Lively characters, music and the age-old tale of Charlie Brown bring Lipscomb Theatre’s spring musical to life opening April 8th in Collins Auditorium.
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown is told in short vignettes, pulled straight out of the Peanuts comic strip, but will feature original music.
The story follows a day in the life of Charlie Brown and his friends. Audiences will follow their successes, joys and various shortcomings as they go through the day at school, at home and during extra curricular activities.
Kari Smith, the show’s director, said she wanted to stay faithful to the cartoon and create characters that are familiar to the audience while producing unique content as well.
“We even found places in script where we can pop out of that fourth wall on the stage and interact with the audience a little bit, which is fun when there are kids in the crowd,” Smith said.
The musical is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic, Peanuts. Written in 1967 by Clark Gesner, the musical follows Charlie Brown in his attempts to win the heart of the Little Red-Haired Girl.
Senior Elijah Wallace plays Charlie Brown and is joined on stage by sophomore Haley Sue Pearson as Lucy, sophomore Scott Wilson as Schroeder, junior Bekah Purifoy as Sally, and sophomore Connor Weaver as Snoopy.
Among these, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Pig Pen, Woodstock, Freida and Marcie will make appearances as well.
“Preparing for the role, my cast mates and I were encouraged to dig deep into ourselves and find our childlike nature and qualities that we would give our characters,” Wallace said. “At the same time, we looked at the classic characters that we would be playing to gain insight into what direction we would take when creating our unique versions.”
The set and costumes are designed to resemble the comic strips and cartoons. Colored comic strips have been blown up to decorate the stage and set the scene for the short snippets in the life of Charlie Brown and friends.
With live people portraying the characters, Smith said the real measure of the show will be seeing how each actor brings their character to life on stage.
“The relationships in this show are so great, and I think one of the most important things to take away from this show is that we should celebrate the differences in ourselves and our friends and learn to appreciate the simple things in life,” Smith said. “I think as Christians, this is an important thing for us to hold dear in our lives.
“It can be easy to fall into the hustle and bustle of the world, but at the end of the day (and the end of the play), it is nice to simply be with our family and friends and appreciate the gifts that God has given us.”
Charlie Brown runs April 8-9 and 14-15 at 7:30 p.m. and April 10, 16 at 3:30 p.m. in Collins Alumni Auditorium.
The cost is $17 for individuals, $12 for university faculty, staff and alumni and $5 for students. Several free student tickets are still available for pick-up in Bennett Campus Center courtesy of the Student Government Association.
“For opening weekend, I am most excited to do shows for kids that have recently become familiar with the Peanuts gang, and also for adults that love them already,” Wallace said. ” I think the audience will be filled with a sense of nostalgia and happiness at the simple yet surprisingly deep moments that are shown.”
Stay tuned for a photo gallery from the final dress rehearsal.
Photo courtesy of Sarah Johnson