Charlie Brown is the most unlikely comics icon. He’s celebrated for his faults and failings, his
alternating acceptance of his fate, and hopefulness in the face of unrelenting disappointment.
No surprise he emerged from the 1950s in the midst of the popularization of Freud and existentialism. He
is the anxiety-ridden modern man in a pint-sized package, unsure of his place in the world, yet hopeful
nonetheless.
Those earliest strips can be dark. Despite this all Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang were beloved, and
with that popularity the demand to animate them and then bring Charles Schulz’ two-dimensional drawings
into the 3D world of musical theater.
The result was "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown," approaching 50 years as a staple of
community theater.
Its popularity is hardly surprising. The appeal in inhabiting this world, these characters, is
attractive. The Black Swamp Players bring "You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown to the stage of the
First United Methodist Church for a two-weekend run starting tonight at 8.
The show opens with a frank cataloguing of our hero’s faults. As his sister Sally (Taylor Martin) says
her older brother (Joel Logsdon) lacks confidence, in addition to being clumsy, insecure and stupid.
That’s just the beginning of Charlie Brown’s problems.
Still, when he faces the morning he’s hopeful, though by noon when he’s contemplating his peanut butter
sandwich, he can’t decide what is his least favorite time of the day.
Not that he gets much support from his gang. There’s Lucy (Courtney Gray), always ready with a deflating
trick. There’s Linus, played by Bob Marzola with just a hint of a lisp, the security-blanket-clutching
philosopher. There’s the piano virtuoso Schroeder (Brian Carlucci), whose obsession with classical music
shields him from the antics. And of course there’s Snoopy (Justin Roth), torn between his love of the
comfort of domestication and an inner urge for adventure. It’s always enjoyable to see actors give these
characters, almost archetypes at this point, their own spin.
These characters drive the show, and the play, which was built around the music and lyrics by Clark
Gesner, wisely eschews any attempt to impose a plot onto the Peanuts playground. The musical rolls out
in short bits, the longest akin to a Sunday comic strip, the shortest are one-liners.
Martin’s Sally always seems to get the best lines, and she revels in them. Sally is not as smart as she
thinks she is, but spoiled and spunky as she is, it doesn’t matter a wit to her.
Snoopy steps out with the joyous tap number "Suppertime." Marzola does the choreography for all
the numbers including "My Blanket and Me," literally a soft shoe dance, given all the
characters are wearing sneakers, featuring his character.
The script hits such staples of the Peanuts universe as Charlie Brown’s failure to get a kite aloft, his
love for the aloof red-haired girl and, of course, baseball. His dogged determination to field a team,
and that team’s futility just can’t dim his enthusiasm for the game. It’s quintessential Charlie Brown.
Still the musical, unlike the comic strip, demands a happy ending, and the show delivers the epitome of
happy endings with the anthem "Happiness," a wonderfully executed ensemble number. Everyone in
character and singing their hearts out.
It’s guaranteed to set the crowd out of the theater humming and better able to face a sometimes
unforgiving world.
