Photo by: Megan Cencula
We were joined on the Popternative show by Jonathan Lengel who makes his film debut as Archie in the musical 13: The Musical which premiered on Netflix on August 12 globally. Directed by Tamra Davis, and based on the popular musical 13, which debuted on Broadway in 2008, 13: The Musical is a coming-of-age journey through the unforgettable ups and downs of preteen life.

The movie follows 12-year-old Evan Goldman (Eli Golden) who uproots from New York City with his mother Jessica (Debra Messing) after his parents get divorced. With his Bar Mitzvah fast approaching, Evan is devastated that he has to leave all his friends, his father (Peter Hermann) and his rabbi (Josh Peck) behind. After moving into his grandmother’s (Rhea Perlman) house in a small Indiana town, he hatches a plan to win new friends by turning his Bar Mitzvah into the coolest party ever.

13 The Musical. Photo by: Alan Markfield/Netflix

In our interview, Jonathan tells us his familiarity with 13 before going into the auditon, “I had done a version of it before, so I was very familiar with Archie.” He also discusses his passion for musicals: “I’ve been singing, acting and playing the piano since I was very young. I was always very musically inclined and I didn’t grow up too far from Broadway.”

Watch the full interview with Jonathan below!

13: The Musical is now streaming on Netflix.

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