You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
A cute show about the power of friendship. In this version, all your favorite comic book friends are played by adults rather than children, so don't worry about age when you're trying out. If you want to prepare well, go check out a collection of Peanuts comics from your library. Character descriptions are below.
summary A program note says that the time of the action is "an average day in the life of Charlie Brown." It really is just that, a day made up of little moments picked from all the days of Charlie Brown, from Valentine's Day to the baseball season, from wild optimism to utter despair, all mixed in with the lives of his friends (both human and non-human) and strung together on the string of a single day, from bright uncertain morning to hopeful starlit evening.
It seems to start off all right. After some brief comments on the nature of his character by his friends, Charlie Brown is swept into their center by a rousing tribute of only slightly qualified praise, in the song You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He is then left to his own musings as he eats his lunch on the school playground, complicated unbearably by the distant presence of his true love, the "little redheaded girl," who is always just out of sight. True love also seems to be the only unmanageable element in Lucy's solid life, which we discover as we watch her try to bulldoze her way through to her boyfriend's sensitive, six-year-old musician's heart, in Schroeder. The little scenes then begin to accumulate, and we learn that Lucy's little brother, Linus, is thoughtful about many things but fanatical when it comes to the matter of his blanket; that Patty is sweet and utterly innocent; and that Charlie Brown's dog spends much if not most of his time thinking of being something else-a gorilla, a jungle cat, perhaps a handsome trophy or two-but that mostly his life is a pleasant one-Snoopy. The events continue to trickle on. Linus enjoys a private time with his most favorite thing of all-My Blanket and Me, Lucy generously bothers to inform him of her ambition-of-the-moment, to become a queen with her won queendom, and then Charlie Brown lurches in for still another bout with his own friendly enemy-The Kite. Valentine's Day comes and goes with our hero receiving not one single valentine, which brings him to seek the temporary relief of Lucy's five-cent psychiatry booth - The Doctor Is In. We then watch as four of our friends go through their individual struggles with the homework assignment of writing a hundred word essay of "Peter Rabbit" in The Book Report. Act Two roars in with Snoopy lost in another world atop his dog house. As a World War One flying ace he does not bring down the infamous Red Baron in today's battle but we know that someday, someday he will. The day continues. We learn of the chaotic events of the Very Little League's Baseball Game as Charlie Brown writes the news to his pen pal. Lucy is moved to conduct a personal survey to find out just how crabby she really is, and all the group gathers for a misbegotten rehearsal of a song they are to sing in assembly. It is suppertime, and Snoopy once more discovers what wild raptures just the mere presence of his full supper dish can send him into. And then it is evening. The gathered friends sing a little about their individual thoughts of happiness and then they go off, leaving Lucy to make a very un-Lucy-like gesture: she tells Charlie Brown what a good man he is. None of the cast is actually six years old. And they don't really look like Charles Schulz' "Peanuts" cartoon characters. But this doesn't seem to make that much difference once we are into the play, because what they are saying to each other is with the openness of that early childhood time, and the obvious fact is that they are all really quite fond of each other. |
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
CHARLIE BROWN –A lovable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a "permanent case of bad luck". He is often taken advantage of by his peers. STRONG Actor & singer needed.
