13 (musical)

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*13* is a 2007 Broadway musical about a Jewish boy named Evan who moves to Appleton, Indiana from New York City after his parents get a divorce. He first befriends his neighbor Patrice, whose only other friend is Archie, the terminally-ill nerd. Evan decides that, in order for his Bar Mitzvah to be a hit, he will have to become popular and unintentionally gets himself involved in a fight over the quarterback Brett between best friends Kendra and Lucy. Hilarity Ensues.

With music by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn. It was the first Broadway musical with an entirely teenage cast.

Not to be confused with *Thirteen*.

Tropes used in *13 (musical)* include:
* Accidental Kiss: Brett and Archie.
	+ "What's that taste?"
* Adults Are Useless: All of the action takes place among the kids.
* Against My Religion: Patrice jokes that bar mitzvahs are against her religion.

> Evan: The one day where everything is supposed to be happy and perfect!
> Patrice: See, Catholics don't have that. It would go against everything we believe in!
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* All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Averted with Evan, who goes for the only girl not on the cheerleading squad, Patrice; with everyone else, it's played straight with beautiful head cheerleader Kendra.
* Alliterative Name: Molly Madison and Patrice Parker.
* All Musicals Are Adaptations: Subverted. There was actually a book based on the musical.
	+ Although it was written before the broadway production, so Your Mileage May Vary.
* Alpha Bitch: Playing a bit with with Kendra, played straight with Lucy.
	+ The thing with Kendra is that she dated Brett when she knew that Lucy liked him, then *mocked her* about it after Brett asked her out...

> Kendra [to Lucy]: Gimme a B, gimme an R, gimme an E-T-T! What does that spell? *Victory!*
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* Angst: The opening number is angst in musical form.
* Ascended Fanboy: Aaron Simon Gross is a Jason Robert Brown/Musical Theatre fanboy.
* Beta Couple: Brett and Lucy or possibly Brett and Kendra depending on what part of the musical you're at.
* Betty and Veronica: Brett between Kendra (Betty) and Lucy (Veronica).
* Beware the Nice Ones: Patrice gives a pretty bad cold shoulder.
* Big Man on Campus: Brett.
* Bittersweet Ending
* Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Kendra, Lucy, and Patrice (personality wise).
* Brainless Beauty: Kendra Quaker.
	+ And Brett.
* Brainy Brunette: Averted with the nerdy Patrice. Played straight with Archie and Lucy.
	+ Evan's nickname is "The Brain".
* Cat Fight: Lucy and Kendra. Subverted when Brett doesn't stand and watch but breaks it up.
* Catch Phrase: Lucy would like to point out how hot she's looking today.
* The Cast Showoff: "Brand New You".
* The Cheerleader: All of the girls with names except Patrice.
* The Chessmaster: Lucy. Seriously.
* Clingy Jealous Girl: Lucy, who thinks every girl who talks to Brett is flirting with him.

> Brett: Hi, Cassie.
> Lucy: Were you *flirting* with her?!
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* Cut Song: "Here I come" and "Opportunity" where cut from the Broadway production, although "Opportunity" was put back in the most recent version, released by MTI.
* Dan Quayle: The characters go to Dan Quayle Junior High.
	+ Home of The Quayle Quails!
* Dawson Casting: Majorly averted with the Broadway production. The older cast member was Eric Nelsen as Brett, who was 17.
* Dead Baby Comedy: Archie. How many terminal illness jokes are there?
	+ Also, Lucy has a bit of this going. Her comments about how fat she thinks she is are Played for Laughs when she probably has an eating disorder.
		- Each character has a small epilogue at the end and one of Lucy's used to be "I got diagnosed with an eating disorder."
* Does This Make Me Look Fat?: Lucy thinks every bad thing that happens to her her is because she's fat.
* Dumb Blonde: Kendra and Brett.
* Economy Cast: The cast had a grand total of 13 people.
* Evil All Along: Brett.
* Extreme Doormat: Patrice.
	+ Although she does stand up for herself, she's *Always. Giving. Second. Chances.*
* Face Heel Turn: Lucy goes from a good friend and confidante for Kendra who (If Lucy was telling the truth) gave up opportunities for Kendra to the Alpha Bitch who stole Kendra's boyfriend.
* Getting Crap Past the Radar: During "Getting Ready", Lucy tells Kendra that she shouldn't kiss Brett because she's a "good girl". But it sounds like they're talking about something else.
	+ Let's not forget one of Patrice's lines in between verses of "the lamest place in the world"

