ST Ninian's High School students in Douglas will perform the Isle of Man premiere of the musical 13 next week.

The show, by Jason Robert Brown, is about a Jewish boy called Evan who has to move to a small town in Indiana when his parents split up just before his 13th birthday and before he has his Bar Mitzvah.

It follows his sometimes haphazard attempts to make friends at his new school.

Twenty students from Years 8, 9 and 10 are making the final preparations for the show.

Head of Music at St Ninian's High School Claire Creer, who is in charge of the production, said: "It was actually a few of the students who first brought the show to my notice.

"It opened on Broadway in 2008 and the UK performing rights for the show were only released over the summer so we are really excited to be one of the first schools in the UK to stage the show.

"We have an excellent team of teachers and students who have been involved with the show and we are raring to go next week."

Juan Riordan (Year 10), who is playing the lead role of Evan said: "It has been a great challenge learning such a big part but it has also been loads of fun.

"It's a really funny show and the music is great."

The cast are supported by a band who are also students.

Performances take place nightly at 7.30pm from Tuesday, February 8 to Saturday, February 12 and there is a matinee on the Saturday at 2.30pm too.

Tickets are £5 for adults and £3.50 concessions and are available from the school office.