Who did Ariana Grande play in ‘13: The Musical?’ (2024)

Big-screen adaptations of popular stage musicals are a rallying cry for theater kids everywhere. You know, the ones who keep aPlaybill of every production they’ve ever seen and have their favorite 16-bars at the ready in their Broadway-bound audition books. And13: The Musicalis no exception, especially for those of us who grew up hearing about those lucky middle-schoolers who actually got to star in a New York production about being in middle school.

Here, Tudum looks back at where13: The Musical all started, and answers all your questions about the famous names you might recognize from its days on Broadway — including Ariana Grande.

So the movie13: The Musicalis based on a Broadway show, you say?

Yes, indeed. In fact it is the only Broadway show ever with an all-teenage cast (and band). The story follows Evan Goldman, who in the aftermath of his parents’ brutal divorce moves from New York City to Indiana with his mom — just before his thirteenth birthday. Forced to make new friends in a new place, he’s hoping that his bar mitzvah will be the coolest party to ever rock the Midwest.

13: The Musical first opened on Broadway on Oct. 5, 2008, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The musical featured a book written by Dan Elishand Robert Horn, and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (Parade,The Last Five Years). The Broadway production ran untilJan. 4, 2009, after playing 22 previews and 105 regular performances. But before hitting the Great White Way, the show’s first engagement wasin Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, where it had previously been workshopped. The show premiered on Jan. 7, 2007 and ran until Feb. 18, 2007. The next pre-Broadway tryout ran at the Terris Theatre inChester, Connecticut, from May 9, 2008 through June 9, 2008.

Is the Broadway creative team involved with the film?

Yes! Elish, Horn and Brown returned for the film version of their show, with Brown and Horn also serving as executive producers.

“When Netflix called saying they wanted to adapt 13: The Musicalinto a movie, it was thrilling,” Horn told Netflix. “To have the chance to reexamine this heartfelt and funny coming-of-age story for a contemporary audience was an exciting prospect. But also it’s so weird to adapt it for the screen because, unlike on stage, you don’t hear the audience laughing! They’re at home! It was also fun to watch a whole new batch of exciting young talent inhabit these roles, to explore new plot points and comedy, and to hear new songs. It was one of the best reworkings I ever got to rework!”

Brown also said that it’s been 20 years — almost to the day — since he first wrote down a list of characters including “Evan Goldman,” “Archie” and “Patrice” that he thought could be part of a story he wanted to tell. “A story about that precarious moment when you’re not quite a little kid and you’re not quite a teenager, a story about how we learn to take responsibility for who we are, a story about becoming something different and trying to control it.”

In those 20 years, Brown explains, “Dan Elish and I wrote three different versions of the show and a novel, Robert Horn joined to write the Broadway version and then countless other versions with me (including this screenplay), I directed the show in its West End premiere in London and there have been over 1,000 productions at junior high schools and middle schools, Jewish community centers, summer camps, youth theaters, concert halls in Japan, opera houses in Germany, Korean worship centers and now finally this movie — a thing I didn’t even imagine was possible when I started this piece.”

Who was in the original Broadway cast?

The original Broadway cast was notably composed ofall teenagers, with a teenage band, to boot. Ariana Grande is, of course, an international pop star now, but she got her start in13 playing the cheerleader Charlotte. Elizabeth Gillies, who most recently starred inDynasty on the CW, played Lucy, a fellow cheerleader who tries to steal her best friend Kendra’s crush. Grande and Gillies have remained friends since first sharing the stage together and both went on to star in the Nickelodeon seriesVictorious, which centers on the students at performing arts high school, Hollywood Arts.

Graham Phillips (Riverdale,Atypical,The Good Wife) played the protagonist Evan. Additional cast members included Allie Trimm, who played Patrice, Evan’s first friend in Indiana; Delaney Moro, who played head cheerleader Kendra who’s crushing hard on Brett; Eric Nelsen, who played football stud Brett; and Aaron Simon Gross, who played Archie, Patrice’s pal who has a crush on Kendra, too.

Musical artist Tinashe also performed in a production of13, back when it was at its Los Angeles tryout in Los Angeles.

Read up on the new teens playing the original 13-year-oldshere.

When is13: The Musicaldropping on Netflix?

13: The Musical premieres on Aug. 12.

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