Podcast Summary

Podcast: MickeyJoTheatre
Host: MickeyJoTheatre (Mickey Jo)
Episode: "13 Going On 30 The Musical (Manchester Opera House) - ★★ REVIEW"
Date: October 3, 2025

Overview: Main Theme and Purpose

Mickey Jo offers a detailed and honest review of the world premiere of "13 Going On 30: The Musical" at the Manchester Opera House. Drawing on both personal nostalgia for the film and his experience as a professional theatre critic, he explores whether the beloved 2000s movie translates successfully to the stage. While highlighting the strengths—particularly in casting and stand-out performances by the young ensemble—he candidly unpacks his disappointments with the adaptation, direction, and creative choices.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Movie-to-Musical Adaptation: Does It Work?

• Context: Mickey Jo traces the trend of turning popular films into stage shows (Legally Blonde, Groundhog Day, Mean Girls, Heathers, etc.).
• Core Question: Did "13 Going On 30" deserve this treatment, and is it compelling on stage?
  • "Not only was I minimally emotionally involved with this story, I just didn’t really care..." (06:23)
  • He found the adaptation lacked emotional impact and failed to capitalize on the film’s strengths or provide any added theatrical value.

2. Plot Summary & Fidelity to Source

• The musical stays very close to the film's plot, to a fault. Mickey Jo notes that while the magical transformation, fish-out-of-water trope, and Faustian undertones lend themselves to musical theatre, the adaptation plays it too safe and doesn't reimagine enough for the medium.

3. Iconic Moments & Missed Opportunities

• The "Thriller" Dance:
  • One of the only major moments directly adapted from the film, but poorly timed and executed in the musical.
    • "It feels like they’re doing it out of obligation…" (19:50)
    • The gradual, feel-good energy from the film’s scene is lost as “everyone simultaneously joins in, missing that feel-good thing.”
• Other Key Beats:
  • The musical fails to include the "Love is a Battlefield" slumber party moment from the film, and emotional high points like reconciling with her parents lack weight onstage.

4. Problems with the "Book" (Script) and Structure

• Over-faithfulness:
  • Original screenwriters Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa wrote the book. Their unwillingness to deviate from the film script causes a static, unmoving feel.
  • "There are lingering problems in sticking too closely to the original source material and the big picture problem here... is no one has really reckoned with the inherent difference between film and stage as a medium." (16:13)
• Musical Worldbuilding:
  • The adult world surrounding Jenna isn’t realistically contrasted; characters are too “cartoonish” for the premise to “land.”
  • Ensemble is underutilized: "Her world feels really small." (22:19)

5. Score and Lyrics

• Composer/Lyricists: Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner
  • Opening number is catchy and appropriately juvenile for child characters.
  • The same repetitive, simplistic lyrical style persists throughout, flattening adult and ensemble voices to the same teenage affect.
  • Repetition in both music and narrative:
    • "We have all of these songs with all of these choruses that say the same things over and over and over again." (24:30)
  • Every major character—even adults and antagonists—seems to emotionally regress.

6. Direction and Stagecraft

• Andy Fickman’s Direction:
  • The stage is underpopulated; traffic and transitions don’t convey the bigness of Manhattan or the difference between age/time periods.
  • The show feels as if it was designed for a much smaller venue and doesn't fill the Opera House.
• Set and Costume Design:
  • Set: Colin Richmond uses projection, including Polaroid imagery and AI-generated photos (more below).
  • Costumes: Gabriella Talsova’s use of the iconic stripy dress color palette is clever, but "indicative of how little about this movie is visually iconic." (28:20)

7. Notable Critique: Use of AI in Set Projections

• AI-generated images are used to represent childhood photos—Mickey Jo finds these "creepy and bizarre" and particularly jarring.
  • “It has that clearly identifiable AI look. The background of some images is clearly garbled nonsense… They cannot figure [hair color] out. They just can’t process a balayage for some strange reason…” (28:41)
  • Expresses ethical and artistic discomfort—"I don't like the precedent that it's setting."

8. Choreography and Period Setting

• Jennifer Weber’s choreography is energetic and fun but undifferentiated between the 1980s scenes and the present, losing some of the intergenerational/nostalgia contrast.

9. Issue with Portrayal of "Outcast" Kids

• Final magazine shoot scene features kids styled in trendy jackets (one from TK Maxx), undermining the message of individuality and outsider-ness.

