13 Going On Superstars – how the child cast of 13 Going On 30 are stealing the show

Last week, it wasn’t a smiling dog, or a disastrous – yet comical – fall, that went viral.

Well, they probably did, too, but the theatre community (and beyond) only had their eyes on one thing: first look performances from 13 Going On 30.

The world premiere production arrives in Manchester later this week, led by the spectacular Lucie Jones as Jenna, a 13-year-old who finds herself in her 30-year-old life, David Hunter, as her best friend Matt, and Grace Mouat as frenemy Lucy.

While in the movie, the tween versions of these characters only bookend the drama, in the Andy Fickman-directed stage adaptation, the young ensemble is A) huge, and B) extremely talented.

This is evident in a video taken from the rehearsal event, where the children’s cast performed the opening number, “Wanna Be.” Written by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, the song introduces Jenna, Matty, the Six Chicks, Kyle, and more in the social hierarchy of high school. It’s a hilarious, catchy tune that clocks in at seven minutes long.

You can watch Amelia Minto (Young Jenna), Max Bispham (Young Matt), Maddison Thew, Hanya Zhang, Star Lily Shentall-Lee, Cyrus Campbell (Young Kyle), Anna De Oliveira, Keira Chansa, Bella Hockaday,  Emmeline D’Arcy-Walsh and Hughie Higginson in the video below:

@whatsonstage

FIRST LOOK AT 13 GOING ON 30 THE MUSICAL! See inside rehearsals of the world premiere musical before it arrives in Manchester! #13GoingOn30 #Musicals #NewMusicals

♬ original sound – WhatsOnStage

“In the number, the characters declare their desires for popularity, friendship, and love. “Even though the times have changed, the characters are still very familiar,” Hunter explained.

It’s his younger counterpart, played by Bispham, who has stolen the hearts of the internet with excellent comedic timing and wounded puppy eyes when pining for Jenna, a lovely Minto, who hopes to become the seventh Six Chick.

He added: “I like being Mr Nice Guy. It’s been a long time in the making, being this lovely chap. My agent sends me things where I’m supposed to be the villain, and I just can’t do it.”

What’s really captured people’s attention, however, is how the kids pull off Jennifer Weber’s choreography. You might recognise her signature “Roar” airpunch from & Juliet, and her work here is high-energy street dance that works in a pack.

Fickman commented, “Jen’s work is so catchy, there are moments I look out for and I see the cast on the side of the stage doing the moves in scenes they’re not even in.”

Weber was sent a video of the original workshop and recalls: “I just fell in love with these characters and thinking about how they would move, and I just love doing comedy… We get to do really explosive stuff, really beautiful stuff, really emotional stuff. This show has it all. There’s so much range.”

“Having the kids and having them overlap with the adults, and coming up with more ways that their worlds collide has been really thrilling.”

It isn’t something Fickman had planned on doing quite so much, but he’s pleased that they have – and it’s evident in the video below.

@whatsonstage

Watch Lucie Jones and David Hunter perform a number from 13 Going On 30 the Musical! The show has its world premiere this month! #LucieJones #DavidHunter #WestEnd

♬ original sound – WhatsOnStage

Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, the real-life couple who wrote the screenplay, have also written the book for the musical. Everything in the movie is based on their own experiences at 13 and 30, which grounded it in the 80s and early noughties, with key moments including learning the “Thriller” dance routine and eating Razzles. The musical, however, is set in an unspecified time.

Goldsmith explains: “We decided very early on that we wanted the audience to feel like they were seeing their vision of what their past was like and their present, and what their future could look like – like Jenna.”

This inspired Zachary and Weiner: “There’s ample opportunity for songs because we knew we could write with a sense of the past and youth, more poppy, fun, bubblegum with a great beat. But as you get older and mature, there are more introspective pop and pop rock songs that deal with the real emotional come-of-age issues.” Additionally, “We realised quickly we could write different music styles for the characters.”

Jones was 13 when the movie came out, while Mouat’s next birthday will be 30. The two grew up with the film and have both starred in musical adaptations of other beloved sleepover chick flicks – Legally Blonde and Mean Girls, respectively. “I had the VHS which had extra credits and everything,” Jones recalls.

Mouat laughs: “Anna, who plays little Lucy, is such an icon. When she dances, I’m like I need to go back to class.”

She reflects: “With Mean Girls, we were really blown away by the amount of young people coming to watch the show, and I hope that will happen here. The stories are so universal, and it is so relatable, and that’s why we haven’t set the show in any particular era, as everything could happen now… We’re still having the same doubts and insecurities; there are still cliques, scorn, and people doubting you and trying to shift things. But at the end of the day, it’s always about staying true to and being yourself.”

Some of Fickman’s favourite observations are watching the kids and adult cast interact. He explains: “If you’re an adult, you can remember being 13, and if you’re 13, you probably can’t wait until you’re older. When we see the kids come in and how they look at the adults, it cracks us up. It really does happen to everybody.”

Mouat, jokingly demonstrating a throwback combover fringe hairstyle, laughs that the young cast were mortified by the past trend.

“I thought I was the coolest of the cool. But everything comes back around…” she threatens.

Above all, what’s been really interesting is seeing how many teens are commenting on the viral TikTok video. They’re tagging their friends, begging that their school do the show as their summer musical, and, funnily, being proud of themselves for having the attention span to watch a video of that length.

“Truly, as a tween, you’re no longer a kid, and you’re not an adult, you have your own language and you’re trapped in there,” Fickman says, “But you’re also becoming aware of who you are as a person and cliques and romance and what makes your heart thump.”

13 Going On 30 has casting by Will Burton, while children’s casting and children’s general management are by Keston and Keston.

Want more 13 Going On 30? Listen to Jones and Hunter on the WhatsOnStage Podcast for free now!

You can check it out on YouTube here: