NIGHT OF NOUGHTIES NOSTALGIA

FOR LOVERS OF THE ORIGINAL FILM THE STAGE PRODUCTION OF 13 GOING ON 30 IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST, WRITES JAMES HOLT

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T was an evening of pure early 2000s’ nostalgia as character Jenna Rink made her stage appearance more than two decades after the hit movie 13 Going on 30 first hit screens.

Following the story of hormonal teenager Jenna, she teases her hair and organises a birthday bash in a desperate effort to fit in with the cool kids.

But when she’s abandoned at her own 13th birthday, she hides away in a cupboard while praying she was a 30-year-old successful adult far away from the qualms of youth and misery of high school.

She's left hilariously perplexed when she actually wakes up as an fully fledged adult; the editor of high-end fashion magazine Poise in New York City, in a relationship with a ripped sportsman, while still an immature teenager at heart.

The touching story sees her struggle to navigate adulthood, relationships and friendships in a very different world than one she grew up in.

Admittedly, I am always a bit sceptical when a movie is made into a stage musical.

Through being adapted for the stage, storylines loved by fans are often changed beyond recognition. New songs are unfamiliar and hard to get behind.