Performances: Standout Cast & Individual Highlights

Lucy Jones as Jenna Rink

• “She captures...that youthful charm...There is this inner joy that radiates out of her.” (31:30)
• Perfectly cast, both vocally and in comedic, childlike innocence.
• Mickey Jo wishes her costumes later in the show reflected more "reading the room," as in the film.

David Hunter as Matty Flamhaff

• Reunion with Lucy Jones from Waitress is "charming," but he seems a bit too mature ("13 going on 35") for the role.
  • “David’s portrayal just had an inescapable dad energy and also like he’d processed it too much.” (32:45)
• Sings well; struggles more with the boyish, vulnerable elements.

Grace Moat as Lucy (adult "Lulu")

• Recently came off Mean Girls (as Karen); shows impressive versatility.
• “I wish she had a little bit more material...I love her delivery of her presentation before Jenna’s, which is really intense and dark and uncomfortable.” (34:23)

Caleb Roberts as Richard (the Boss)

• "Scene-stealing," but sometimes direction muffles potential big comic moments.

Dominic Anderson as the Canadian Hockey Player

• Hams up the accent and physical comedy (“broadest, most cartoonish Canadian accent I have ever heard”).

Young Cast Standouts (Team 13 performance observed by Mickey Jo)

• Emilia Minto (young Jenna): Sweet, powerful.
• Ana De Oliveira (young Lulu): Commanding; “absolute mood.”
• Cyrus Campbell (young Kyle): Impeccable comedic timing and audience rapport.
• Max Bispham (young Matt):
  • “The one who blew me away, who I thought was absolutely remarkable, was Max Bispham...He’s got a fantastic instrument, but also a brilliant acting performance…awkward and heartfelt and so endearing.” (38:10)
• Overall, “the moments these kids were on stage were the best moments of the show.” (38:54)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On musical adaptation fatigue:
  “A lot of popular films from this era are getting this treatment…13 going on 30 I felt sat a little bit lower than 50 First Dates…” (06:29)

• On the book’s limitations:
  “There are lingering problems in sticking too closely to the original source material and the big picture problem here...is no one has really reckoned with the inherent difference between film and stage as a medium.” (16:13)

• On the AI projections:
  “I have such a bone to pick with this that I may as well be a chicken drumstick…It looked creepy and bizarre and pushed us just another few inches away from gaining any kind of proximity to the emotional heart of this show…” (28:40)

• On repetitive music and emotional confusion:
  “Instead, the ensemble and everyone else in the show just regresses to meet her at that emotional, intellectual, and musical level. Everyone starts to feel and sound like a teenager in an adult’s body, which is not great…” (25:01)

• On what actually works:
  “But the real standout performances, I have to say, come from the kids, come from this young company of performers…The moments these kids were on stage were the best moments of the show…” (38:50)

• Final recommendation:
  “If you’re a huge fan of the film, then, you know, for the novelty enough. I would say go and see it on stage…It’s also not a difficult watch, as much as it is a dissatisfying one. I don’t think that you’re going to be bored. I just think that if you’re expecting something of a quality resembling some other film-to-stage adaptations like a Mean Girls…then you’re not really getting that from this score and from this writing and from this production.” (39:48)

Important Timestamps

• 01:14 – Start of main discussion; introduction to review premise
• 06:23 – Initial emotional disconnect with the material
• 12:00 – Recap of plot; comparison to movie structure
• 16:13 – Critique of book adaptation and medium translation issues
• 19:50 – Detailed analysis of the "Thriller" moment and placement
• 22:19 – Discussion on scale, ensemble underuse, and missed opportunity for world-building
• 24:30 – Issues with score, repetitive lyrics, and musical tone
• 28:20–28:41 – Critique of set, costume, and especially the use of AI-generated projections
• 31:30 – Performance assessments begin (Lucy Jones)
• 38:10–38:54 – Praise for the young company; “Team 13” highlights
• 39:48 – Final overall verdict and recommendations

Conclusion

Mickey Jo’s review of "13 Going On 30: The Musical" is thorough, witty, and ultimately ambivalent. While he celebrates the casting (especially the child performers) and some clever visual callbacks, the production is hampered by an overly literal adaptation, uninspired use of ensemble and design, and a musical score that fails to rise above generic film-to-stage fare. The show, while not without its novelties or moments of fun, leaves Mickey Jo underwhelmed and wishing for a bolder, more theatrically intelligent approach. The verdict: Go for the cast (especially the kids), but don’t expect a new classic.

For further conversation and community opinions, Mickey Jo invites listeners to share their contrasting views in comments and to stay tuned for more critical coverage on his channel.