You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Revised) Program

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Revised)

Based on the Comic Strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Clark Gesner
Additional Dialogue by Michael Mayer
Additional Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Directed by Mandy Fox
Music Direction by Theo Jackson

April 9 – 17
Proscenium Theatre

The performance runs two hours including a 15-minute intermission.

Setting

An average day in the life of Charlie Brown.

Cast

Charlie Brown
Lukas Cinko

Lucy
Ashley Gildenblatt

Sally
Reese Looser

Linus
Cale Bishop

Schroeder
Troy Malone

Snoopy
Caleb Triplett

Understudy for Lucy and Sally
Savanna Lenze

Understudy for Charlie and Linus
Grey Lynsky

Understudy for Schroeder and Snoopy
Zach Ahrens

Original direction for this version of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown by Michael Mayer.

Originally produced in New York by Arthur Whitelaw and Gene Persson.

Your a Good Man, Charlie Brown is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com.

The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Please silence your cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of the performance. In consideration of those seated around you, please refrain from texting during the performance.

The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)'s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists.

Special Thanks to Bob Pike and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum.

Zach Ahrens (Schroeder/Snoopy understudy), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Versailles, OH
Major(s): biomedical science
Minor(s): musical theatre
Department productions: Debut

Colin Barberic (asst. lighting designer), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Medina, OH
Major(s): philosophy, politics and economics; theatre
Department Productions: After the Blast; Silent Sky

Cale Bishop (Linus), 1st year student
Hometown: Massillon, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Debut

David Catire-Thill (choreographer), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Arlington Heights, IL
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Lukas Cinko (Charlie Brown), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Akron, OH
Major(s): business administration
Minor(s): theatre
Department Productions: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Billy DeVito (asst. director), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Wantagh, NY
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Matthew Fisher (sound designer; live mix operator), senior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Amherst, OH
Major(s): engineering physics - aerospace engineering
Minor(s): robotics and autonomous systems; theatre
Department Productions: After the Blast; The Dog Project

Audra Franke (production electrician), senior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major(s): hospitality management
Minor(s): entertainment and design technology
Department Productions: 1st department production

Ashley Gildenblatt (Lucy), sophomore
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Major(s): hospitality management; theatre
Department Productions: Orlando

Darrian Ippolito (asst. stage manager), junior
Hometown: Taylorville, IL
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): American sign language; voice acting
Department Productions: Orlando; The Squirrels

Savanna Lenze (Sally/Lucy understudy), senior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Major(s): music; theatre
Minor(s): education
Department productions: She Kills Monsters

Grey Lynsky (Charlie/Linus understudy), 1st year student
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Canal Winchester, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department productions: Debut

Troy Malone (Schroeder), sophomore
Hometown: Massilon, OH
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): business
Department productions: Debut

Reese Looser (Sally Brown), junior
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major(s): strategic communication
Minor(s): voice acting
Department Productions: Debut

Sophie O'Leary (asst. director), junior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Major(s): music; theatre
Department Productions: The Squirrels; The Dog Project; The Moors; The 24th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Aspen Totonchi (asst. costume designer), senior
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Solon, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Blood Wedding

Cabe Triplett (Snoopy), junior
Hometown: Gahanna, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department productions: Debut

Alexa VanHorne (asst. stage manager), 1st year student
Hometown: Centerburg, OH
Major(s): exploration
Minor(s): leadership
Department Productions: 1st department production

Persis Yoder (stage manager), junior
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Wooster, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department productions: The Squirrels; Orlando; The Moors; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is based on the classic Peanuts comic strip series that was first published on October 2, 1950. It was created by Charles M. Schulz, who continued to be the series’ sole illustrator throughout its fifty-year, multi-national run until Schulz’s death on February 12, 2000. The last comic strip, originally meant to announce Schulz’s retirement, was published the next day. Originally titled Li’l Folks, Schulz was forced to change the title of the series due to copyright concerns, and the unwanted title Peanuts remained his greatest regret about his creation. The comic strips focus on the social lives of children in a setting in which adults are rarely seen, and yet, the subtle anxieties and vulnerabilities hidden beneath the humor of the comics speak to an element of the human condition that people all over the world and across generations can relate to.

Since its creation, Peanuts has inspired a variety of merchandise (several examples you can find displayed in the lobby) and adaptations, like You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The production was initially anticipated as a concept album. The composer and actor, Clark Gesner, read the comics and was inspired to create a series of songs based on his favorite characters. He wrote to Schulz in 1966, asking for permission to make a record of largely unconnected songs based on the characters of Charlie Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Linus Van Pelt, and Snoopy. Once permission from Schulz was acquired, Gesner began to translate his concept album for the stage.

With the production set to premiere in 1967, only a year later, the gathered artists faced a major problem. There was no script to connect the isolated songs, and thus, there was no story nor collective substance. This issue was solved by “John Gordon,” who was accredited for writing the book. “John Gordon,” however, did not exist. He was a pseudonym for Gesner, the cast, and production staff who collaborated to adapt their favorite Peanuts comic strips into dialogue that could provide structure for the songs. The popular characters of Schroeder and Patty were added to fill out the cast even though neither figure had their own songs. The musical premiered off-Broadway premiere on March 7, 1967, and it was a hit with critics and audience members alike, ensuring that it remained in the repertoire of musical theatre artists for years to come.

A planned revival in 1999 updated the show to reflect the current conceptualization of Peanuts. Patty was replaced by Sally Brown, Charlie Brown’s little sister who had grown up to be one of the most recognizable characters since the 60s. Shroeder and Sally were also given their own songs—“Beethoven Day” for the former and “Rabbit Chasing” and "My New Philosophy” for the latter—which were written by the composer Andrew Lippa. Several of the songs and scenes were rearranged to accommodate these changes. While not as critically acclaimed as the original premiere, the revised version became the standard version of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown for the 21^st century, and it is the version you will see tonight.

The revised version also kept the episodic format of the original production, by crafting its narrative through self-contained incidents rather than a linear plot, much like the comic strips it was based on. Rather than pushing a cohesive storyline forward, the scenes act as vignettes, a literary term used to describe short passages that capture a moment in time to focus on either the mood of the scene or the development of a specific character. In this way, the musical distorts time and space. The musical take place on an average day in the life of Charlie Brown, existing in isolation just like the days that came before it and the days that will come after it, and the world that the characters inhabit is distorted and exaggerated to affirm the fact that the adults onstage are indeed children.

At its core, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, just like the Peanuts comic strip that inspired it, produces nostalgia in its audience. As you watch the show, feel free to take in what you see and consider how it may speak to memories of what Charlie Brown and his friends have meant to you.