My first "big" show at the Palos Verdes Performing Arts Conservatory. This mainstage was done in February 2016, was in 5th grade, 10 years old, and played Richie. I believe I was the youngest in the cast, which comprised of mostly 12-14 year olds I believe. PVPA has always been known for producing the best youth shows. Despite me having been in their shows for years, I am still looking for how exactly but sit back and enjoy this amazing production of 13. The amount of nostalgia I feel when watching a show that I've done there in the past is absolutely astronomical. Most people made me feel welcome, there were a few problems, but besides that it was a good experience, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed! One of my first memories of this show was everyone sitting in a circle getting ready to do a read through and I was sitting next to Brad, the kid who played Evan. he shook my hands and it introduced himself and just that simple act of him doing that made me feel at home and I will forever remember it. The director was Barry Pearl, this is the only show he has done at the conservatory and I remember him to be a really good director and would totally work with him again. When we were rehearsing this show he made a cameo in Grease Live which was fun because he was in the Original Broadway cast I believe. I remember the show felt like it was plagued with issues. For example, the guy who was originally going to play Malcom left after the first day because it was going to be hard doing the show during finals I believe. Then we had some second kid come in who left after maybe 5 ish rehearsal days because he cried when the stage manager made us do push ups. Finally, the guy you see in the show, who had done 13 at least 2 other times at other places, and I believe worked with Barry Pearl joined us. He was a cool dude but this would be his only show he had done at PVPA. I wonder where he is now, if he even remembers me, he probably does. Also fun fact I had my first "crush" in this show🙄. Speaking of the stage manager, she had weird tactics to try and make us shut up during rehearsals, that's where the push ups happened. I remember one day she made this board and would do something with our names like rank us based on how 'good' we were. I remember one day at the beginning of rehearsal she had us discuss how we could improve. and then we were ushered into a separate room to do vocal warm ups, then when we came back we got the news that she was fired and Jason Sluyter would take over as Stage Manager. So that was fun. The music director was Sean Alexander Bart as it would continue to be for literally every other mainstage show after this, I remember that I was a soprano because my voice was so high. I remember I used to get really anxious about this one riff that I had especially because I had a voice crack one time while doing the show because I didn't know how to properly control my voice and to use my breath. Something which he would later have part in helping me improve on, now I'm very good at that kind of thing. So he helped me a lot with that. The co-choreographers were Keenan Hooks and Sarah Marie, this would be both of their first time doing something at the conservatory and they would later go on to work at the conservatory for longer. And a little more on the plagues that faced the show, Kendra, Ashley Reynolds hit her head hard on something like two times during a show and was bleeding. I remember at least one of those times was at the end of the song opportunity. Addie, the girl who played Patrice, got sick at the end of the second weekend. I remember for one show she had to do one of her songs only speaking without
any music because she almost totally lost her voice. You can even see the early effects of it in this performance. Then after that for another show the girl Leila who played Charlotte filled in for Addie in an act of quite honestly bravery. This show is going to forever hold a special place in my heart, and would help fan the flames of my passion for the arts and connection to the Conservatory. So that about does it for 13. Enjoy!

This production also has the most videos on YouTube out of any at PVPA, with the exception of Mamma Mia of course, due to my vlogs. Here are some links to various videos featuring this production:
Meet the cast - https://youtu.be/dwOpzibr83g
Director of 13 - https://youtu.be/aZvQcu1D1HM
Music Director - https://youtu.be/FbPuwbryHno
Producer/Stage Manager - https://youtu.be/hGgwy_0Nreg
Choreographers - https://youtu.be/hHBOy3t0QCY
Behind the Scenes Vlog - https://youtu.be/aWrENvm5yE4