Porthouse Theatre’s ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’ is adequate summer fare

There is an interesting story behind the 1967 Broadway musical “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown”. Depending on where you research, Clark Gesner is credited with music and lyrics but in some versions the name John Gordon is noted. According to Gesner, this collective Gordon pseudonym covers Gesner, the cast members and the production staff who all worked on the original concept album.

It was in the early 60s that Gesner began writing songs based on the Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” characters. Unable to get permission from United Feature Syndicate (who owned the rights) he sent a demo to Schulz himself and was thus able to procure the needed consent. At this point, Gesner had no plans of turning this “concept album” into a full blown Broadway show. It was only with the encouragement from his friend Arthur Whitelaw (“Snoopy! The Musical”) that Gesner decided to proceed. Although it had a decent off Broadway run of 1,597 performances it only lasted on Broadway for 32 performances and 15 previews. The show has since become a favorite of community and college theaters across America due to its small cast size and simple staging.

“You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” has no clear story line per say. Instead, it is a collection of various vignettes taken directly from the comic strip and TV shows. We are introduced to the collection of characters known as Charlie Brown (Jeremy Syzmanski), his sister Sally (Taylor Patterson), his friend Lucy (Madison Shannon), her brother Linus (Drew Fitzgerald), his friend Schroeder (Cole Stellato) and his faithful dog Snoopy (Casper Dickey). The various songs are used to play on the strengths and personalities of each.

Charlie Brown is basically a good egg with a hopeful outlook on life who is liked by his friends in spite of his many insecurities and failures (kite flying, baseball, football kicking, school assignment procrastination and talking to the “Little Red Head Girl”). In short, he is your typical six year old. Lucy is the self appointed ring leader who organizes “events” run by others while she stays in the background.

Linus is the blanket toting philosopher who spouts wisdom far beyond his years. Schroeder is a piano playing child prodigy whom Lucy is set on marrying some day. Sally is a self centered sort who strives to look and be her best in all that she attempts. Snoopy has simple basic needs...a place to rest on top of his dog house, regular feeding and watering, rabbits to chase, cats to avoid and The Red Baron to do battle with in the imaginary World War I skies.

It is extremely difficult to nail down my thoughts on the Sunday matinee performance that I witnessed. Some parts I loved (Charlie Brown, Schroeder, Sally, Linus) while others I found problematic (Lucy and Snoopy). Listening to audience members around me at intermission and after the final curtain call the general consensus was that Lucy came off as a bit harsh (shrill was the term I heard more than once) and Snoopy did not seem to be “dog enough”. It was also mentioned that the smaller cast had tendency to exaggerate the inherant flaws with the writing (adults acting as children).

The three piece orchestra consisting of Jonathan Swoboda (keyboard/conductor), Craig Wohlschlager (reeds) and Mel Csicsilla (drums/percussion) were all well up to the task even though the music felt dated.

Jonathon Taylor’s scenic design lends well to the simple cartoon strip theme with praise for Schroeder’s piano, Linus’s flying blanket, Snoopy’s dog house and “the thinking wall”. The same is true of Mercedes Hill Bergum’s costume design that captures the comic strip vibe to a “T”. Even though it was an afternoon show, Nick Ebert’s lighting design did add greatly to the set. Daniel Braun’s sound design had a nice balance set for each actor and was especially evident during the group numbers. Amy Fritsche’s directing kept up a good pace but not fast enough to fulfill the promised 90 minutes of stage action.

While not my favorite production this summer, it is still a high energy performance that will bring back childhood memories of a simpler time. It is a show that awakens the inner child in everyone aged 8 to 80 and a nice excuse to pack a picnic basket of goodies to share with friends before the show. Bring the entire family...especially the youngsters.

The Porthouse Theatre’s production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” will be on stage on the Blossom Music Center grounds through July 12, 2025. For more information and tickets go to http://porthousetheatre.com or call (330) 672-3884.