"13 The Musical" by Copper Studios
The Space, Nottingham Girl's High School.

When 13 year old Evan Goldman moves from New York City to Indiana, he must escape rumours and blackmail if he hopes to make friends and find happiness at his new school. This play deals with the hardships of leaving familiar places for unfamiliar ones, fitting in with your peers, and transitioning from youth to adulthood. While being a musical for teenagers, it deals with some mature issues.

First of all, let me say what an incredibly confident group these kids are. They look completely at home on stage, and there are several members of this cast I really hope to be reviewing in a few years time, as I am really excited about their future.

William Horner (Evan) makes a great leading man, well one of two in this musical. Great confidence and nice timing. One of many who is comfortable to watch, and looks comfortable doing what he does.

Louis Chadburn (Brett), plays the kid all the girls want to be with and all the lads want to be like. He is the one that Evan needs to win around and come to his Barmitzvah for it to be a success. He has a nice sense of comic timing and knows how to use his face to act and to emote. Oozing with confidence and character.

Lily-Mae Evans (Patrice), plays one of the outcast kids in Evan's new school. She may only be small in stature but WOW, what a big voice she has; a voice that reminded me a bit of a young Kirtsen Chenowith; very clear and powerful.

Lottie Parsons (Kendra), the girl who Brett wants to give the "tongue" to, but Brett is not the only one who has designs on Kendra!! A smooth little actor here with a calm air of confidence.

Tillie Parsons (Lucy) Kendra's "best friend" who has her sights set on Brett. It's not easy for such a young actor to project a nasty character but I think Tillie did a cracking job, making the two faced Lucy a character we loved to hate.

One of my favourite characters in this musical has always been Archie, a disabled character, who is normally on crutches. In this production, he is in a wheelchair. Played by Harry Steel, this young man made my jaw drop with his singing, comic delivery and acting ability. It's been a long time since I've heard an actor as young as Harry have such a controlled vibrato and tone in his voice. Anyone who knows about singing and breathing will know that singing sitting down is not easy but Harry just blew me away. I am also pleased to say that he is also a bit of a mover as at the end we got to see his dance skills. A quadruple threat!

Brett's two best mates, Malcolm and Eddie are played by Amber Colson and Ashlei Domleo respectively and show off a nice sense of comedy in their featured song "Hey Kendra".

Every one of this talented cast worked their socks off, and it showed. Isabella Streets (Richie), Daisy Waters (Molly), Dina Glad (Charlotte), Ieva Jasiunaite (Cassie), Sophie Leighton (Simon) and Lucy Gould (Lily-Rose) complete the cast.

Great energy in the choreographed pieces, created by Megan Hindley, and while the energy was there, it didn't detract from the singing. They hardly looked as if they broke into a sweat throughout.

Directed by Harry Hindley, he kept the show pacy, and that included the smooth scene changes. I must mention the scene in the cinema because the reactions from the kids to the gorily-described film in the song "Any Minute" was synchronised so well that we had the same reaction from all the kids, all at the same time. Sounds a simple ask but one scene I imagine was repeated in rehearsals a few times by harry to get that combined reaction as good as it was tonight.

A sparse set, designed by Stewart Jordan, worked well and just a change in some of the props changed the setting for the scene. All of this done smoothly by the cast.

The live band, under the direction of James De Silva created a punchy and fresh sound.

The soundtrack still remains catchy and mixes several musical styles. there's a distinct 70's soul vibe about "Hey Kendra", the garage band sound of the title track, there's a great ballad in "Tell Her", sung by Evan and Patrice, which I loved, a cheerleader chant with "Opportunity", classic musical theatre fare in "What It Means To Be A Friend", a blues feel with "Bad Bad News", reggae vibes in "It Can't Be True", there's something for everyone in this musical.

It was a shame that not all the young actors were mic'd up as there were parts that were lost vocal wise, but that can't be helped. This was got around though at the end when a radio mic was used.

Looking at the faces on the cast as the curtains closed at the final bows, you could tell that they had all had the best time on that stage. Well that matched what the audience felt as well.

It's a cracking musical, one of only a few aimed at younger actors, depicting young people, and a musical that does not patronise, treating young people with the respect,and as young adults. This cast did Jason Robert Brown's musical credit.

I really look forward to spotting some of this cast on local stages in a few year's time because there's some excellent talent within Copper Studios. Something that Harry and Megan Hindley are well aware of and I am sure are very proud of.

"13 The Musical" is at The Space at The Nottingham Girl's High School until Saturday 2 November with matinee and evening performances.