“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”
Words by Kristen Fogle
Plunging ahead with their first season, the Oceanside
Theatre Company presents old favorite “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Based
on the comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, the musical—with music and lyrics by
Clark Gesner—carries us through a series of vignettes in which we interact with
all of our old favorites—Lucy, Schroeder, Sally, Linus, Snoopy—and yes, Charlie
Brown.
A tried and true, come to life representation of these
characters and all the mini subplots that made the comic endearing—yes, “Good
Man” has got it! The action ping pongs from scenario to scenario—sometimes the
crux of the action involving Charlie Brown trying to win the affection of the
Little Red Haired Girl (always from afar), Lucy pushing ballots on her friends
to find out if she is in fact crabby (no surprise, she is), Sally arguing with
teachers about poor grades, Snoopy performing dare-devil maneuvers as the Red
Baron (his fighter pilot alter ego), Linus attempting to express his affection
for that silly blanket, Schroeder trying to thwart Lucy’s advances…any common
theme you’ve seen in the strip emerges in one form or another on stage.
This is somewhat limiting, coming from an adult perspective,
one who expects to see a concrete beginning, middle, and end, a conflict and resolution…but
for fans of Schultz’s strip (which ran for __ years, I might add) and
especially for children, the short scenes (I think I clocked the wee-est one at
seven seconds) and lack of progression can be forgiven.
And if you can get used to being jostled from one scenario
to the next (with no visible connection between any), there are some great characters
brought to life by very capable entertainers. Snoopy is played with an
effervescent energy by Jimmy Masterson (he has a great dog howl as well!), and Sloane
Herrick is captivating as Lucy Van Pelt; Herrick plays Lucy in such a way that
I can’t imagine another actress ever getting it as right as her, with just the
right combo of annoying (but still very likable) little girl. Ashley Jenks is
also an awfully cute Sally Brown, her affected voice and brilliant deliveries
made her one of the funnier of the bunch. Playing Sally’s brother Linus is Dan
Windham; the largest one up there, I’m a bit confused by this casting choice,
especially compared with the very talented Zedrick Villegas Evans
(Schroeder)…but who looks like he could be Windham’s son. Devin Collins’
Charlie Brown is a mix of self deprecated characterization paired with powerful
vocals, giving the meek Charlie new energy and a lot of gusto I would not
expect from the character.
In fact everyone has the pipes to carry this one off, and
the harmonies and overlapping of vocals is stellar, even worthy of recording
quality in places—a credit to musical director Jeff Lehman and the entire
orchestra.
The set is also quite remarkable, and I’m impressed with how
everything—the background and all the additional pieces (a mailbox, a fence,
Snoopy’s doghouse, Lucy’s well known psychiatry booth—all of these elements are
so well constructed and cartoonish, I was really quite impressed with Joanne
Kissenger’s set design and execution. This blended well with costumes by Roslyn
Lehman, interpreted straight from the comics but adapted well (color and
movement wise) for the stage. (For instance, though I’m definitely too old, I’m
still slightly obsessed with Lucy’s flouncy, can-do-anything-in-it girly cobalt
outfit.)
“Charlie Brown” as a show may not rank very high on the
charts for me plot wise, but the effort and payoff OCT exerts as a new company continues
to impress and make me want to journey the 37 miles from SD for more.
“You’re a Good Man,
Charlie Brown”
Oceanside Theatre
Company
6/20-7/1
217 N. Coast Hwy
Oceanside, CA 92054
760-433-8900
www.oceansidetheatre.org
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