Posted on July 28, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Preview September 16, open October 5. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s Michael Kuchwara’s interview with our producer, Bob Boyett, from the San Francisco Chronicle:

’13’ explores the anxiety filled early teen years
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer
Monday, July 28, 2008

(07-28) 09:17 PDT NEW YORK, (AP)

They sing a litany of questions: “Why is the world feeling suddenly stranger, why are my friends acting totally weird, why do I feel like my life is in danger, why do I feel like my brain disappeared.”

It’s the anxiety filled teenage years of 13, A New Musical, opening Oct. 5 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Preview performances of the show, featuring a pop-rock score by Jason Robert Brown, begin Sept. 16.

The musical, which has a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn, deals with issues of tolerance and resilience, according to lead producer Bob Boyett. It concerns a young New Yorker named Evan Goldman, who is transplanted from big-city New York to Indiana after his parents get divorced and forced to confront the problems of fitting into a new environment.

No casting announcement yet, but the show will be directed by Jeremy Sams with choreography by Christopher Gattelli. The musical was developed first at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in late 2006 and then earlier this year at the Goodspeed Opera House’s smaller theater in Chester, Conn.

Work was done to broaden the show’s appeal and make it not only for young people but for a wider audience, Boyett explained.

“What we set about doing was taking the issues that face a 13-year-old, the whole coming-of-age element, and relate them … to various passages that adults go through in life,” Boyett said. “For example, we all go through changes in relationships or a sudden shift in physical location because of a job or whatever.

“Twelve, thirteen, fourteen is the time that kids first take responsibility,” the producer added. “They are no longer right under the thumb of their parents. They go out in the world and they suddenly realize they have bigger decisions to make and the implications of how they behave have greater consequences.

“And yet, we are not at 16, 17 where sex definitely is an issue. We wanted to stay in that earlier age period where young people were figuring out who they are in the context of other people.”

For tickets to “13, A New Musical,” call Telecharge, 212-239-6200, or go online at www.telecharge.com. For more information on the show and for a free download of the title song, visit the Web site www.13themusical.com.