West Texas A&M University Theater Department performs “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” the musical, an adaptation of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip series, “Peanuts.”
Directed by Andrew Barratt Lewis, the show contains the classic “Peanuts” characters including Charlie Brown, Linus, Sally, Schroeder, Lucy and Snoopy.
“I feel like setting the ‘Peanuts’ characters to music works wonderfully,” Lewis, Director and Assistant Professor of Musical Theater, said. “We are all familiar with the comic strip and of course the TV specials, but this gives us a fresh and new look into their lives.”
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” is a focus to develop a three-dimensional representation of the comic strip and characters that have been created.
“They are real people, they have their ups and downs and their quirks, but they should remind the audience of themselves,” Lewis said. “They live slightly simpler lives, which allows them to teach us things.”
Scenic designers of the musical have crafted the theater and set to bring the audience into the world of the comic.
“The audience can expect to see oversized scenery items that are associated with the comic, such as the couch, doghouse and house,” Caroline Meador, Stage Manager and sophomore Theater Design Technology major, said. “When the audience comes in, they will feel as if they are entering the comic strip.”
Meador said that choreography, by Katie Rowan, is involved in most of the production’s songs.
“We have pretty awesome surprises for the audience,” Meador said. “This show has a lot to offer everyone. It’s extremely relatable, fun and truly is a mixture of all aspects of theatre.”
In order to bring the comic series into the theater, actors had to make special preparations. Tyler Bunch, who plays Charlie Brown, created his role by studying the works of Schulz.
“I started really looking into the comic strips and the world of ‘Peanuts’,” Bunch, junior Musical Theater major, said. “I had to work on keeping the same iconic character that is Charlie Brown, but still wanting to maintain my own unique take on him.”
Bunch said that he read articles about Charlie Brown and watched the “Peanuts” cartoons. This will be Bunch’s second production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and the first time that he has been in the same production twice.
“It’s so interesting to have the same script but the shows be completely different,” Bunch said. “The musical takes what everyone loves about the shows and comics and puts a new twist on them while still keeping to the spirit of the world of Charlie Brown and what Charles Schultz created.”
Performances will be Nov. 13-15 and 18-21 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre located in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex
“People will really enjoy it,” Bunch said. “It’s energetic, fun and will bring back the inner child in everyone.”
