Netflix is rebooting “13: The Musical,” the theater production best known as launching the careers of Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies.

The film, which begins streaming this Friday, features new music from three-time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, who was also the composer and lyricist for the Broadway production. It stars “Orange Is the New Black” actor Eli Golden as Evan Goldman, whose plans for a hyped 13th birthday and bar mitzvah fall apart when his parents (Debra Messing and Peter Hermann) get divorced, and he’s uprooted from New York City to a small town in Indiana. There, Evan tries to make new friends and throw a massive party, which turns out to be harder than he thought.

The movie also stars Josh Peck (“Drake & Josh,” Disney+’s “Turner and Hooch” reboot) and Rhea Perlman, as well as a cadre of young actors filling the shoes of Grande and company. One of those is 16-year-old Frankie McNellis, who’s playing Gillies’ role of cheerleader Lucy, the film’s antagonist.

The Arizona singer, dancer and actress also sings one of the most elaborate musical numbers (“Opportunity”) in the production, which became a hit in 2008. McNellis, who previously starred in Netflix’s “Honey Girls,” was born and raised in Arizona, where she sang since she was 5. Her family moved to L.A. when she was 11 to pursue an entertainment career. She sang in the Pentatonix-formed kids’ acapella group AcaPops!, studies dance, and plays guitar, drums and bass.

McNellis spoke to us about being a fan of “13: The Musical” and her aspirations in music—she’s working on new music now.

“It’ll be really cool because we have our soundtrack, so when people go to see the song that I sing and they click on my name, it will link them to everything that I have done,” she said.

RIFF: Were you familiar with the musical before being cast in this?

Frankie McNellis: Yes, I remember when I was younger, even right before I auditioned, I was watching the videos on YouTube because I was obsessed with Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies. They were in the original cast in 2008, so I would always watch those videos and be like, “Oh, it would be such a dream to do that, like I wish they would recreate ‘13’ so I could be in it.” And then, they made it a movie.

My manager called me, and she was like, “Oh, what role do you want to audition for? I got you an audition for ‘13: The Musical,’ and I was like, “Stop! Oh my gosh. That’s insane.” I was like, “Oh, I want to audition for Lucy. That’s the one.” I got the role. It was really cool.

I presume you sang your own parts without overdubbing? Perhaps some of the other actors had overdubs.

Frankie McNellis: No overdubs for me; it was just me singing. You prerecorded in the studio, and then I also sang live when we were filming it.

Jason Robert Brown did the music for both the musical and movie—did he work closely with the cast?

Frankie McNellis: It was so cool because he wrote new music for the movie. He brought me music, and it was a really cool thing to work with him because he was changing up the keys, and the tempo and words specifically for us. He was really working with us and really helping us get in character and really connect to the lyrics, which is really cool. Also, he played the piano for us live.

How did rehearsing the singing parts of this project go with a rehearsing everything else. Was it mostly one or the other? Did you have days where you switched off? Was something more difficult than something else?

Frankie McNellis: First, we were quarantined for two weeks. We started with a private vocal sessions with [composer] Georgia Stitt and Jason Robert Brown and [singer] Lily Lane for about two weeks. After we got out of quarantine, we started doing vocal sessions in person with the whole cast. … Because we were learning the material for a few weeks, two weeks after we started doing in-person sessions with the group, we started with dance rehearsals. After that, we started going back and forth, like every day, or we would split the days in half; so in the morning, we would do singing, and then in the afternoon, we would dance. Occasionally, we would throw in sessions with the director and do some acting stuff.

Did you get any advice on playing Lucy?

Frankie McNellis: Yes, I actually got to FaceTime Liz, so that was really cool because she played the original Lucy in 2008. When I talked to her, she was like, “Just make the character your own”—to all of us—”don’t try to be the original cast.” Don’t try to be the original characters. It’s an adaptation, so we have to make it our own. It can’t be the exact same because we’re not them; we’re ourselves portraying the characters.

The director [Tamra Davis] and the writers—they were all just giving me keywords. They were like, “Just remember, Lucy is determined. She’s not a bad girl; she’s just determined to get what she wants.” I had to keep that in the back of my mind.

What was it like playing the antagonist in the movie?

Frankie McNellis: Oh, it’s really cool. I haven’t done anything like this yet, so it was really fun getting to play that role. It’s funny because I’m mean to everyone, but in real life, they’re my best friends, so between takes we’re all laughing, and they’re like, “Oh, my God; you’re so mean,” and I’m like, “Well, I don’t mean it.”

You play several instruments; when did you have the time to learn that, in addition to the dancing that you do?

Frankie McNellis: My schedule’s pretty crazy, but I have my instruments in my house, and I have my piano and my guitar in my bedroom, so whenever I’m just at home doing nothing—I’m not actually doing nothing; I’m playing or singing—and when my dad’s done working, we’ll jam out together before I go to dance in the afternoon or at night. Sometimes after dance, we’ll come back home late at night and just be playing at midnight ‘til 3 a.m.

What do you enjoy most as an actress at your age?

Frankie McNellis: That’s a hard one. It’s my passion. It’s all I love to do. I just enjoy being on camera and getting to work with people my age. It’s fun. It’s not like, “I hate going to work.” I’m always like, “Oh, my God, let me go, let me go. I want to be on set right now,” because it’s so fun for me. I love it.

Any favorite experiences with the adults in the film like Josh Peck or Debra Messing or Rhea Pearlman?

Frankie McNellis: Working Debra and Rhea and Peter, and all of them, when we were filming the scene, “A Little More Homework” for the song, it was really cool because they were just standing behind the cameras watching us, and they all started crying while we were singing. I was like, “Oh, my God. This is so cool.” It’s a really beautiful song, and Jason Robert Brown did an amazing job.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.