News : What \'13\' means to me: Female members share their thoughts

Taylor Livengood (Lucy) and Mikala Niemeier (Kendra).

Katie Hancock rehearses with Lori Ferguson for one of her '13' solo parts.

Taylor Livengood practices one of her solos with music director Jesse Bunge.

Hannah Seitz and Taylor Livengood practice a song with Jesse Bunge as their leader.

Katie Hancock says she feels a connection to "Patrice," the role she plays in the ACT 1 version of "13."

Mikala Neimeier says the same thing about "Kendra," the girl she plays.

Taylor Livengood cannot relate to Lucy, the "mean girl" that she plays. But, she said, there are girls in her school who remind her of Lucy (but don't ask her to mention names!)

Vinton Today sat down briefly with each of the 13 members of "13" at their final rehearsal at the home of director Steve Arnold on Wednesday evening. We asked them what being in "13" means to them and what they learned from the experience. We also asked if they have a favorite part in the musical, and how they relate to the characters they played.

We have compiled our interviews with the six girls of "13" here. Visit Vinton Today tomorrow to see what the seven boys of the musical had to say. (And also to see our interview with the director about what "13" means to him, what he learned and to find out about his favorite parts.)

Katie Hancock

"I have learned that it's really important to stay yourself, even yourself is not who others want you to be," said Katie. "Be true to yourself even when it's not what others want."

Katie said she relates to Patrice in several ways. "She's not real popular. She's down-to-earth and does not really care what people think."

The role of Patrice is the biggest role that Katie has played. She will be an 8th-grader at Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School this year. She has previously played Gretl in the ACT 1 "Sound of Music" and Yente in the VSMS version of "Fiddler on the Roof."

Performing the lead female role of "13" gave Katie a chance to sing many solo songs and parts.

"It's gotten my voice to be stronger and made me more confident," she said.

Katie said her favorite part is the part where Lucy and Kendra have the "good girl" discussion, because of the humor of the piece.

Makala Niemeier

Makala plays Kendra, the cheerleader who learns the hard way that not everyone who says they are a friend deserves to be considered as one.

"It has taught me what real friends mean, she says. "If someone really likes you for who you are, stay true to them and respect them."

Like Kendra, Mikala says she finds it easy to find friends at school. "I am kind of like Kendra," she said. "She gets along with everyone."

Mikala, who will start 8th grade at North Linn Middle School, said "13" has taught her that no matter how things go, there will always be people there to see you through.

Mikala played a big part (as the waitress) in the recent ACT 1 show "Bus Stop" and plans to perform in future ACT 1 shows.

Taylor Livengood

Taylor, a freshman at Center Point-Urbana High School, performed in "The Music Man" and other CPU Middle School productions.

The musical "13," she says, teaches a lot of lessons about life that will help her. She said she was most surprised by the number of friendships she made with the other cast members.

Sydney Monson

Sydney, entering 8th grade at Center Point-Urbana Middle School, plays Cassie in "13." She has performed with other ACT 1 musicals and summer children's theatres and played the part of Amaryllis in the CPU MS production of "The Music Man."

Sydney said being in "13" and singing the songs has helped her singing.

"I learned how strong my voice really is and not to hold back," she said.

Sydney's favorite part of "13" is the opening song with the same title. "It's really fun to sing," she said.

Willow Huber

Willow will be a sophomore at VSHS. Like Sydney, Willow has played Amaryllis in "Music Man" and participated in summer theatre.

"'13' has a really good message about being yourself and a really good way of portraying that message," she said.

Willow's favorite part of "13" is the song "Brand New You."

Hannah Seitz

Hannah plays Molly in "13." She and her brother, Nathaniel are one of the cast's three sets of siblings (along with Katie and Will Hancock and Kevin and Colin Schlotfeldt).

Hannah said she identifies with the "confusion" felt by many of the characters in "13."

"It's about finding out where you fit, what group you are in," she said.

Hannah said her favorite part of "13" is the song, "It can't be true." She said the most surprising thing she learned is how difficult it is to put on stage make-up.

Like all of the other cast members, Hannah said that Bentlee Birchansky, who like the character he plays will soon celebrate his Bar Mitzvah, is the only Jewish person she has met.

Hannah said she's asked Bentlee a few questions, but the most important one was, "What do I wear to your Bar Mitzvah?"

The answer: Party clothes, she said.