Interview: Q & A With 13: THE MUSICAL's Director Roberta Emerson

Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida will be showing the critically acclaimed "13: the Musical" starting this week. The show centers on 13-year-old Evan Goldman who moves from New York City to Indiana. Goldman must escape gossip and blackmail if he hopes to make friends and find peace and happiness at his new school. The play deals with the hardships of leaving familiar places for unfamiliar ones, fitting in with your peers, and transitioning from youth to adulthood. Montverde Academy's production will be entered in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Applause Awards for the 2016-17 year. Unlike many school productions in which teenage kids play adults, "13" is unique since kids are playing kids their age. Broadway World Orlando's Libby Champion caught up with the director of the production, Roberta Emerson, to talk about what that experience is like for kids and to see how composer Jason Robert Brown's tough musical score affected the cast.

Q (Libby Champion): This show is different from many of the shows I was in when I was a teenager - I always played roles that were older. What affect do you think kids playing kids has on the show?

A (Roberta Emerson): I think for the kids in the show it's both easier and harder to play a role that is their same age. It's easier because when kids play adults, they really have to imagine in order to put themselves in that person's shoes. They have to say "If I was playing this person with these adult problems that I haven't experienced yet, how would I feel?" It's harder however because these kids are already that age so sometimes there can be this sense that they already know the character. Really knowing a character takes time, and just because the role is the same age as you does not mean you know how they would feel in certain situations.

Q: A number of the students in the show have been in previous productions with Montverde Academy, many of them in older roles. Do you think that those students had a harder time acting their age in this production?

A: It's been a challenge but also a release. They can connect deeper with these characters because the show is all about real-life things that they are experiencing in their own lives.

Q: Let's talk about the music in the show. Jason Robert Brown's music is not easy to master for adults, let alone someone at a young age. How did you approach the challenging score for this show?

A: Yes, Jason Robert Brown certainly didn't hold back when writing the music for the show. There are lots of notes and melodies within the music which can make it hard to learn, but it's a challenge the kids have taken to heart! The roles come more naturally to them than the music. A lot of long hours and hard work went into getting the music and choreography right, but it's completely worth it in the end.

Q: We know this show pertains to kids, but why should adults come see this show?

A: I truly believe that everyone can get something out of "13." It's a great time to just sit back and see youth through a different lens. There's a song near the end of the show that talks about feeling pressured to grow up, to be an adult, but they still have "a little more homework." We as a society put so much pressure on our kids to be an adult too soon and to understand things that we ourselves at that age didn't understand either. This show serves as both a great walk down memory lane to your teenage years and as a reminder of what our kids our going through.

13: THE MUSICAL runs from Wednesday, October 26 to Saturday, October 29 in the Sandra O. Stephens Fine Arts Theatre at Montverde Academy. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here or at the door.

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