Everyone’s favorite comic strip is brought to life in the SCDS’s smashing rendition of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” With a life-size Peanuts crew at the helm of this year’s spring musical, the audience glides through heartwarming vignettes about the travails and joys of childhood. It is truly a remarkable feat that the characters are as vivid on the stage as they are in Charles M. Schultz’s award-winning comic strip and that the play so poignantly captures the innocence and the sweetness of youth.
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” is Esty Munk’s directorial debut at SCW and, judging from the quality and success of the play, hopefully the first of many. The current SCW junior, who co-wrote and directed a musical while in high school, credits both her family and Block Yeshiva High School for supporting her in all of her theatrical endeavors. Munk revealed that before the play she knew little about the Peanuts comic strip and was nervous about casting college students to play schoolchildren. Yet, she and the cast worked hard to strike the right balance; their mantra throughout rehearsals became “you don’t have to be childish, you have to be childlike.” Munk did make some changes to the script: she expanded the cast beyond the script’s original six parts and made the characters more sarcastic to ensure that they wouldn’t get annoying. Munk insists that the “play would not have turned out the way it did” if not for the “phenomenal cast,” noting that the experience “went far beyond what I could have imagined.”
SCW Senior Dana Silver’s brilliant turn as Charlie Brown is also at the heart of the production’s success. Suffice it to say that Silver’s Charlie Brown is the Charlie Brown of your memory—an endearing blend of earnestness and insecurity. Thanks to Silver, the audience empathizes and identifies with Charlie Brown as he frets over who to sit with at lunch, chokes in the final inning of the baseball game, and silently admires “that red-haired girl.” Silver’s vocal performance is equally masterful—your heart aches for Charlie Brown when his kite flutters (yet again) to the ground though he sings, “If I really try, I can really fly a kite.” A seasoned actress, Dana starred as Schroeder in a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” when she was ten. Playing the lead role in this year’s musical required Silver, who is outgoing and extroverted off the stage, to assume a persona very different from her own. Yet, Silver more than rises to the occasion—as one audience member put it after the show, “she owned the role.”
Charlie Brown’s best canine friend is played to perfection by Eleanor Greenman. Greenman’s Snoopy captivates as he shakes his tale, chases after rabbits, and sings an ode to suppertime. Herself a long-time Peanuts fan, Greenman noted that “playing Snoopy was an absolute thrill” but that it was a challenge to make him seem as lifelike as possible while still maintaining his “doginess.” Greenman commented that the experience gave her “a deeper appreciation for drama and all that goes into drama” and that she loved the sense of community which developed between all the members of the SCDS.
Elisheva Penner shines in her role as Lucy, the queen bee of the Peanuts club who torments her blanket-toting little brother Linus and pines futilely after piano virtuoso Schroeder. It is hard to even fully describe how completely Penner inhabits the character—from her imperious foot-stomping to her peppy hair flips. Though Lucy is every part the school-yard bully, Penner imbues her with an added layer of depth and vulnerability; the scene in which a humbled Lucy is forced to face her own crabbiness is particularly moving. The other half of the brother and sister pair is played with aplomb by Ora Laufer. Whether tangoing with his blanket or penning a psychological analysis of Peter Rabbit, Laufer’s Linus is the perfect combination of thumb-sucking youthfulness and calm intelligence.
Leah Sheva Meadvin nails her role as the hapless Sally; the song in which she espouses her newfound philosophies—“No!” and “That’s what you think!” to name just two—is a true highlight of the evening. Tova Kay is the picture of artistic genius in her role as Schroeder. With his love for Beethoven, boyish charm, and beautiful voice, it is no wonder Lucy falls head-over-heels for him.
All the supporting roles—from Serena Miller’s tap-dancing Woodstock to Tova Lahasky’s enchanting red-headed girl—are right on the mark. Also, the fact that the teachers and schoolchildren interact animatedly with each other while the action unfolds in the foreground lends the play added energy and charm.
It would be remiss not to mention the technical success of the play; the set design, which includes Snoopie’s iconic red doghouse and a brightly-colored classroom, offers the audience a portal into the book-report-and-bobby-sock world of the Peanut’s comic strip. The lighting is also used to striking effect—the stage glows red during one of Snoopy’s impassioned moments and turns a romantic blue during a tender exchange between Schroeder and Lucy. The dances are expertly choreographed and the musical numbers sung with spirit and skill.
Happiness, the Peanuts gang tells us in the play’s final song, is learning to whistle, tying your shoe for the first time, having a sister, sharing your sandwich, and coming home again. Happiness, too, is seeing a play of this caliber—one which sparkles with whimsy and warmth and reminds you that you’re never too old to revisit your youth.