‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ gang on MLHS stage this past Friday, Saturday
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 entire Peanuts gang was on hand when the Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) Drama Department presented the fall musical production, “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” on the school’s auditorium stage this past Friday and Saturday.
MLHS 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.
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/Chorus – 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, Mason Fast and Ben Bartsch.
+Kite – Eli Karschnik.
+Sound – Ethan Klassen.
And, while none of the cast was 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.
IN THE OPENING of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” the gang of cast members share what makes them happy. Front, Lucy (Amy Bartsch). Back, from left, Frieda (Annelise Regier), Marcy (Madison Hartle), Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Sally (Jae Faber), Linus (Regan Syverson), Rerun (Joel Salgado), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev), Franklin (Fletcher Hanson) and Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright).
HAPPINESS IS MORNING and evening. Daytime and nighttime,too. For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you. The Peanuts gang spreads the happiness. From left, Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev), Marcy (Madison Hartle), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Sally (Jae Faber), Woodstock (Olivia Klassen), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Linus (Regan Syverson), Frieda (Annelise Regier), Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright), Rerun (Joel Salgado) and Franklin (Fletcher Hanson).
A TRIO OF happy friends. From left, Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez) and Linus (Regan Syverson).
CHARLIE BROWN (SAM Grev), left, spies his love, the Little Red-Haired Girl, at school, eating her noon lunch on the playground. He yearns to walk over and talk to her – but instead – creates an embarrassing situation. To “hide,” Charlie Brown covers his head with a brown paper bag. Lucy (Amy Bartsch), right, uses this opportunity to sketch a dress design on the bag.
D’ya know something, Schroeder? I think the way you play the piano is nice. D’ya know something else? It’s always been my dream that I’d marry a man who plays the piano sings Lucy (Amy Bartsch), right, to Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), left. Schroeder, however is too immersed in his piano-playing music to even notice.
AT THE “BRICK wall,” Linus (Regan Syverson), left, dishes out advice to Sally (Jae Faber), right.
COZY HOME. BOARD and bed. Sturdy roof beneath my head. Not bad, not bad at all. Not bad, not bad at all. Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), left, reflects on her life as Charlie Brown’s pet dog. Also up on the doghouse roof is Snoopy’s little yellow bird friend, Woodstock (Olivia Klassen), right. In song, Snoopy shares this about her little bird friend whose daily task is to scratch the canine’s back – Little birds. Come to cheer me. Ev’ry day. Sitting here, on my stomach. With their sharp little claws. Which are usually cold. And occasionally painful. And sometimes there are so many that I can hardly stand it . . .
MARCY (MADISON HARTLE), left, explains their homework to Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), right.
WITH SMOOTH TALK – and fast action – Linus (Regan Syverson) rescues his blanket from the clutches of his sister, Lucy. While dancing the tango with his fabric friend, he sings, Sucking your thumb without a blanket – is like eating a cone without ice cream! My blanket and me.
MORE ADVICE AT the “brick wall” from Linus (Regan Syverson), right, to his sister, Lucy (Amy Bartsch), left, centers on the fact that she cannot be queen unless she comes from royal lineage.
LINUS (REGAN SYVERSON) spends some quality quiet time with his blanket – and his thumb.
SALLY (JAE FABER), is not happy with the grade her art teacher gave her for her wire hanger sculpture. In the end, Sally decides her failure is due to the hangers used by the dry cleaner.
TIME TO TRY to fly a kite, Charlie Brown (Sam Grev). Little more speed. Little more rope. Little more wind. Little more hope. Gotta get this stupid kite to fly. Gotta make sure it doesn’t snag, doesn’t droop, doesn’t drag, implores Charlie Brown in song.
SURPRISINGLY, THE KITE takes flight, and Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), left- in awe – sings, Wait a minute. What’s it doing? It isn’t on the ground. It isn’t in a tree. It’s in the air! Look at that. It’s caught the breeze now. It’s past the trees now, with room to spare . . .
CHARLIE BROWN (SAM Grev) rehearses how he will go down on one knee in order to present his handmade heart valentine to The Little Red-Haired Girl as he expresses his love for her.
ALAS AND ALACK, as Charlie Brown (Sam Grev) peers into the depths of his mailbox, there are no valentines for him.
“AAARRRGGGHHH!” REACTS CHARLIE Brown (Sam Grev), to his valentine-less Valentine’s Day.
THE DOCTOR IS in. With Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), right, counting down the reasons for his “blahness,” Lucy (Amy Bartsch), left, as acting psychiatrist, extends kind words to him in song, For although you are no good at music, like Schroeder; or happy, like Snoopy; or lovely, like me, you have the distinction to be no one else but the singular, remarkable, unique Charlie Brown. Yes – it’s amazingly true, for whatever it’s worth, Charlie Brown, you’re you.
SNOOPY (LIANA BLOMGREN), center, thoroughly brightens Schroeder’s (Ruben Fentanez), left, day by sporting a “Beethoven Day” T-shirt. at right is Lucy (Amy Bartsch).
CALL THE PRINCIPAL and hand him the news, we’ve got a holiday that he can’t refuse. A day of harmony. A day of music: Beethoven’s birthday! Peanuts gang members are set to celebrate the special day in full force. Front, Lucy (Amy Bartsch), left and Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), right. At back, from left, Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Sally (Jae Faber) and Linus (Regan Syverson).
