the casting. "It was a challenge to find kids who look like they're 13 but who are mature enough to sing a fairly difficult score in several different styles of music," she says.

For Albrightt-Redden, it is learning to hit the high notes, and using his voice to the best of his abilities. For Delaney Amatrudo, a sophomore from Page High School in Franklin, the challenge is to create her character.

Amatrudo plays Patrice, a girl who refuses to get caught up in the game of trying to fit in or be popular. "It's so much fun doing a role that no one has done before, and it's fun doing a teen show. There is so little good writing about teens in musical theater," she says.

For London, the goal is bigger than directing a successful show. She wants to create a professional atmosphere in the production that mimics the real world. London, who has been a teaching artist in the

Nashville area for more than 13 years, said that she sees the show as a great training ground for young performers. Several of the cast members also participated in a Circle Players Youth Audition Workshop and are serious about a professional career in musical theater, London says.

"I'm not spoon-feeding these kids," she says. "I want them to learn to be open and receptive to a professional environment."

13 runs Friday, April 22, through Sunday, May 8, at the Larry Keaton Theatre, 108 Donelson Pike. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and one special 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, April 23. There is no show on Easter Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors ages 60 and up. Children six and under attend free. All tickets are $10 on Thursdays. Group discounts are available.

Tickets ,ay be purchased online at www.circleplayers.net or by phone (615) 332-7529. Individual tickets also will be on sale at the box office at the Keeton Theatre one hour prior to each performance.