Earlier, in month of November, I traveled over to my hometown to go see "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." I have always wanted to see the musical since I first heard of it a few years ago. Apparently, this particular musical has been around since 1968, which I had not realized.
I just happened to ask my friend Julie what has she has been doing for awhile, and she said she was playing piano for this musical, "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown."
I had missed an opportunity to see the production of the musical awhile back, when someone in my church had played Charlie Brown at a local high school here. I am sure he was perfect for the role, too. I really felt like I missed out, so I did not want to miss seeing the musical again, despite the fact that it was a long drive, I didn't know any of the students cast in the show.
My friend, who is an excellent pianist, said that the music was quite challenging to play. There are many different styles, and one song is particularly fast-paced.
The musical was real fun. Before the play, images of the Peanuts gang showed on a screen just above the stage.
The sets were beautifully done, and colorful. The costumes were great. I especially enjoyed the Snoopy costume. Normally, the play has a type of hood with ears for the Snoopy character, but since Snoopy was being played by a girl, she had her hair up into short pigtails, which actually looked more like dog ears. It made the costume more convincing, because it was part of the young actress herself, looking less like just a person in a dog costume.
The acting was very good, too. I really think all the students did well on that. My mom complained that the girl who played Lucy did not have black hair, but there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the program that the actors won't necessarily look like the original characters. I thought her acting skills held up to make her look like Lucy anyway.
The actress who played Sally seemed to steal the show. For one, she sounded just like the cartoon character does! She also had some of the best lines.
It is truly unfortunate that I neglected to bring my camera with me. My other device that I often use as a back-up, is sadly not holding a charge well. Visually, I don't think the play could be much better. I have looked up other plays, and they do a good job, but this one really got my attention - with the bright colored sets, and the fun props.
My only small complaint of the entire show was that many of the singers performances sounded a bit flat. However, it was not enough to keep me from enjoying the musical. Overall, it was a good time.
The next day, I decided to look up the music online for "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." If you have Amazon Prime, you can listen to the "New Broadway Cast Recording 1999)" album for free. Kristen Chenoweth sings the part of Sally in it. She does a great job, along with the rest of the cast. It was enjoyable to listen to a different version of the play, while still visualizing the play I had seen already in my head. I am really glad I was able to see the play in person, first. There is a lot more to this musical than just music!
Once I returned home, I found out some more exciting news about the Peanuts gang. Peanuts is going to hit the movie theaters in 3D! I am really excited about this. Unfortunately, It is going to be a whole year before it comes out. Scheduled to hit theaters not this Christmas, but NEXT Christmas in the year of 2015. It is a long time from now, but I think it will be worth the wait.
