Broken Legs Blog

Following on the trend of turning 90s-00s teen films into musicals (e.g. Mean Girls, Clueless, Legally Blonde), ’13 Going On 30′ is a re-imagining of the 2004 film, with the stage adaptation penned by film writers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, with lyrics and music by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. The story follows 13-year-old Jenna (Amelia Minto) who is ‘magically’ swapped into the body of her 30-year-old self (Lucie Jones), where she is head of a fashion magazine and struggling to adapt to life in the adult, corporate world. How the body-swap happens, or why, is never figured out (or even questioned), as the show prefers to explore the psychological impact of such a switch, as Jenna sets about tracking down childhood friends, and begins to realise that, despite achieving all those goals she had as a teenager, her life has not turned out quite as she expected.

The show follows the plot of the film very closely, and one of the drawbacks to this is that the opening section is almost exclusively performed by young actors, before being taken over by the adult cast about 15 minutes in. This change makes it difficult to form any close emotional connections to the characters, and as such the story becomes hard to invest in. The opening song (Wanna Be) is certainly one of the more catchier numbers of the show, but the young actors lack clarity in their speech, and sometimes the lyrics can be missed. Added to this is the fact that many of the characters take on usual stereotypes (popular mean girl, geeky outsider, smooth-talking jock), which is necessary in order to quickly set up the narrative and allow us to get into the “proper” setting of 30 years later, but means that many of the characters are very surface-level and lack suitable depth.

When Jones steps into the lead role, the production definitely kicks up a notch, but is continually hindered by numerous jokes about boobs and high heels that feel a little bit overdone and not particularly funny. Jones certainly embodies the awkward enthusiasm of a teenager suddenly let loose, whilst still maintaining a childish emotional edge, particularly when talking to her parents or re-connecting with old friends. Some moments retained from the film feel a little iffy through a 2025 lens (one moment sees Jones’s character flirting with a 13 year old, designed to amuse but instead drawing an awkward silence from the audience), and a little trimming here and there would not have gone amiss, although the musical is already fairly fast-paced at just shy of 2 hours 30.

Jenna tracks down her ex-best friend Matt (David Hunter), who has not spoken to Jenna for 15 years, and is enjoying a quiet life with fiancée Wendy (Jenna Innes). Hunter is certainly at home in the role of quiet, reserved romantic lead, and his song You Gotta Have Fireworks is our first hint of the show trying to add some commentary to the mostly frothy cheese-fest, as he tries to explain to Jenna that relationships aren’t all fireworks as teenagers would expect, and that there is a lot more mundanity and hard work involved instead. It feels like an important message that is seemingly dropped in the second half as Jenna and Matt grow closer together.

Jones is certainly the highlight of this production, and her solos in the second act (That Moment In Time and Make The World) allow her to properly display her vocal talent, with songs that feel built more around emotion and character, whilst many of the other numbers are a bit too pop-heavy and rely on wordplay and puns rather than emotion. Having said that, the song Everything in the opening act gives us a little taste of what’s to come later in the show, and provides a nice motif that recurs throughout the second act, particularly when Jenna enlists the help of several teenage outsiders to help her in a fashion shoot.

The story carries a meaningful message about being true to yourself and living in the here and now, and if we cared a little bit more about the characters it could be a lot more successful. It is surprising that, in a show that lacks a huge cast list, the side characters are mostly bland and uninspiring. Grace Mouat is completely wasted as Lucy, Jenna’s co-worker, who is painted as a bit of a villain but never really given any real agency. Andrew Berlin has a decent comic turn as Kyle, although struggles to keep up with the fast-paced song Peaked in High School, and Dominic Andersen will delight many audience members when he appears as topless hockey star Alex, but is not given much more to do than that.

Under Andy Fickman’s direction, this is a very slick production – Colin Richmond’s set design brings to life a variety of locations with simple sets made up of a few key pieces of furniture, whilst George Reeve’s video design provides the perfect back-drop, reminiscent of the set from Dear Evan Hansen. The video adds an extra layer of beauty to some of the scenes, in particular during the song Why Can’t We Fly, helping to bring another dimension to the stage. Unfortunately, Howard Hudson’s lighting design doesn’t always match this standard, with Jenna’s initial body swap accompanied by so many flashing lights you might want to close your eyes in horror.

This production will leave a smile on your face, and if that’s all you’re looking for, then you will be satisfied. The final song, Here and Now, is accompanied by a stage full of confetti, and the cast look like they’re having the time of their lives. You cannot help but clap along with them. Unfortunately, this is preceded by a show that is a little too fluffy and light, with songs that are not particularly original, and characters that are mostly uninteresting. A sophisticated production that lacks a sophisticated plot.

Tom Morley, October 2025

Review Round-up:

WhatsOnStage: 13 Going On 30 musical review – WoS are fairly more complimentary, with a 4* review that commends “a surprisingly tender message: that sometimes growing older doesn’t mean losing your sparkle, and that friendship and authenticity outshine all the glamour and fakery in the world”

Theatre and Tonic: 13 Going on 30 The Musical – T&T award the show 3 stars, who pick fault with Jones’ performance, stating “Jones’ portrayal of Jenna can sometimes fall flat, with awkward moments of physicality not matching up to a 13-year-old waking up in a 30-year-old’s body”

MickeyJoTheatre: the 13 GOING ON 30 musical is not a thriller – Youtuber Mickey Jo gives the show 2 stars, and points out, when discussing Lucie Jones’ characterisation, that “the whole thing is such a giddy, cartoonish world to such an extent that by the middle of the second act [the audience loses] any connection to the realisation that [Jenna] is meant to seem like a 13 year old”