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You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
by Desert Stages Theatre
Lyrics and Music by
Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz,
debuted on Broadway in 1967 For more than sixty years George Schultz’s Peanuts
comic strip, and the beloved animated television specials it spawned, have made
us all commiserate and find comfort in the lovable loser who keeps trying to
kick that football no matter how many times Lucy pulls it away.
Clark Gesner's musical adaptation of the comic strip allows the
characters to come to life on the stage in a series of monologues, scenes, and
musical numbers that remind us just how hard it is to face the challenges of
growing up...especially if you're named Charlie Brown. THE PRODUCTION: At Desert Stages Theatre, the comic strip surrounds us
painted on the walls: the pale blue sky with occasional puffy clouds, a long
fence, a Peanuts strip neighborhood.
On the stage is, in one corner, Snoopy’s red house, in other corners a ladder
and monkey bars. And in the middle of the set designed by Brett Coatney, Rebecca
Courtney, and Andrew Lipman is a
green park-like playground with a huge rainbow-colored roundabout perfectly
suited to theater in the round and used so well throughout by Director Andrew
Lipman and his cast of Peanuts
characters. Those cast members are the very first of DST’s new
“Next Stage Productions,” giving some of their older students an opportunity
to do some shows, including those featuring smaller casts, that weren’t often
performed in their youth theatre program before. This cast has Andrey
Lull in the title role, and he has a great, understated sense of humor and
demeanor befitting our hero as he begins finding his way through this world of
awkward moments, countless failures, social anxiety, and friends like Lucy Van
Pelt. That’s Jordan Yampolsky knocking Charlie down a few hundred pegs with
pleasure as the intimidating Lucy, trying her best to disturb Schroeder’s (Stokley
Berg) piano practice, and nailing her journey of self-discovery via
crabbiness survey. Eighth grader Austin
Butler, as Linus Van Pelt (Jared Lara
in alternate cast), shares many humorous moments with his elder sister and
with his blanket. And Cate Carlino
(alternately Allison Steward) is Chuck’s younger sibling with a Then, of course, there’s Charlie Brown’s
loyal-when-properly-fed beagle Snoopy featuring Paige
Michelet in this cast and Libby
Stiles in the other. Highly expressionable, fantastic charisma, and an easy
sense of humor, Paige is a hit, highlighted by her desperation for suppertime
and when Suppertime finally arrives.
But it’s the water bowl that the rest of the cast wants her to cut back on, as
she prematurely ends a Glee Club Rehearsal
with some targeted potty training on shoes (later followed by some mild
embarrassment as Lucy picks an inopportune time to teach Linus about fire
hydrants, Paige also sheepishly righting that hydrant when it accidentally gets
tipped). The rest of the first Next Stage cast adds much to the show in their
scenes including the opening number, with Linus in My
Blanket and Me, a spirited Beethoven
Day led by Schroeder, the jazzy Suppertime
led by Snoopy, and sending us off with a heartwarming reminder that, in spite of
all the things that can go wrong, there are countless things in life that can
bring us Happiness. Performed October 4 - 27, 2013 Photos by Mick Milligan Rob Hopper ~ Cast ~
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THE
SHOW:
big
little-girl voice and an equally big personality, amusingly proud of her many
new philosophies. 
Snoopy: Paige Michelet