An adaptation of the Broadway musical that gave Ariana Grande her start 13 years ago will be shot in the Toronto area this summer.
Cameras are scheduled to roll on 13: The Musical from June 7 to Aug. 24.
The Netflix movie is being directed by Tamra Davis, who got her start making music videos – including Hanson’s “MMMBop” and “Baby Ran” for Vancouver’s 54-40 – and went on to call the shots on the 2002 Britney Spears movie Crossroads and then episodes of TV shows like Star, Empire and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Davis, who has two children with ex-husband Mike D of Beastie Boys, is no stranger to working in Toronto: She directed the 1998 stoner comedy Half Baked in the city.
Jason Robert Brown, composer of 13: The Musical, reportedly wrote new music for the movie, which was penned by Robert Horn and Dan Elish.
13: The Musical follows Evan Goldman as he moves from New York City to a small Indiana town with his mother following his parents’ divorce.
The stage version premiered in Los Angeles in 2007 and then moved to Broadway, where it ran for 105 performances in 2008-2009.
Grande played the role of cheerleader Charlotte and earned a National Youth Theatre Association Award for her performance. It led to a role on the Nickelodeon series Victorious. Her debut album Yours Truly was released in 2013.
Toronto has previously played host to filming of the 2002 Oscar-winning adaptation of the musical Chicago and 2007’s Hairspray as well as 2016’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.