13, the musical, presented by Awkward Stage Productions as part of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, Sept 9-19 at Vancouver's Firehall Arts Centre. Visit www.vancouverfringe.com for tickets and show times.

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It's an all too familiar Catch-22: to get a job, experience is needed; but, it's impossible to get experience without first having a job.

No matter how much training one undertakes, it's next to impossible to launch a career in any field unless some professional experience is gained first.

To ease the tricky transition for those interested in pursuing a career in theatre, a group of local veterans have launched Awkward Stage Productions Society, a non-profit youth theatre company committed to providing real life performance and production opportunities to rising stars.

"We wanted to create a company that would lend to youth, having opportunities between the training that they do, so whether that's in high school or other post-secondary education . . . and a professional career in theatre," says Cara Tench, Awkward Stage's co-founding artistic associate and vice-president of communications.

The company is currently engaged in rehearsals for their inaugural production, the musical 13, at this year's Vancouver International Fringe Festival, Sept. 9-19, at the Firehall Arts Centre.

"It really is amazing," says Tench. "I really just feel like it's a dream come true, it's just exactly what I want to be doing."

Tench, who also teaches dance and musical theatre at West Vancouver's Collingwood School, launched Awkward Stage with peers Andy Toth and Corwin Ferguson. They were invited to present a show at this year's Fringe Festival and viewed it as the perfect opportunity to get Awkward Stage up and running. The society was officially incorporated this summer. Youth are involved at all levels, from sitting on its board of directors, to being involved as actors, musicians, technical crew members and production assistants.

"We've really allowed them the opportunity to bring all of their ideas to the table," says Tench.

Rehearsals for 13, which features music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn, got underway Aug. 2 and are held Mondays to Fridays.

The musical depicts a young hero named Evan who's tying to plan the best bar mitzvah ever after moving from big city New York to a small Indiana town. In his quest to be popular, he faces a number of challenges -- cliques, gossip, bullies and divorcing parents --many of which comprise the typical high school experience.

"I feel like it's just such a fun thing for Awkward Stage to start with, a show about teenagers, because 13 is such an awkward stage," says Tench. "It's just this perfect mix of being able to deal with teen angst through our growing pains of starting a company. It just seemed like a really fun story to tackle."

Tench is directing Awkward Stage's production.

More than 80 youth auditioned and 24 were chosen, ranging in age from 12 to 18.

"We've really been able to handpick some of the strongest youth talent in the Lower Mainland," says Tench.

The youth are split into two casts, junior and senior, based on experience.

"The most inspiring part is to see how much the cast members nurture and encourage each other," says Tench, referencing the double casting that has resulted in a unique mentorship situation. "There are no uncomfortable teen issues in the process as they are all so invested in the final product and want each other to really succeed."

The two casts will alternate performances through the run of the show.

"It's an incredibly inspiring group of young people who are just so thrilled and so passionate about theatre and performing and really strong triple-threats. Really, there's just so much that they're capable of," says Tench.

Evan is being played by 17-year-old Vancouver resident Zach Wolfman in the senior cast and by 13-year-old West Vancouver resident Alex Lara, a student at Collingwood, in the junior cast.

"He has a really amazing stage presence. He's only going into Grade 8 this year but he is incredibly strong," says Tench, of Lara.

"He's a really fun positive kid who tends to break out into hip-hop dancing whenever he has a spare moment," she adds.

There are a number of other North Shore students involved in the production, including actors: Yoav Lai, 15, from Collingwood; Fiona McIntyre, 17, from Handsworth secondary and Julie Cooper, 15, from Seycove secondary. Recent Sutherland secondary graduate Tessa Gunn is serving as a stage manager.

Ashlee Kim, 17, a student at Handsworth, is playing the role of Kendra in the junior cast.

"She's very caring and naive and she believes in rainbows and sunshine. She's very bubbly and energetic and she just always sees the good in people and she's very oblivious to what's around her. She's really fun," says Kim of her character.

Kim has had an interest in performance since early childhood, donning a tutu and putting on plays in her living room as early as age two.

"Every time I'd hear music, I'd just start dancing," she says.

"Ever since that, being on stage is my second home. It's where I smile, it's where I'm comfortable, it's where I belong. When you have those three traits, it's not just a hobby anymore, it's a passion," she adds.

Kim has worked with StageCraft Theatre School and Second Avenue Studios. It was through her involvement with Arts Umbrella that she heard about Awkward Stage's production of 13.

"What started out as a musical production, is like a personal journey to me now. We can all relate to the script, every line in the book, we can all remember what it was like to say that at 13," she says.

Tench has been incredibly amazing to work with, says Kim.

"It doesn't matter if you make 100 mistakes a day, you just know that it's okay to make mistakes around her because she'll just, no matter what, support you," she says.

Kim credits her involvement in the production with having helped cement her career path. While she's always had a strong attraction to theatre, she was leaning more towards pursuing a career as a writer.

"Awkward Stage Productions, it's helped me find what I want to do in life and this is what I want to do," she says.

Following its run at the Fringe, Tench hopes to remount 13 elsewhere in the Lower Mainland. They also hope to organize some cabaret-style evenings, giving youth an opportunity to work on monologues and songs as well as gain some experience with auditioning. Next year, they plan to present another musical.

"The ball is really rolling and we're getting such great support from the community so I know that there will be opportunities to do all those things," she says. "Onwards and upwards -- tons more shows. There's no stopping us now."