The gang’s all here in ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’; Rehearsals underway at MLHS
Meet Charlie Brown; his dog, Snoopy; his sister, Sally; his “love,” Little Red-Haired Girl; Snoopy’s bird friend, Woodstock; and their friends Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, Pig Pen, Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Frieda and Marcy and Rerun
The gang’s all here for the Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) Drama Department’s fall musical production, “You’re A good Man Charlie Brown.” Rehearsals are now underway for the musical. The presentation will take to the school’s auditorium stage on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12. Curtain time each evening will be 7 p.m. Tickets are at-the-door and are $6 for adults and $4 for students.
MLHS has shared this musical two other times in the past, in fall 1974 and again in fall 1995.
The musical comedy, with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip, Peanuts.
Brought to life onstage are bossy Lucy who is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn’t give her the time of day, perfectionist Sally who is still mocking blanket-toting Linus, Snoopy is in the doghouse, and the “blockhead” himself, Charlie Brown, is in rare form. Brief scenes, taken from a day in the life of Charlie Brown, span the months from Valentine’s Day to Beethoven Day, from wild optimism to utter despair.
This revised version of the original 1967 musical, introduces two new songs – “Beethoven Day” and “My New Philosophy” – that have been added to the 12 numbers of the original version, which include “My Blanket and Me,” “The Kite,” “The Baseball Game,” “Little Known Facts,” “Suppertime” and “Happiness. The music and lyrics of the new numbers are by Andrew Lippa and dialogue by Michael Mayer,
Whether keen to fly with the Red Baron, moon over the Moonlight Sonata, or just doing your best to find happiness, the musical comedy is a classic.
Directing the musical is Julie Brugman, with Sarah Tailowright the musical director.
Cast
+ Charlie Brown – Sam Grev.
+ Snoopy – Liana Blomgren.
+ Lucy – Amy Bartsch.
+ Schroeder – Ruben Fentanez.
+ Linus – Regan Syverson.
+ Sally – Jae Faber.
+ Pig Pen – Eli Karschnik.
+ Woodstock – Olivia Klassen.
+ Franklin – Fletcher Hanson.
+ Teacher – Isaac Grev.
+ Little Red-Haired Girl – Jordan Wright.
+ Peppermint Patty – Kalley Rempel.
+ Frieda – Annelise Regier.
+ Marcy – Madison Hartle.
+ Rerun – Joel Salgado.
Crew
+ Lights – Jareya Harder and Mason Fast.
+ Sound – Ethan Klassen.
And, while none of the cast is actually six-years-old. And they don’t really look like Charles Schulz’s Peanuts cartoon characters. But this doesn’t seem to make that much difference once the actors bring the audience into the play, because what the characters are saying to each other is with the openness of that early childhood time – and the obvious fact is that they are all really quite fond of each other.
Below are a few sneak peeks from today’s rehearsal:
