Review: Showstoppers' 13

A musical about a pre-pubescent 12 year old boy turning 13 and planning his Bar Mitzvah didn’t sound all too appealing at first – but the team of freshers from Showstoppers have done a good job at winning me round…ALMOST.

It’s best to start this review with the negatives of the performance. 13 has some moments of greatness, but in a few instances this was let down by the vocal abilities of some of the members of the cast. I understand that everyone should be given their opportunity to have a solo, but when trying to put on a musical that you want to be rated highly it is important to take in to account whether the individual can cope with the demand of the musical’s score. Unfortunately this is where I was let down by 13.

There is no doubt about it that the cast have huge amounts of enthusiasm, and this shines through throughout the performance. You can tell the cast are enjoying themselves, and through this the audience also enjoy themselves. Jacob Ketcher, Andrew Banks and Andy Sugden were well cast as the ‘jocks’ and brought an excellent comedic element to this musical. I was also impressed by William Cook who plays Archie; performing in a musical is one thing, but performing in a musical on crutches while still staying in character is another, and Cook was a pleasure to watch.

Compliments must go to the lead actor Sevan Keoshgerian, who plays the 12-year-old Evan Goldman. His vocals were flawless and, having recently secured a lead role in their next performance Merrily We Roll Along, seemingly has a bright future in Showstoppers. I look forward to seeing him perform in many more shows. In my opinion Keoshgerian carried this show and was the reason I enjoyed watching 13 more than I had anticipated.

While 13 suffers in certain areas, it does shine in others. I hope Showstoppers can learn from the weaker points and, in this year’s further performances, improve in areas where this show fell flat. For a light-hearted evening of fun, I would recommend watching 13; if anything, it will make you laugh.

13 runs until the 7th, with performances at 7:30pm and a matinee at 2:30pm on Saturday. Tickets can be bought from the SUSU Box Office.