13: The Musical premiered on Netflix on August 12, 2022, and the movie musical does not disappoint! The original Broadway musical included now-famous names from Ariana Grande to Liz Gillies! Keep reading to uncover the original Broadway cast.
Who Starred In the Original Broadway Cast of ’13: The Musical’?
The 2008 Broadway show gave us so many now-household names! Pop star queen Ariana Grande played Charlotte and Liz Gillies played Lucy, and they would later once again share the stage (or set) on Nickelodeon’s show Victorious a few years later. Graham Phillips played Evan, who you might recognize from roles in The Little Mermaid Live!, Blockers, Evan Almighty and his leading role in Cartoon Network’s Ben 10: Race Against Time. Aaron Gross played Archie, who is also Ariana’s childhood best friend!
“The original cast was amazing. So stepping into their shoes is like, oh gosh, don’t mess this up,” Frankie McNellis — who plays Lucy in the movie — told J-14. The talented also spoke with Elizabeth who gave her some advice about playing Lucy. “Just to have fun with the character. No pressure. Don’t try to make the character the same Lucy she did,” the actress recalled to J-14. “We have to have different versions of the character because that was all the way back in 2008, so times are different.”
Gabriella Uhl — who takes on the role of Patrice — shared that there “wasn’t any pressure” to fill in the original cast’s shoes because everyone making the movie was “so welcoming and encouraging.” She also revealed that after being cast as Patrice, Gabriella became Instagram friends with Allie Trimm, who originated the role on Broadway. “She said that she was always gonna be in my corner, you know, rooting for me,” the actress shared.
Eli Golden, who plays Evan, revealed that he “very briefly” got a chance to speak with some of the original Broadway stars. He recalled that Liz was “super nice” when they spoke on the phone. “I was also able to FaceTime with Graham Phillips who played the original Evan,” he added.
What Has the Original Broadway Cast Said About the Movie?
Ariana and Liz actually both posted a video on their Instagram Stories praising the Netflix cast of 13: The musical on August 10, 2022!
Ariana captioned her post, “sending so much love to the incredibly talented cast of ’13’ the movie on @netflix !!! congratulations and we can’t wait to see you all shine.” Liz wrote, “13 the musical is about to drop and i’m sending all my love & congratulations to this talented group! This show means so much to us and I can’t wait to see how they’ve brought it to life. Don’t miss ‘13’ this Friday on Netflix!”
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