13 (Double Disc Including Karaoke)

On paper, this tuner about, and played exclusively by kids (the title refers to their age and the bar mitzvah around which the plot revolves) seemed like an odd fit for Jason Robert Brown. This, after all, is a composer who made his initial splash with the somber Parade and the two-hander The Last Five Years, about the unraveling of a marriage. But surprise! Brown’s score, lightweight but very fun pop, is the best thing about the show - okay, along with the swell cast of freakishly gifted children. The book, about a NYC kid adjusting to life in a small Indiana town, is rather cliché—no wonder the characters are identified by one- and two-word descriptions ("outsider," "loser," "drama queen," etc.) on the booklet’s back cover. But on their own, the songs work well, and Brown proves adept at coming up with killer hooks ("Hey Kendra" is a really funny take on an R&B seduction number and "It Can’t Be True" has an unfortunate way of drilling itself into your head). The show pokes fun at Disney a couple of times, but it actually sounds not unlike a musical-theater take on the High School Musical franchise. -- Elisabeth Vincentelli