SNOOPY - He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle, and is owned and cared for by Charlie Brown although at times it is not clear who is in charge. Snoopy is blessed with a rich fantasy life. STRONG comedic actor & singer needed. LUCY VAN PELT - A crabby, bossy, selfish girl! She is especially mean to Charlie Brown and her “stupid” little brother Linus. Lucy is in love with Schroeder who has NO interest in her whatsoever. Lucy is loud, obnoxious and has a very strong personality. STRONG actress & singer. LINUS VAN PELT - He is Lucy little brother . Linus always means well and tries to smooth over any storms that arise amongst the gang. A source of frustration for him is Lucy,who always belittles him, particularly over his “stupid blanket” which is always at his side. He and Shermy are Charlie Brown’s best friends. STRONG actor, singer & dancer. SALLY BROWN – Charlie Brown’s younger sister. Sally has a "take it easy" approach to life, preferring to slide by while doing as little work as possible. She is hopelessly in love with Linus. Sally has philosophies on life although they are not the most well thought out philosophies, basically being phrases such as, "Who cares?","Why me?", and "How should I know? STRONG comedic actress & singer. PEPPERMINT PATTY– Patty is a star athlete! Clearly the best player on the baseball team. She is lazy and dimwitted and still doesn’t realize Snoopy is a dog. He is just a “funny looking kid with a big nose”. She is best friends with Marcie. STRONG actress & singer. SCHROEDER- He has a precocious skill at playing the piano, as well as by his love of classical music and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Lucy is infatuated with Schroeder but since Beethoven is a lifelong bachelor, Schroeder feels that he must emulate every aspect of his idol's life. STRONG singer& actor needed. MARCIE– A bespectacled bookworm and intellect. She is Peppermint Patty’s sidekick. She calls her “sir” and refers to Charlie Brown as “Chuck”. It bothers her that Peppermint Patty is such a poor student and tries to tell her that Snoopy’s doghouse is not a “guest cottage” and he is not “a funny looking kid with a big nose” but a dog. STRONG actress & singer. PIG PEN– A young boy who has a cloud of dirt that constantly follows him. He can get dirty even by walking in a rainstorm. He is kind and while the kids tolerate him, they are disgusted by his filth. Especially Lucy. STRONG actor & singer. FREIDA - Frieda is very proud of her "naturally curly hair". She manages to bring up the topic of her hair in every conversation, which is shown to annoy the people around her. In turn, Frieda believes the other girls are jealous of her hair. She believes people expect more from her because she has naturally curly hair. She annoys Lucy. STRONG actress& singer. WOODSTOCK – Snoopy’s best friend and sidekick. Woodstock joins in many of Snoopy’s fantasy games. The pair sometimes argue but they always hug and make up and their disagreements are quickly forgiven and forgotten. Woodstock never speaks normal words. The only one who can understand Woodstock’s speech is Snoopy. STRONG actor. VIOLET GRAY – She is a bit of a snob. She is proud of her appearance and her status. Her father makes more money that Charlie Brown and she never lets him forget it. She constantly brags. Charlie Brown puts up with her because she is the best 3rd base player on the baseball team. STRONG actress & singer. SHERMY – Next to Linus, Shermy is Charlie Brown’s best friend. He is superior to Charlie Brown in sports. He is the best player on the baseball team. Charlie Brown idolizes Shermy and can’t believe he is his friend. STRONG actor & singer. RERUN VAN PELT –The younger brother of Lucy and Linus. Even though he is younger, he is embarrassed by his brother’s blanket. He loves Snoopy and they are good friends. His fondest desire is to play on the baseball team. This role is one of the few that must be played by a younger actor. STRONG actor & singer. LITTLE RED HEADED GIRL – The beautiful love interest of Charlie Brown. She is a sweet, kind and beautiful girl. MOLLY VOLLY - She is a champion tennis player. One of the gang but rarely seen without her tennis racket. She is Snoopy’s tennis partner. 5 – One of the gang. "5" has to keep telling his teacher that the accent is on the 4 in his surname. His whole family is named in numbers. 3 and 4 –“5’s” younger twin sisters. The twin girls, both wearing purple dresses, they perform a distinctive and lively dance. LORETTA - She is a girl scout who sells girl scout cookies. She appears to be very scruffy (but is nowhere near as dirty as Pig Pen). She takes her “Girl Scouting” very seriously. The ensemble in this show is made up of MANY other characters ALL who sing & dance and are featured in MANY numbers! Some of the characters are: Joe Cool, Woodstock friends, Thibalt, Flashback Snoopy & Charlie Brown, Royanne and several others. |