YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN


Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, Snoopy, and that loveable blockhead Charlie Brown have made Memorial Park their summer home in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s couldn’t-be-better outdoor production of the delightful song-and-sketch cycle You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

The 1967 off-Broadway classic/1999 Best Revival Tony winner treats audiences to us a series of sketches that do precisely what they set out to do, i.e. replicate Charles M. Schulz’s 4-panel daily strips and their 10-panel Sunday counterparts in short vignettes, each with its own punch line.

All the favorite Peanuts themes are there, with the conspicuous exception of the unfailingly hilarious football gag.

There’s Charlie’s (Hamilton Davis Weaver) infatuation with the Little Red-Haired Girl, Linus’s (Melvin Biteng) inability to function without his blanket, Lucy’s (Mary Zastrow) crush on Schroeder (Luke Sweeney) and her side-job as a 5-¢-per-consultation shrink, Sally’s (Marcha Kia) difficulties with tangled jump ropes and coat-hanger sculptures, and Snoopy’s (Alexander Mashikian) fantasy life as The Red Baron, to name just a few.

Many of these situations find their expression in song (music and lyrics by book writer Clark Genser), from Linus’s “My Blanket And Me,” which has him attempting in vain to “walk away and leave it,” to “The Doctor Is In,” which has Lucy forcing Charlie Brown to list his multitude of failings, to Charlie Brown’s signature song, the now classic “Happiness.”

Factor in additional songs by Michael Mayer and Andrew Lippa, among them Schroeder’s attempt to convince his pals to fete his all-time favorite composer with a holiday in The R&B “Beethoven Day,” and Sally’s “My New Philosophy,” of which she has several, including, “Oh, yeah. That’s what you think?” and “Why are you telling me?” and you’ve got a musical that guarantees two hours of laughter, nostalgia, melody, and magic for audiences of all ages.

Producer Christian Lebano’s direction is the very definition of inspired, and working together with choreographer Palmer Davis at her imaginative best and some of the finest designers in town, SMP’s You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown turns each of the musical’s dozen or so songs into the most cleverly staged of production numbers.

Scenic designer Nicholas Santiago takes full advantage of an extra-wide stage to remind audiences of Peanut’s side-by-side four-panel comics in the vivid primary hues of the strip’s Sunday appearances, with set pieces straight out of the Peanuts gang’s animated TV specials—Snoopy’s doghouse, Schroeder’s mini-piano, the gang’s bright yellow school bus, Charlie’s favorite bench, Lucy’s “doctor’s office,” and quite a few more, design kudos shared with scenic artist Orlando de la Paz.

The Costume House and Shon LeBlanc and wig & makeup designer Diahann McCrary give each iconic character his or her own trademark look (and a whole lot more, particularly in Sally and Snoopy’s “Rainbow Chasing,”) and properties designer John McElveney and SFX designers Gary B. Lamb (also associate producer) and Jeanne Valleroy have outdone themselves throughout the show, and never more so than when Charlie’s kite seems actually to have taken flight.

And once the sun has set for Act Two, resident lighting designer Derek Jones’ contributions really kick in, making everything look all the more vibrant and colorful after dark.

Still, no You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown could truly take flight without the most fabulous of casts, and here too Sierra Madre Playhouse has hit the bullseye.

Hamilton Davis Weaver makes for the sweetest (and most downright loveable) of Charlies, even (or perhaps especially) when America’s favorite blockhead is at his most hapless.

The always sensational Mary Zastrow takes mean-girl Lucy and makes her pretty darned irresistible, with Marcha Kia’s precocious charmer of a Sally giving Lucy some stiff combination in the scene-stealing department.

And speaking of scene-stealing, has any role, human or canine, given a young triple-threat more opportunities for stage larceny than Snoopy, and a super-duper Alexander Mashikian takes advantage of each and every one of them to audience glee.

Schroeders don’t get any more endearing than Luke Sweeny’s piano prodigy, and no blanket has ever had a more adorable owner than Melvin Biteng’s Linus.

And there’s not a weak vocal link among the six as they sing their hearts out to Sean Paxton’s expert musical direction, with sound designer/engineer Margaret Koldinger ensuring crystal-clear amplification throughout Memorial Park.

Richard Van Slyke is assistant director. Berrie Tsang is properties coordinator. Christa Backstrom is dramaturg/events coordinator.

Jeanne Marie Valleroy is production stage manager, Payton Emerson-Pina is assistant stage manager, and Owen Lewis is production manager. Todd McCraw is technical director and John Dimitri is assistant technical director. KerriAnne Savastino is assistant costume designer and Christopher Rogel is associate lighting designer. Philip Sokoloff is publicist.

It’s been a very long year-and-a-half since Sierra Madre Playhouse staged its last pre-pandemic production, but audiences can at long last rejoice in live theater’s return to the San Gabriel Valley foothills.

You won’t have a happier time this summer than at You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Sierra Madre Playhouse at Memorial Park, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre.
www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

–Steven Stanley
August 7, 2021
Screencaps from the Spectrum News 1 SoCal’s article/video at:
https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/arts/2021/08/06/sierra-madre-playhouse-returns-to-stage-with-musical-under-the-stars 

 

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