MORE WALL GUIDANCE from Linus (Regan Syverson), right, this time to Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), left.
WRITING A BOOK report on Peter Rabbit. From left, Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Linus (Regan Syverson) and Charlie Brown (Sam Grev).
WORLD WAR I flying ace – Snoopy (Liana Blomgren) – takes her doghouse (uh, Sopwith Camel) into air battle with the Red Baron.
SALLY (JAE FABER), left, explains her new philosophy to Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik, right. Oh, yeah? That’s what you think. . . . Why are you telling me? . . . No! . . . I can’t stand it. . . . Just like a busy bee, each new philosophy can fly from tree-to-tree and keep me moving. When life’s a dizzy maze, on alternating days I choose a different phrase.
GETTING THE T-E-A-M together for the baseball game. There is no team like the best team. Which is our team right here. We will show you we’re the best team on the very Little Leagues this year. And in no time, we’ll be big time with the Big League baseball stars. For all we have to do is win just one more game and the championship is ours. Peanuts power gets set for the big game. Gettint the party started at front is Charlie Brown (Sam Grev). At back, from left, Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev), Peppermint Patty (Jae Faber), Woodstock (Olivia Klassen), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Franklin (Fletcher Hanson), Linus (Regan Syverson), Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Rerun (Joel Salgado), Frieda (Annelise Regier), Marcy (Madison Hartle) and Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright).
THE GANG HUDDLES up around Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), center. Clockwise, from top, Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Sally (Jae Faber), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Linus (Regan Syverson), Rerun (Joel Salgado), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Franklin (Fletcher Hanson), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Woodstock (Olivia Klassen), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev) and Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel).
CHARLIE BROWN (SAM Grev), center, is delayed by Lucy (Amy Bartsch), right, in order to answer a questionnaire on Lucy’s level of “crabbiness.” At left, Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), is eager to play ball than wait for Charlie Brown to finish answering.
SCHROEDER (RUBEN FENTANEZ), at the piano at left, leads the Peanuts gang in “Oh Give Me A Home, Where the Buffalo Roam,” during Glee Club rehearsal. Remember, this is a mood piece. We must paint a picture with music and words. And concentrate! Remember . . . Adagio con brio, extols Schroeder. However, the practice time spins downward into an argument over a pencil. Glee Club members include, front, from left, Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Woodstock (Olivia Klassen), Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), Marcy (Madison Hartle), Frieda (Annelise Regier), Linus (Regan Syverson) and Rerun (Joel Salgado). At back are, from left, Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev), Sally (Jae Faber) and Franklin (Fletcher Hanson).
BIG SISTER LUCY (Amy Bartsch), left, astonishes her little brother, Linus (Regan Syverson), right, with her extensive knowledge of little known facts. A few of those (not-so-accurate) facts include – Do you see this tree? It is a fur tree. It’s called a fur tree because it gives us fur, for coats. It also gives us wool in the wintertime or And this thing here. It’s called a fire hydrant. They grow all over. And no one seems to know just how a little thing like that gives so much water and And way up there, the little stars and planets make the rain that falls in showers. And when it’s cold and winter is upon us, the snow comes up, just like the flowers.
SNOOPY (LIANA BLOMGREN) gives a little song-and-dance for her supper. Br-r-r-r-ing on the dog food, bring on the bone. Bring on the barrel and roll me home, ’cause it’s supper supper, supper, supper. Supper super pepper upper. Supper super duper suppertime.
I really don’t think you have anything to worry about, Charlie Brown. After all, science has shown that a person’s character isn’t really established until he’s at least five-years-old. The gang gathers around Charlie Brown to convince him that, “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” From left, Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Linus (Regan Syverson), Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Sally (Jae Faber) and Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez).
THE ENTIRE PEANUT(S) gallery is on hand to emphasize – You’re a good man, Charlie Brown. Front, from left, Lucy (Amy Bartsch), Linus (Regan Syverson), Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Sally (Jae Faber) and Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez). Groups at back are, from left, Frieda (Annelise Regier), Marcy (Madison Hartle) and Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel); Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik) and Rerun (Joel Salgado); Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev) and Franklin (Fletcher Hanson) and Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright) and Woodstock (Olivia Klassen).
HAPPINESS IS THE cast, crew and directors of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Seated front, from left, Jareya Harder (Lights), Ben Bartsch (Lights), Pig Pen (Eli Karschnik), Linus (Regan Syverson), Ethan Klassen (Sound) and Mason Fast (Lights). Kneeling, from left, Little Red-Haired Girl (Jordan Wright), Schroeder (Ruben Fentanez), Lucy (Amy Bartsch) and Woodstock (Olivia Klassen). Next row, from left, Sarah Tailowright (Music Director), Julie Brugman (Director), Marcy (Madison Hartle), Peppermint Patty (Kalley Rempel), Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), Sally (Jae Faber) and Frieda (Annelise Regier). Standing back, from left, Rerun (Joel Salgado), Teacher/Chorus (Isaac Grev) and Franklin (Fletcher Hanson). (Dave Grev-assisted photo)
AT THE KEYBOARD is Music Director Sarah Tailowright.
DIRECTOR JULIE BRUGMAN, right, provides sage advice during rehearsal to Charlie Brown (Sam Grev), left and Snoopy (Liana Blomgren), in the doghouse at right.
