Entertainment : From the Front Row of the Balcony: ACT 1's '13' first in Iowa, among the best

The first kiss for Evan and Patrice...

Archie (Ian Stuelke) sings about going on through hard times.

Evan at his Bar Mitzvah...

Archie (Ian Stuelke) and Patricia (Katie Hancock) at Bar Mitvah for Evan (Bentlee Birchansky).y

Evan (Bentlee Birchansky) tells Brett (Will Hancock) to ask Kendra out to a scary movie.

Evan listens as Kendra (Mikala Neimeier) thanks him for getting her and Brett back together.

Evan and Brett argue because Brett is jealous and thinks Evan's trying to steal Kendra...

then Evan falls after Brett punches him at the Dairy Queen.

Evan (Bentlee Birchansky) asks his rabbi for advice from the phone in his bedroom.

Cast members of '13' gather around director Steve Arnold after the last dress rehearsal.

Luck warns Kendra of the dangers of dating Brett, whom she secretly wants for herself.

Archie tells Evan how much he wants to have a date with Kendra, the popular cheerleader.

Vinton's community theater, ACT 1, brought the popular new Broadway musical "13" to Iowa for the very first time on Aug. 6.

And wow! It's more than worth going to see. (See a sneak peek video at the end of this review!)

Here's the story that this musical tells:

For Evan, the world could not possibly look any worse. His parents have split up. His mother moves him from New York City to the small town of Appleton, Indiana.

In a few weeks, Evan will be the new kid in school, and he will only have one month to make friends to come to his Bar Mitsvah. This situation is complicated by the fact that Appleton does not have a temple or synagogue; Evan's conversation with his rabbi requires a telephone.

For Patrice, however, the world is looking a little better. She hates Appleton, "the lamest place in the world." She does not have any friends at school. She does not look or think the way other kids do. They call her the "geek."

But the few weeks of summer she has spent with Evan give her hope that she has finally found a true friend.

"The lamest place in the world just got a little bit better," sings Patrice, played by Katie Hancock. "So please don't disappear."

Evan and Patrice see their friendship tested when school starts.

Hoping to have a large crowd for his Bar Mitzvah, Evan invites everyone at Dan Quayle Junior High. But the members of the "in-crowd" led by a jock named Brett, force Evan to make a choice: If Patrice is coming to his Bar Mitzvah, they will not be there.

This challenge sends Evan down a journey of several not-so-smart decisions that lead to: Disaster.

Trying to get back into favor with both Brett and Patrice, Evan arranges a date for Patrice's other friend, the "cripple" Archie (Ian Stuelke), with the cheerleader, Kendra (Mikala Neimeier). But he has also arranged a date for Brett and Kendra, on the same night, in the same place.

Kendra's "best friend" Lucy, however, has her not-so-good heart set on Brett. Lucy (Taylor Livengood), in her plot to get Brett back from Kendra, sets up a conflict that Evan has no chance of winning.

In the midst of all this turmoil, Evan ponders the significance of turning 13 as a young Jew, and what it means to be a man in a small town where the kids call his Bar Mitzvah a "jew party" and more than once he hears the phrase "your people."

The story is told with dialogue, singing and choreography.

Why you should go:

1. The story. No matter what label you wore, or tried to live down, in school, you will probably see yourself in one of the characters. The questions about growing up, the maddening insecurities that plague even the toughest and prettiest people, the realization that you let your friends down or that they let you down. And no matter who you are now, you will probably see some of your current self in many of those same ways. "13" is not only about being 13, it's about the challenges you will face and feel in life at 23, 33, 43 and beyond.

2. The cast. It's obvious that these 13 singers and actors and director Steve Arnold have spent hundreds of hours on this show. And the spirit and soul that the 13 put into their performance matches their singing and acting abilities. The way Evan stutters when he learns that Archie is dying, the way Katie's face glows after Patrice's first kiss; the evil glare on Taylor's face as Lucy hatches yet another plot are just three examples of a performance that goes beyond what a director can teach an actor.

3. The originality. One of the challenges of most community theaters is that in most productions, they are performing a show their audience has seen many times, and possibly even on TV. Not for this show, however.

4. The effort. ACT 1 members, dozens of them, have volunteered countless hours to help make "13" the success it is becoming. The cast members have become a family; strangers have become lifelong friends. And the show has not even opened yet.

5. The best reason: There may be bigger and more expensive productions of "13" in some bigger cities by groups with much bigger budgets. But you won't find any production that surpasses the energy, heart and soul that goes into the ACT 1 version.

My favorite part:

There were many "wow" moments for me as I watched the final dress rehearsal of "13" Thursday evening. But if I had to pick one, I'd have to say it's the song, "Tell Her." In this duet, Evan and Patrice offer advice to Brett about how to get Kendra back. But as Brett takes notes on his hand and quickly runs out of space, he realizes that Evan and Patricia are not speaking to him, but to each other.

What you should know before you go:

There is, according to Google and the Rand McNally Atlas, no Appleton, Indiana.

Minnesota has one; a small town called Appleton.

Maine, too.

And of course, there's the city in Wisconsin.

Whether creating Appleton, Indiana, was the writer's way of not offending an entire small town, or whether it was a geography gaffe by a big city dweller who is not sure if Iowa is the one with the potatoes or the one between Indiana and Pennsylvania, "13" takes place in a city that does not exist.

But that's OK.

The cast of students from Vinton-Shellsburg, Center Point-Urbana, North Linn and Franklin Middle School in Cedar Rapids show that life for teenagers in fictional Appleton is just as real as it is in any small town (and big cities, too).

And in doing so, they remind all of us -- adults too -- of the way life was at 13, and at more times than we care to admit, still is now.

We all (no matter what age), as the cast reminds us near the end of the show, have a little more homework to do.

You have three more chances to see "13:" At 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Don't wait for the movie to enjoy '13;' the musical can't get any better than the way ACT 1 has done it.

[VIDEO]