Review- 13 at Tidewater Players

Ok...I am fully aware of how late this review is. Oh well. Tidewater Players in Havre de Grace has 3 summer camps every year for kids and teens that last for 2 weeks each, and at the end, they put on a show. Seems normal enough for a theater-related summer camp right? Not quite. Instead of doing boring, fairytale-esque shows that parents sit through solely because they have to, Tidewater puts on full productions, which gives these kids a chance to really "put on a show". To think that most shows rehearse for 6-8 weeks before opening, it is amazing that these camps essentially get 10 days to learn an entire production and put it up for an audience.

I attended one of the 5 performances that Tidewater Teens put on. This year, they did Jason Robert Brown's "13" about a boy trying to plan the perfect Bar Mitzvah, only to find out that his mother is relocating to the middle of nowhere, when he was used to the crazy streets of Manhattan. The show itself deals with the general pressures of being a teen in America, but JRB really puts his spin on it with creative songs and clever lyrics, and turns it into a coming of age story that will entertain adults as much as their teen counterparts. The show ran for a short period on Broadway, but was really built for community theatres and regional theatres as a chance for young actors to get a shot at playing real roles in a show. Tidewater pulls it off impressively, and I enjoyed myself, for the most part.

Now, I will say that the 2 things I didn't enjoy were Tidewater's billing of the show as "The Northeast Maryland Premiere of 13". I've noticed that the theatre itself has what seems like a slight obsession with being the "first" to do things. Unfortunately, Red Branch Theatre Company of Columbia, MD opened and closed the show before Tidewater did. Just because you do it first, doesn't mean you do it best. Let your work speak for itself, I say. Northeastern MD premiere or not, 13 was a hit. But it wasn't the fact that they were the area premiere that did it. Secondly, the H.E.A.T. Oh. My. Gosh. It was literally a sauna in there, and I'm not kidding in the least. I looked like I'd just run a 5K race by the time I left, and all I'd been doing was sitting and fanning myself as much as I could with my program. I know Tidewater has been having this issue for a while, but since the space is owned by the city, I think they need to force the mayor of HdG to hold a few board meetings in there and then try to tell them that they don't need a new air conditioning unit. I give SO much credit to the cast and creative team for putting up with that heat for 2 weeks straight. I'm honestly a little surprised that no actors, directors, stage managers, or audience members didn't faint. It was out of control, and that theatre deserves better, if you ask me. It will be hard to draw people in when there is a potential to have a heat stroke.

Anyways, on to the real review. I will say that 13 was literally one of the best shows that I have seen at Tidewater in a while. I loved "Spelling Bee" as well, but the fact that this awesome musical featured a cast of all teenagers, I was astounded. The sets were simple and used flats to create different classrooms, bedrooms and even a movie theatre setting. It was nice to not be distracted by them. Being that Tidewater is so small, the lights can't really be commented on, since there aren't many to begin with. Direction/ Choreography wise, Richard Mahoney does a great job. It seems like he pushed these young actors to explore these characters, which have more depth than the average coming of age story characters do. He used some of my favorite dance moves from the Broadway production, while still putting his own spin on things, and using the rather large cast (there were 13 kids in the Broadway show, 30 in this production) and using the space very well. The small pit was perfect for the score, with Lisa Wood rocking out on drums and giving the show a great rock feel.

As always, I have standouts from this production. Conor DeVoe, whom I loved in PFT's High School Musical, gets a star turn as Evan Goldman, the lead of the show. First off, DeVoe should be commended because it seems like he never leaves the stage during the show, and in that heat, that is a feat in and of itself. He does a superb job. He sings, acts and dances the part amazingly, and just gets better as the show goes on. He was, by far, the most impressive and talented member of the cast, and carries the show beautifully. I'm not sure what the producers of the Broadway show were doing while casting, because I enjoyed DeVoe here more than I enjoyed the rather nasaly singing of the original Evan on Broadway. His voice sounds awesome, and he never falters during the show, and I saw it at night, after a matinee earlier in the day. Conor has a very bright future ahead of him, so keep your eye out for him. Big things have got to be headed his way.

Elise Starkey tackles the role of Patrice, Evan's best friend and potential girlfriend, wonderfully. She acts with a true passion and is believable and doesn't falter. For someone so young, she was giving me some incredible character choices. She has a beautiful voice, albeit not one fully suited for Patrice's INSANE vocal notes. I don't think any transitions into her head voice were a bad choice on her part, more a bad choice on the Music Director's part for not finding suitable alternatives for her. I hate when an actor or actress is made to look bad because they aren't given alternates to notes that won't come out right. Elise sounded amazing either way.

Gannon Webb plays Archie, Evan's other best friend, who walks with canes, due to his physical disability, and Gannon plays him very well. He nails the deadpan comedic bits of the role, and still has the audience feeling for him in his more tender moments.

Other cast standouts included Kelly Vaughn as Lucy, the central villain of the plot. She has a surprisingly strong voice and sounds incredible in her songs and acts the role PERFECTLY. I loved every moment of her on stage, and can't wait to see where she goes next. She was the real hidden gem of the cast. Eddie and Malcolm are played by Josh Starkey and Jordan Hoffman, and were audience favorites and played the dim witted sidekicks to Joe Hetterly's Brett very well. Stephanie Meadowcroft is lovely as the pretty yet not-so-bright Kendra, and sounds beautiful in her vocal pieces.

I will say that, as the show was written for 13 actors, the addition of the ensemble was inevitable once community theatres could perform it, though I feel bad for them being underused most of the time. They are transitioned well into the scenes and songs that they were a part of, though. As always, with any production, there were the ones who constantly pulled focus for one reason or another, but that is expected. The only numbers that I wasn;t a fan of were "Being a Geek" which was cut from the Broadway production for obvious reasons, though DeVoe does with it what he could and "Bad, Bad News" which was not as effective as I've seen it done before and filled with some wonky high notes.

All in all, the production was fantastic, even though the heat was near unbearable and I give it an A! Congrats to all who worked on the show! I loved it!