> **Patrice**:The inbreeding takes up all of our time
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* + "I guess you don't want *what comes after the tongue.*"
	+ What about the rocking horse line in "Hey Kendra"? Brett cuts it off before it goes too far, but not without Eddie and Malcolm making pointed references.
* Girl Next Door: Patrice.
* Girls Are Really Scared of Horror Movies: Kendra was screaming the whole time during the movie theater scene. But then again... *someone got his penis set on fire and their eyelids torn off.*
* Give Geeks a Chance: Averted with Archie. Kendra still wants Brett.
	+ Although in the book Kendra kisses him after he writes a song for her
		- Despite what he says, he didn't get the tongue
* Gossip Evolution: The rumor Lucy starts in 13 starts off with first base, but makes its way around the bases.
* Growing Up Sucks: This is the theme of the musical.
* Heel Face Revolving Door: Brett. The audience doesn't know whether to root for him or not.
* Heroes Want Redheads: Evan and Patrice.
* Heterosexual Life Partners: Eddie and Malcolm.
	+ Less so Evan and Archie.
* Ho Yay: The movie theater scene.
* "I Am Becoming" Song: "13/Becoming A Man"
* Idiot Ball: Almost every character picks it up near the end because, for some reason, *they all believe Lucy*...
* Intercourse with You: The first verse of "Hey Kendra".
* Jerkass Has a Point: Subverted with Kendra and Evan's "thank you meeting" that Lucy sets up - it was how Lucy framed Kendra "cheating on Brett" with Evan.
* Jerk Jock: Brett.
* Jewish Mother: Averted with Evan's mom, who we almost never hear from.
	+ Although what we've heard about her slightly fits the trope.
* Karma Houdini: Lucy. She intentionally breaks up Kendra and Brett. When they get back together thanks to Evan, it merely takes a rumor for Brett to beat up Evan and break up with Kendra. And the kicker? Lucy ends up with Brett at the end.
* Kids Are Cruel: To Patrice and Archie.
* Kid Com
* Lampshade Hanging: "One day it gets better/One day it makes sense/One day I’ll stop talking in the friggin' future tense"!
* Last-Minute Hookup: Evan and Patrice.
* Love Hurts: Poor, poor Patrice.
	+ *Archie*, anybody?
* Love Triangle: Lucy loves Brett who loves Kendra who is being obsessed over by Archie.
* Lyrical Dissonance: "Any Minute" could be considered a sweet love song, but it keeps the love song tone while Kendra and Brett are describing what is happening in the *horror movie* they're watching.
	+ Let's not forget that although "Get Me What I Need" is catchy, there are parts where it's downright depressing

> Here's the problem: every minute, every second that I wait
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> Might be too late
> So let's face it, if I ever have a chance, the time is now
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> So who cares how?
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* Mean Character, Nice Actor: Lucy is a terrible person. Liz Gillies, on the other hand, is liked by the whole cast and is totally nice. or so we're told.
* Mood Swinger: Lucy is a milder example of this.
* Musicalis Interruptus

> **Eddie**: *Hey, Lucy, I've been thinking...*
> **Lucy**: Can it Hobbit, I'm here for one reason and one reason only!
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* New Transfer Student: Evan.
* No Fourth Wall: "My neighbor, Patrice!"
* Not Even Bothering with the Accent: it's subtle, but oh, how it pisses this troper off. There is such a thing as an Indiana accent.
* Oblivious to Love: Kendra doesn't know that Archie has a thing for her, and Brett doesn't know how Lucy feels until she kisses him right after he and Kendra break up.
* One of Us: Aaron Simon Gross, who plays Archie.
* Only Sane Man: Evan. And possibly Patrice.
* Original Cast Precedent: in most productions Kendra is blonde, Lucy has dark hair, and Evan has light brown hair.
	+ Subverted with Brett and Patrice, who both have brown hair in most productions, but Brett had blonde hair on Broadway and Patrice had red hair on Broadway.
* Platonic Life Partners: Archie and Patrice.
* Popular Is Dumb: Yes. Yes it is.
* Purity Personified: Played for Laughs with Kendra.
* Rewritten Pop Version: "13 (Single Version)" and "A Little More Homework (Single Version)".
* Romance on the Set: Ariana Grande and Graham Phillips used to date.
	+ They even recorded a duet.
* Self-Deprecation: Patrice does this to her hometown during "the lamest place in the world".
* "Shut Up" Kiss: During "If That's What It Is".
* Six-Student Clique
	+ The Head: Evan
	+ The Muscle: Brett
	+ The Quirk: Archie
	+ The Pretty One: Kendra
	+ The Smart One: Patrice
	+ The Wild One: Lucy
* Spelling Song: Lucy sees an "O-P-P Opportunity"

> Kendra: O-P-P, O-R-T!
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* Take That: If that’s what it is/Then that’s what it is/At least until Disney can re-write it...
* Teens Are Monsters: Most of the characters aren't but Lucy and Brett fit.
* Tenor Boy: All of the boys
	+ It is a Jason Robert Brown musical, after all.
* Three Amigos: Evan, Patrice, and Archie
* Thirteen Is Unlucky: All of the characters are either 13 or just about to turn 13 and they encounter the typical teenage problems.
* Those Two Guys: Eddie and Malcolm.
* Title Drop: The **Whole. Frickin'. Opening. Number**.
	+ Kinda hard to avoid a title drop when it's a musical called 13 about 13-year-old kids.
	+ It's sort of weird when they say "13" again in a later song, with a completely different setting and only one character from the last song is there.
* Three Amigos: Evan, Patrice, and Archie. Subverted in that Archie is **not** an Unlucky Childhood Friend.
	+ Well, he is. Just not to Patrice.
* Villain Song: Although Lucy isn't really a *villain*, "Opportunity" still fits.
* Voice Types: Kendra,who is mentioned repeatedly as being Purity Personified, is listed as a soprano although Delaney Moro, the original Kendra on Broadway is an *alto*. Patrice is a Mezzo soprano, and Lucy is an alto. (Elizabeth Gillies mentioned that she can sing "lower than any female legally should".) And all of the boys are tenors.
	+ Well, they are 13.
	+ Especially Richie.
		- YEAH!
* Weirdness Magnet: Evan.
* Where Are They Now? Epilogue: "A Little More Homework".
* You Have to Have Jews
* Zany Scheme: "All Hail the Brain"

> **Evan:** "And all I have to do is..."
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