‘Charlie Brown’ stars many young actors
Published 2:52 pm Thursday, April 10, 2008
Based on Charles Schulz’s classic “Peanuts” comic strip, the award-winning musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” opens Thursday at Everett Performing Arts Center.
Told through a series of songs and vignettes that mimic the four-panel format used by the original cartoon strip, the Village Theatre Kidstage production is a revival of the 1999 musical that received two Tony Awards. The revival version has been updated and re-orchestrated with four-part harmonies and pop rhythms.
“It’s a fun score,” director Kati Nickerson said in press materials. “The revival is very upbeat and has two new numbers. One of them, ‘Beethoven Day’ is a large, full-ensemble piece with a gospel feel. It will be a show-stopper.”
In addition, Sally, Charlie Brown’s little sister, is a new character since the original production and has her own song, “My New Philosophy.”
The show is written for six actors, so Nickerson developed a concept that involves 51 young performers. The six principal roles of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus, Snoopy and Sally are each played by three actors. The set follows the comic-strip concept using three 8-by-8-foot frames, allowing all three actors for each principal character to create a live comic strip.
There is also a Beagle Scout Ensemble made up of second- and third-graders. Ten of the youngest players follow Woodstock and play the roles of the little birds, often represented as Snoopy’s Scouts.
The production has three student directors, two student choreographers, a student music director and a student assistant stage manager from Village Theatre’s Teen Access to Professionals program.
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” features 51 fourth- to ninth-grade students with a selection of second- and third-grade students in a full-scale musical. The production runs through April 20.
