by Paula Kaplan-Reiss
As a child, Sunday mornings meant rushing to the Sunday newspaper to read the brightly colored, always amusing comics, highlighted by the first comic on the page, Peanuts. All my friends loved the holiday animated specials on TV featuring Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and the gang, to the music of Vince Guaraldi. In 1967, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown premiered Off Broadway and was revived in 1999, winning a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical. What a treat to see the talented cast bring this endearing musical to life at the Sharon Playhouse.
Opening the musical with the title song, we are introduced to the entire cast: Charlie Brown (Daniel Plimpton), Lucy (Courtney Balan), Snoopy (Nicholas Alan Fernandez), Schroeder (Jason Williams), Linus (Sammy Pignalosa), and Sally (Hayley Podschun). Each character is dressed in brightly colored replicas of the outfits each wears in the strip, thanks to Costume Designer Kathleen Deangelis. Lucy and Sally wear wigs in readily identifiable brunette and blonde styles, respectively. Immediately, we recognize and know these familiar characters; the audience becomes engaged and smiles.
With no real plot, we see little comic strips come to life in delightful vignettes: Charlie Brown trying to fly a kite and get a valentine, while pining over the never seen Little Red-Headed Girl; Schroeder being obsessed with Beethoven, while ignoring Lucy’s advances; Lucy being obsessed with Schroeder while bossing everyone around; Snoopy dreaming about suppertime and fighting the imagined Red Baron; Linus never letting go of his blanket, while sucking his thumb; Sally, joining Snoopy on a rabbit hunt and struggling to find snappy comebacks to her critical teacher. A delightful score by Clark Gessner provides memorable tunes and lyrics which amplifies each character’s story and personality.
Balan as Lucy sings her heart out to Schroeder in Schroeder. While singing to the music of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Lucy tries to get Schroeder to play April Showers. We see her narcissistic, manipulative qualities, hear Balan’s dynamite voice, and laugh at Lucy’s desire to be Queen, while Linus gently informs her, she needs to be born to royalty.
Pignalosa’s Linus wins your heart as an exceedingly tall, funny, smart and graceful cross between Ray Bolger’s Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and Tommy Tune’s Ambrose Kemper in Hello Dolly. My Blanket and Me is irresistible, perfectly capturing childhood attachments.
Fernandez, as Snoopy, spends every second embodying Charlie Brown’s beloved dog. He shakes and pants and howls credibly, while causing the audience to howl with laughter. His rendition of Suppertime reminds us of the highlight of a dog’s day. Fernandez is yet another cast member who demonstrates first-rate acting, singing and dancing skills.
As we watch Williams ‘play piano’ as Schroeder, while leading the cast in his hoped-for holiday, Beethoven Day, we feel his musical passion as he engages his friends to join his quest.
Podschun captures Sally’s essence much as Kristin Chenowith did in her Tony Award winning portrayal. Tiny, but powerful, with a ton of energy and a multi-octave range, she knocks out the audience with My New Philosophy.
Finally, Plimpton, as Charlie Brown, reminds me how much I always feel for his character, who always tries his best but does not always get what he wants. We hope he can keep his kite in the air, get noticed by the Little Red-Headed Girl, and receive a valentine. Plimpton exudes Brown’s sincerity, loyalty and gullibility.
Director Julia Murney and Choreographer Michelle Lemon make the most of this talented cast’s abilities and outstanding chemistry. The pacing is perfect. All group numbers bounce off the stage. The colorful, cartoon-like backdrops and set-pieces, designed by Christopher Swader and Justin Swader, and lit by Jamie Roderick, bring the audience into the life-size comic strip.
The five-member orchestra, conducted off-stage by Eric Thomas Johnson, gives full sound to each number, notably matching Schroeder’s classical ‘piano playing.’
We are left with Happiness, in ringing harmony, in all its forms, even for Charlie Brown. Especially at the Sharon Playhouse, “…happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you.” You’ll love You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” runs September 20-29 at the Sharon Playhouse, 49 Amenia Road in Sharon, CT. Click HERE for tickets. https://www.sharonplayhouse.org